In the June issue of GCM, I authored a story about superintendent Craig Currier (pictured here in blue), the crew at Bethpage (N.Y.) State Park and their efforts in preparing the Black Course for the 2009 U.S. Open (Read it here). In that story, I wrote a statement that identified Currier and Paul Jett, CGCS at Pinehurst (N.C.) No. 2 as the only "working superintendents" to have hosted multiple U.S. Opens at the same course. The entire paragraph read:
The phrasing in that paragraph was carefully considered. My first stab at it identified Currier and Jett as the only two superintendents to have ever hosted multiple Opens at the same course, but I quickly decided that wouldn't work because I simply had no way of proving whether that was the case or not (I suspected it wasn't). But I did know that they were the only supers who were still on the job that had pulled off that feat, so I specifically narrowed the description to "working superintendents." Even considered going with a more restrictive description like "currently working superintendents," but decided the latter would suffice. "Working superintendents" it was.
Well, that one paragraph has sparked quite a lot of discussion in recent weeks, and frankly, all of it has been good in my opinion. Every time I reread that paragraph during subsequent edits and proofs of the story, I quietly hoped that we'd hear from members who are more knowledgeable about these things than I am, who have been around the business longer than I have and could fill me in on other superintendents who have hosted multiple Opens at the same course during the event's 109-year history. The statement as written was factually correct, but it could have been better with a few more facts, and I kind of hoped that it would ultimately spur a little conversation.
That's exactly what's happened. Our current GCSAA president, Mark Kuhns, CGCS, let me know that Joe Flaherty, CGCS, his predecessor at Baltusrol GC in Springfield, N.J., served as host superintendent for the 1980 and 1993 U.S. Opens at Baltusrol (and was heavily involved in preparations for the Open at the club in 1967). That's one I should have remembered. Then Tim Moraghan, a member of GCSAA's Strategic Communications committee who helped countless superintendents with their preparations for Opens during his time with the USGA, reminded me of the late Pete Smith, who hosted Opens at Shinnecock Hills GC on Long Island in both 1986 and 1995. That's one I didn't know about.
One of the association's esteemed former presidents, Melvin Lucas, CGCS Retired, was a wealth of information on the topic. He offered up an impressive lists of superintendents who had multiple Opens at one facility under their belts. Three clubs on Mel's list boasted not one, but two superintendents who had done it:
- The Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, had William Rockefeller (1920 and 1931) and Wilbert Waters (1957 and 1979)
- Oakmont CC in Pittsburgh had Emil Loeffler (1927 and 1935) and Lou Scalzo (1962 and 1973), with John Zimmers waiting in the wings in 2016 (he also hosted the 2007 Open at Oakmont)
- Merion GC in Ardmore had the father-and-son combo of Joe (1934 and 1950) and Rich Valentine (1971 and 1981)
Others on Mel's list included James Foulis at Chicago GC in 1900 and 1911 and Sherwood Moore, who hosted at Winged Foot in 1959 and 1984.
Needless to say, it's been an informative process. Have we got them all? Not really sure, but I'd venture a guess that we're close at this point. If nothing else, I know my list of U.S. Open sites and the host superintendents at those sites is a lot more complete today than it was just a few weeks ago.
Think you can fill in any of those remaining blanks? How about similar trivia around the PGA Championship (tackling that list will be our next task)? If so, let me know. You can e-mail me here or simply leave the information as a comment to this post below.
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