To help the club celebrate its centennial in proper style, Lawrence CC’s course and grounds department has combined new technology with sound agronomics, while paying homage to the past.
The century mark is a major milestone for any organization, and Lawrence (Kan.) Country Club went all-out to celebrate its 100th anniversary this year.
In May, the property held a hickory-stick tournament, during which golfers—clad in plus-twos, plus-fours, sweaters and ties—played with hickory-handled clubs and mesh balls. The festivities continued in July with a weekend celebration that featured dinner by the pool for current and former members, as well as a putt, chip and drive contest. At a formal dinner on Saturday night, members were invited to tell stories during an open-mike session. A memorabilia display from the past 100 years included the club’s original by-laws, which were handwritten in an old book; the deed to the land that was purchased from the U.S. government; old scorecards; newspaper articles; and headcovers that golfers had used as youngsters.
Golf Scorecard
Lawrence Country Club
Location: Lawrence, Kan.
Website: www.lawrencecountryclub.com
Golf Holes: 18
Course Designer: Todd Clark
Property Type: Private
No. of Members: 350 golf, 150 social
Year Opened: 1914
Golf Season: April-November
Annual Rounds of Golf: 18,000
Fairways: G6/Crystal Bluelinks bentgrass
Greens: A4 bentgrass
Perhaps no one appreciates the property’s storied past as much as Golf Course Superintendent Bill Irving.
“I’ve really tried to pay attention to it,” he says. “I either know personally or have met all of the former superintendents at Lawrence Country Club, except one.”
Eye To the Future
Throughout its history, Lawrence CC, which originally opened as a nine-hole course in 1914, has honored its past while keeping an eye toward the future. In 1935, the property added nine holes and integrated the original nine to create a new 18-hole layout. The golf course was renovated again in 2005-06, with two primary objectives: improving water management and playability.
“The club showed great foresight to address water issues, which was the main basis for the renovation,” notes Irving. “A close second was that the golf course was just old and tired, but the layout is very similar to what it used to be.”
The renovation included installation of a modern irrigation system with remote control capabilities and individual head controls.
“When they renovated the golf course, they embraced the new technology,” Irving states.
The property also built new infrastructure that allows it to use trapped rainwater as a supplemental water source, and three holding ponds now enable the golf course to store water for later use.
“Two smaller ponds on the southern end of the course are tied into the main irrigation pond, and the water is gravity-fed to the main irrigation pond,” Irving explains.
Self-sufficiency has been a key result of the project as well. “Before the renovation, Lawrence Country Club was solely dependent on city water,” Irving reports.
Now, while the golf course no longer completely depends on the city for its water, the property still can buy water from the city if needed and pump it to the ponds.
Timely Improvements
All of the renovation work showed its worth in 2011 and 2012, when the Lawrence CC property went months without any precipitation. During that period, Irving says, the spacing of the heads in the new irrigation system allowed the maintenance staff to “get the most out of all of the water we had to buy.”
In addition, he continues, “When we had to use city water when the pump station was down for repairs, we had to use city pressure. But we know how to do it now, and we know how long it takes to irrigate using city pressure.”
The renovation project better prepared the property to handle the influx of too much water as well. As a cool-season golf course in the transition zone, Lawrence CC installed an extensive internal drainage system in the middle of the fairways, so it can quickly dry out wet, saturated turf.
“With the drainage infrastructure, there’s a big difference in the turnaround time between a major rain event and getting carts off the cart paths,” explains Irving. “We used to go days without going off the cart paths, but now it’s usually just one day that we restrict carts to the paths.”
The golf course maintenance staff also uses portable above-ground moisture sensors, primarily from May through September.
“We try to honor the traditions of the game and the traditions of Lawrence Country Club,” Irving says. “We understand that water is a commodity that has a great impact on how the course plays. When we use less water, it’s sound agronomics, and it pays homage to the way the golf course used to play. We embrace the firm, dry approach to managing turf.”
Prime Playability
From a playability standpoint, the course renovation included the replacement of pushup greens, which were sloped too severely to offer enough fair pin placements, with sand-based greens. The golf course also was lengthened as much as possible, and the fairways, tees, and greens were regrassed with new varieties of bluegrass.
