Today marks the grand re-opening of one of the Midwest's most notable golf courses — Oak Tree National in Edmond, Okla., just outside of Oklahoma City. The Pete Dye-designed course that has played host to a PGA Championship, a Senior PGA Championship and a U.S. Amateur is sporting a new name (they lost the "Golf Club" and replaced it with "National") and a new look, courtesy of a Dye-led renovation, when a new ownership group took charge last year.
The renovation work touched on virtually every corner of the club, but from an agronomic perspective, the most notable work involved a turfgrass swap on fairways, tees and greens surrounds from common bermudagrass to U3 bermuda (another Oklahoma standout that is playing host to this year's U.S. Amateur, Southern Hills in Tulsa, also features U3 fairways). And the man most responsible for that playing surface, as well as other aspects of the renovation work, is Class A superintendent Bret Proctor.
Prior to today's unveiling of the "new" Oak Tree, the 12-year GCSAA member gave GCM an expanded look at the work that took place at the club and how that work has changed the overall maintenance plans that he puts into place each day. Here are Proctor's comments:
"I knew that we were making the golf course harder and that the level of maintenance was going to increase as well. Something as simple as changing the tees complexes, fairways and green surrounds from common bermudagrass to U3 bermuda made a lot of changes. We have to groom the fairways about once per week now compared to once every three weeks. This practice makes more of a mess compared to not mowing with groomers. We drag the clippings every day, but on the days we groom, we drag and blow the fairways behind the mowers and then vacuum them clippings blown into the rough. Although we mow the fairways 6-7 days per week, we can’t miss an application of Primo or the clippings can get out of hand.
"Another change has been the time it takes the mowers to get around the golf course. With the density of the U3 being thicker than the common, the mowers have to go slower to achieve the quality of cut we are after.
"The biggest change has been the maintenance of the bunkers and the surrounding area of the bunker. We renovated all of the bunkers on the golf course and before, there were a few bunkers that you could get a mower right up to the lip of the bunker. During the renovation, we added 22 bunkers totaling 112 on the golf course. Now they all have the deep, vertical grass faces that Pete Dye is known well for. Last year we would have four guys do all of the fly mowing on the golf course. After the renovation, it takes six guys two days to complete all of the fly mowing.
"Right now I have 31 people on the maintenance staff and we are going to have to be around 38 to 40 staff members next year. After the USGA’s new ratings as the 2nd hardest course to play in the nation, I would put it right near the top as one of the hardest to maintain."
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