Preparing to host the U.S. Senior Open in the summer of 2017 means that the Peabody, Mass. club is doing everything it can this year to protect its golf course and grounds against winter damage, as the staff seeks to avoid the last-minute scrambling it had to do when it last held the event, in 2001.
For the second time in its history and the first time in 16 years, the U.S. Senior Open will be held at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass. in the summer of 2017, the Daily News of Newburyport, Mass. reported.
The renowned tournament was played at the historic Peabody course back in 2001 and is slated to return this coming June, the Daily News reported, when dozens of the world’s top senior golfers will battle it out on the challenging Donald Ross layout with hopes of bringing home the coveted Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy.
And while six months may seem like a long time out, the Daily News noted, preparation at Salem CC for the summer of 2017’s premier senior golf event is already in full force, as the club’s staff, and in particular its course-and-grounds department, seeks to do all it can to avoid a repeat of its initial experience, when a brutally cold and nagging winter forced a delayed seasonal open at Salem CC and left the crew in scrambling mode in preparation for the big event.
“It was really tough,” Salem CC’s long-time Golf Course Superintendent, Kip Tyler, told the Daily News. “Everything was good going into the winter, but then all the ice built up and there was a lot of dead grass. It took us a while to get the course back to good playing conditions; I think the course stayed closed until late May.”
While there’s nothing anyone can do to fully prevent such conditions, the Daily News reported, there are still things that Tyler and his crew can do to limit the likelihood, or impact, of a repeat. And they have already launched a careful and strategic approach designed to try to protect the course’s fairways, greens and tee boxes as much as possible during this offseason.
This winter, the Daily News reported, Tyler and his full-time staff are working around the clock to make sure they do everything they can to prepare the course for New England’s coldest season. Whether that’s removing leaves to prevent the suffocation of grass or covering precious putting greens with a variety of tarps or covers, they are precautions that must be taken. It’s a tedious process, but one that can’t be taken lightly.
“Every day is different, and Mother Nature dictates what we do and how we do it,” said Tyler. “It always keeps it interesting.”
Step one has involved the permeable and impermeable green covers that are being carefully placed on a number of putting surfaces throughout the 6,900-yard layout. Deciding whether to use a permeable or impermeable cover depends on sun exposure and tree cover, and some greens are left untouched.
This winter, the Daily News reported, there will be even more fine-cut grass to protect and take care of, due to the course’s newly formed greens to resemble Donald Ross’ original design from 1925. Many greens were extended in the corners to fulfill that design and give the course a “classic” look, through a process that was impressively completed in full over the past year.
But bigger greens or not, while there’s no guarantee that the course will immediately return to its immaculate form come spring, Tyler and his crew are going to do all they can to have it ready for the Senior Open’s opening tee-off June 26.
“You want gradually colder weather so the grass can slowly go dormant,” Tyler said of what would be an ideal winter for the course. “Snow is good, and ideally you eventually want frozen ground and snow cover.”
But in the end, Tyler admitted, “There’s not much we can do over the winter except to wait it out.”
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