The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio are in full swing. But for the golf industry, the real show begins Thursday with the first round of play in the men’s golf competition, the first time since 1904 that the game has been an official Olympic sport.
The design and construction of the Rio Olympic Golf Course has been well-documented — take Howard Richman’s cover story in the August GCM, for example — but the story that develops on the golf course itself over the next two weeks will be just as notable.
That’s why we’re pleased that we’ve been able to secure the assistance of several individuals who will have a front-row seat to the proceedings as members of the crew tending to the golf course in Rio. They’ll be GCM’s eyes and ears on the ground in Rio, and one of those individuals who knows the course as well as any is David Doguet, the president of Bladerunner Farms, the world’s largest privately-owned zoysiagrass research facility. His company, based in Poteet, Texas, developed Zeon Zoysia, the turf planted on the fairways, tees and rough at the Olympic Golf Course.
David was instrumental in the planting and grow-in of the course built especially for the Olympics, and worked for the past three years to support the efforts of superintendent Neil Cleverly as he grew-in and maintained the new golf course.
Periodically over the next two weeks, David will be supplying us with words and photos from Rio, describing the work of the maintenance crew and the overall reaction of competitors to the new layout. Before he left for Rio, David shared with his us his thoughts about the project and the upcoming tournaments:
I was thrilled when I first heard that golf was going to be included in the Summer Olympics in Brazil. When the news broke that there was going to be a brand new course constructed for the event, my mind started working. Could I get them to use my grass?
At that time, I had just shipped a handful of Zeon sprigs to Marcelo Matte of Green Grass Brazil for a test in his home city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. I checked in with Marcello to see how the grass was doing and decided to make a trip down to see it myself to make sure the grass was doing well on the farm there before I started promoting it.
I flew to Porto Alegre and met with Marcelo to inspect the field of Zeon. It looked great! After the trip Marcelo kept me updated with pictures of the progress of the one acre field.
In the meantime, it was announced that Gil Hanse won the contract for the design of the Olympic Course and I realized I had a problem: I didn't know Gil Hanse. I was eventually introduced to him by my associates. Over a period of about six months we had several site visits in Brazil and here in the states, and Zeon was picked for the course.
Marcelo immediately expanded the Zeon production to his farm north of Rio, 1,000 miles away. It had to be planted and grown in several different times to meet the deadline for the course.
Did we make it? Yes, we did. The course was ready six months ahead of schedule to the delight of all involved, and the rest is history.
It's important that I also include Neil Cleverly in my comments. He is the golf course superintendent, a piece of work, and a great friend. We first met when he came to Texas to see my Zeon fields and to learn as much as he could about the grass. Neil is from England. I was concerned that he was not from the tropics and worried about him growing the grass in Rio. My worries were shortlived when I realized how much of a professional Neil is. He became a zoysia guru in a very short period of time. He grew in the grass on the course and maintained it to the highest standards, with the least amount of inputs imaginable for a championship course.
Why did we do it? Were we scared of such a big project? We knew that this was the first Olympic golf course ever built, and we wanted to be a part of it. We had no idea the challenges we would face along the way, and those are well documented in articles elsewhere. We just knew we wanted to be involved.
I will be reporting on the superintendent, Neil Cleverly, his staff, volunteers and their interaction with The International Golf Federation staff to provide the best playing surfaces possible. My hope is that I can give some perspective into the juggling act Neil will have to go through with the IGF, which is made up of the PGA Tour, the LPGA, the USGA, and the R&A.
I will be in Rio for the men’s and women’s events. I intend to make Olympic Golf a trip of a lifetime for me and my wife. I want to see the medal presentations. Experience and see the pride and joy on the winners faces when they accept their medals.
I have been dreaming about this event for a long time, since the first time I heard that there was going to be golf at the Olympics. My expectations are for a grass surface that will wow the players. Players coming away from the tournament exclaiming, that is the best surface I have ever played on. Will that happen? We will all know in a few weeks.
What does all of this mean for me and my company, Bladerunner Farms? I believe that the Olympic Golf Course is and will always be the biggest project that we will ever do. We are so proud and excited to be a part of it, and to see it in action.
I hope that the 3 billion people watching will agree that Gil, Neil, Marcelo, and myself did an exceptional job with the grass surface being played on by the best players in the world.
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