Native areas were installed to creat no-mow zones, but natural spaces were also included in some areas that are in play “almost as a hazard,” Irving says, because of the distance that golf balls now travel.
“We go for playability first, and the aesthetics are a distant second,” he says.
Superintendent Profile
Bill Irving
Education: B.S. – Agricultural Sciences; University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Years at Lawrence CC: 7
Years in Golf Course Maintenance: 18
Previous Employment: Superintendent, Kearney (Neb.) Country Club
Certifications: State of Kansas Certified Pesticide Applicator
After all, aesthetics add expense, and Irving is charged with managing resources, his budget, and turf conditions to maintain an important asset for the Lawrence CC members. And the club’s golfers have accepted the need to sometimes sacrifice looks for sound agronomics, he reports.
“When the conditions warrant that we need to be cautious and careful with our water, most members are OK with a little brown on the edges of the fairways and rough,” Irving says.
He also relies on growth regulators, which can reduce the amount of time the crew needs to mow the golf course, to keep the turf in top condition. The maintenance staff typically mows the fairways and approaches twice a week, and the greens four or five times a week. In the summer, however, the staff mows the greens less frequently and increases the mowing height. “You can have slow grass or fast dirt—take your pick,” says Irving.
Fairness for All
Creating a balance between agronomic inputs and fair playing conditions is another important objective for Lawrence CC’s grounds crew. “The golf course for our members is our number-one priority,” says Head Golf Professional Kristen Samp, who played professionally for 11 years and competed on the LPGA Tour for four seasons. “The golf course brings people here. We want it to be our star.”
Good Neighbors
Golf course superintendents across the nation can turn to the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) any time they need resources or support. Bill Irving, Golf Course Superintendent at Lawrence (Kan.) Country Club, has developed particularly close ties with the GCSAA, which is headquartered in Lawrence. In fact, the proximity to the GCSAA was one of the perks that attracted Irving—who gives time to GCSAA committees and sometimes speaks or chairs sessions at the Golf Industry Show—to the superintendent’s position at the property.
“I get a lot of support from them whenever I need anything,” he says. When the 2012 Women’s Big 12 Golf Championship was held at the club, for example, many GCSAA staff members provided tournament support to the grounds crew. Several GCSAA employees belong to Lawrence CC, and a GCSAA employee league plays golf at the property.
“Most of my members know I have a relationship with [the GCSAA],” says Irving, and that knowledge helps to add credibility to how he cares for the course, he feels.
Irving frequently invites GCSAA staff members to visit his shop, where he can show them his maintenance equipment, demonstrate how to set the height on a mower, or explain why a golf course is mowed at different heights. All aspects of his especially close relationship with the association serve to “make my [GCSAA] membership a bit more tangible,” he says.
Sometimes, however, the course has to share star power with other golf luminaries. Some PGA Tour pros, including long-hitting Gary Woodland, play regularly at Lawrence CC, and as a result the grounds crew tries to keep course conditions similar to those at PGA Tour tournament venues. The property was also the site of the 2012 Women’s Big 12 Golf Championship, for which the greens were firm and dry.
Communication with all who use the course is important to keep conditions fair for golfers of all playing abilities, Irving says. “We solicit feedback from people with high and low handicaps,” he reports. “We don’t want the high-handicap people to get frustrated.”
“We can put the pins in very different locations,” he notes. “We’re not afraid to make some of the holes difficult, but we don’t want to make every one difficult. It’s a fine balance.”
Low handicappers can challenge themselves by playing from back tees. The staff can also roll the greens to make them firmer and faster or put the pins in tougher locations.
Irving tries to make himself readily accessible to all members and players, to make it easy for everyone to offer their input about playability and course conditions.
“Everybody gets an equal voice,” he states. “I like to stop and talk to members when I see groups out on the golf course, or I’ll have a beer with them and solicit their input. Sometimes, I don’t have to solicit it at all.”
The Lawrence CC greens, which average slightly more than 5,000 sq. ft., have a lot of movement for their size, Irving notes. He also cites the maintenance staff’s greens management program as a key to keeping the putting surfaces quick and firm.
