Brave new world

Jim Nicol's list of "things they never taught us in turf school" got a new entry on Monday night — how to move a 10-ton crane truck across a golf course on the eve of a major championship.

That opportunity presented itself shortly after 6 o'clock on what had been a fairly uneventful first night of PGA Championship week for Hazeltine National's superintendent. The only mild concern was a small area of showers that were approaching the course from the west, but they were light in nature, there had been no lightning associated with them and the 30-year GCSAA member figured most of his maintenance teams would be off the course by the time the rains came.

Then, Nicol's radio crackled to life. CBS needed to get a large crane truck in place off the 15th hole. If you're not familiar with the layout at Hazeltine, the 15th hole is a long, long par-5 that plays downhill toward the shores of Hazeltine Lake, which borders the northern edge of the property. The only way to get a truck in from that end is by boat, so this truck was going to have to enter from the other side of the course and cut across several holes before it reached it's spot on 15.

If Nicol was concerned about what was about to happen, he didn't show it. He's been around the business for almost four decades and took the news in stride. "Have them come in by maintenance and I'll meet them at the gate over by 7," he said into his radio.

His passengers in his four-person cart were a different story. On this afternoon, Nicol is being shadowed by Chris Zugel and Emily Shircel from Whistling Straits, which will play host to next year's PGA Championship. Zugel, the superintendent on the Straits Course and a 12-year GCSAA member, and Shircel, his top assistant and a four-year member of GCSAA, were taking notes in advance of their own tournament, and noticeably raised their eyebrows when they heard a huge truck would be rolling over the perfectly manicured grasses at Hazeltine.

 Not to worry; Nicol had a plan. Sending some of his crew to meet up with CBS workers at the 11th hole, where the truck would have to make its most significant move across a fairway, Nicol found the truck and a few CBS officials waiting for him near No. 7. "So you want to bring that thing across my golf course? I don't think so," he joked with one official. "Hey, it's the only way to present this spectacular golf course in true high definition," the official shot back with a laugh.

Because Hazeltine routinely plays host to major golf events, a certain amount of permanent infrastructure work has been done around the property — power, cables, etc. — and that includes a wide paved path — maybe three times as wide as a normal cart path — designed to ease the impact on turfgrass when heavy equipment needs to move through the course. Designed, it would seem, for times just like this one.

Nicol took up a lead position in the procession and guided the truck across No. 7, up along the third hole on the right and then the second hole on the left before bringing the parade to a stop above a small hill that led down to a spectator walkway across the 11th hole. There, crews were laying down thick pieces of plywood to create a temporary pathway for the truck to use, offering some protection to the grass but, more importantly, protecting drainage tiles and irrigation lines that ran through that area.

Slowly, the truck made its way down the hill and onto the first section of plywood. As it left sections of plywood behind, crews would quickly grab them and race around the front of the truck to further extend the path. Several times, crews had to halt the truck's process when it came perilously lose to rolling off the plywood path. But after about 10 minutes of slow progress, the truck cleared the 11th fairway and safely moved into its place off 15.

 And even though Nicol had shown little concern about the move before and while it was happening, there was a distinct sense of relief in the air now that it was over. "Just another day as a golf course superintendent," he joked with his visitor's from Whistling Straits.

And just another thing that they never teach you in turf school.

Comments

[John Kaminski]

Dear GCM,

Perhaps Jim would be willing to come back to his alma mater and teach this class to future golf course superintendents. Tell him, he can bring Emily (PSU alum, class of '05) with him! All the best to Jim and his crew for a great week.

WE ARE...

John

[Scott Hollister]

Hi John! I'm sure he would love to give back to the ol' alma mater. Plenty of other Penn Staters around here this week — assistant Joe Maloney, bumped into Scottie Hines. Hope all is well and thanks for reading the blog!

Scott Hollister
GCM Editor