PREPARING FOR THE UNKNOWN Preparation for that moment didn’ t begin this season. It started more than a year ago, when the Korn Ferry Tour first contacted The Federal Club about the possibility of hosting its season-ending championship. Since then, Holbrook, his superintendent, two assistant superintendents, an assistant superintendent-in-training, and nearly 20 full- and part-time employees have worked toward a single objective: presenting the golf course in championship condition.
For Holbrook, the opportunity came at the perfect time. Although he had spent years preparing golf courses, he had never experienced a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event as part of the agronomy team. Wanting to see firsthand what tournament week required, he contacted Christian Sain,
Top: The agronomy team at Federal Club near the 9th green.
Below: Federal Club assistant superintendent Jackson McMackin places a flagstick in a newly cut hole.
Right: Federal Club assistant superintendent Mark Penny mows the 9th fairway. director of golf and grounds maintenance at The Country Club of Virginia, and asked if he could shadow his team during the club’ s final Dominion Energy Charity Classic.
After a decade of hosting the PGA TOUR Champions event, Sain’ s operation became a prototype for what Holbrook hoped to build. Rather than simply observing, Holbrook immersed himself in every aspect of tournament preparation.
“ I was mowing fairways one day, the next day I was following the PGA TOUR agronomist, I was blowing fairways another day, so I got to see how many people it takes and what goes on behind the scenes,” Holbrook said.
“ The turf part was maybe the easier part, because that’ s what we do every day,” Sain said.“ Trying to figure out the logistics— where people park, where the TV compound goes, where vendors stage their equipment, where volunteers gather— that’ s the biggest challenge the first year.”
Tournament week is as much an exercise in organization as agronomy.
“ It’ s a marathon, not a sprint,” Sain said.“ You come in before daylight, prepare the golf course, then you’ re on call throughout the day before heading back out after play. You have to pace yourself. You have to take care of your people.”
14 V IRGINIA G OLFER | S EPTEMBER / O CTOBER 2026 vsga. org