Course & Grounds Profile
Lawrence Country Club
Annual Course Maintenance Budget: $700,000
Staff: Seven full-time, including golf course superintendent, assistant golf course superintendent, and equipment manager
Other Managers: Graham Edelman, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent; Ward “JJ” Shull, Equipment Manager; Pablo Morales, Spray Technician; Francisco Tellez, Irrigation Technician
Irrigation System: 800 heads – Rainbird Stratus central control
Water Source and Usage: Pond/municipal water
Equipment: Own all maintenance equipment. Mostly John Deere with some Toro. Major pieces include two fairway mowers, one larger rough mower, and 15 walking mowers.
Technology: Entire course is GPS-mapped
Maintenance Facility: New maintenance building constructed in 2006 includes offices for golf course superintendent, assistant golf course superintendent, and irrigation technician; break room; men’s and women’s locker rooms, and mechanic’s shop. Old shop (1995) includes cold storage, chemical storage, and fertilizer/chemical mixing area.
Aerating and Overseeding Schedules: Aerate greens 2 times/year in April and September, tees 1-2 times/year in April and September, and fairways 1-2 times/year in fall and spring. Overseed tees and fairways as needed.
Upcoming Capital Projects: None—entire property renovated 2005-06
Duties and Responsibilities: Oversee all grounds and property outside of clubhouse. Give the membership the best golf course possible within budget.
“I’ve played in three U.S. Opens, and these greens rival that,” says Samp. “Bill is proud of that; he stakes his reputation on it.”
To keep golf balls rolling true, Irving is not afraid to push the grass to its limits and have controlled loss, rather than lose grass because of negligence or inattention.
“There are two types of superintendents—those that lose grass and those that are gonna,” Irving says. “We have lost a lot of grass to find the right balance of playability and aesthetics.”
Drier turf offers other benefits as well, he notes.
“The drier we can keep the golf course, the less disease we have,” he says. “I would rather have dry turf with a little wilt than super-wet, happy grass that’s full of disease. If the turf is too dry, that’s easy to solve. If it’s too wet, disease could cost you a lot of money in a hurry.”
Hub of Communication
Irving works closely with Samp and General Manager Rheanne Etkin, who both assumed their positions in February, and communicates with them daily.
For Etkin, golf course maintenance is a family affair. Her husband is an assistant golf course superintendent who studied turf management at Kansas State University, and her oldest brother is a golf course superintendent as well. “She’s extremely savvy to the business,” Irving says. “She knows the lingo.”
Samp, who previously worked as an assistant pro and head teaching pro at Lawrence CC, is equally in tune with the golf course management side of the business.
“When she first started working here six years ago, she and her sister mowed greens for us on the weekends to get extra cash,” notes Irving.
The three managers also get together at a weekly staff meeting of department heads, and Irving and Etkin eat lunch together once or twice a week. “It can be easier to meet in smaller time increments,” says Irving.
And often, informal conversations are the most effective.
“My assistant and I stop by the golf shop frequently to check the tee sheets and get feedback from them,” says Irving. “Formal meetings aren’t necessary because we communicate so frequently.”
Samp confirms that this arrangement benefits everyone.
“We talk to Bill and his assistant every day, and Bill usually relays information to Rheanne,” she adds. “The golf shop is the hub of the communication. Everyone comes in here for information.”
Irving and Samp also collaborate on golf course matters ranging from aerification to tournament schedules.
“Nothing gets on the schedule without Bill’s approval,” Samp says. “We can be flexible with when we schedule things, but there are only certain times that you can do some things on the golf course.”
Common-Sense Practices
Irving hopes the same guiding principles and sound judgment will still be in place when Lawrence CC celebrates its bicentennial.
“We want to have the best possible golf course that we can, within the means that we are allowed,” he says. “Water will only get more expensive. We try to implement as many common-sense practices as we can.”
He also looks forward to how Lawrence CC’s members will be able to continue to appreciate what’s at their disposal.
“The golf course is fun to play. It’s not well-known by the standards of other golf courses, but we have a good country club in a nice town in eastern Kansas, between Kansas City and Topeka,” he says. “We have a real gem here.”
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