Beijing elements challenge staff
Getting a world-class golf course into perfect condition ahead of a major competition is a challenge anywhere in the world. In Beijing, it's even more difficult because of the cold winter and dry climate.
Robert Barnes, director of golf course maintenance at Pine Valley, reckons he is more than equal to the task and outlines some of the steps he has taken to make sure the resort is ready.
'Everyone here at Pine Valley is very excited about this premier golf tournament coming to our facility, but in order to make this tournament as successful as possible we knew we had to make some changes to the golf course and also the training of the staff,' Barnes says.
Planning begins months in advance - the team have been preparing for this tournament for six months.
'When the European Tour came to Pine Valley in November of 2004 there was some discussion about the course layout. In today's golfing arena there is more emphasis on making the courses more challenging. Pine Valley was no different and the European Tour wanted to make this golf course as challenging for the pros as possible,' says Barnes.
In order to toughen up the course, his team built a new pro tee box on the 18th hole, which added an additional 22 yards to the hole and made it more challenging, demanding greater care in club selection.
On holes four and 16, Pine Valley has added trees in strategic areas to make the accuracy off the tee of prime importance.
Then there is the Beijing winter. Getting plenty of course preparation done in the dormant winter period was crucial in ensuring Pine Valley would be in tip-top tournament condition, particularly as the Beijing winter really only ends in early March. 'Making small holes in the greens and tees is done in early March to help get air into the root area to make the turf as healthy as possible for the tournament, which puts a lot of stress on the turf,' Barnes says.
In tournament week, the Pine Valley maintenance team will cut the grass on the course before play in the morning and then return later that day and cut the course again, including greens, tees, fairways, and semi rough.
'All divots have to be filled with sand prior to the next day's rounds. The entire course will need to be cut in 3? hours so play can start at 6:45am.
'This will provide the pros with the best playing surface possible,' he says.
The greens will be double cut at 2.5mm and rolled if needed to get them to European Tour standard speed for tournaments - 10.5 to 11.0 on the stimpmeter. The tee boxes will be cut at 6mm and fairways at 10mm.
'The rough height will be approximately 90mm for tournament week. When holding a tournament of this magnitude, Pine Valley will increase the amount of equipment and crew for the weeks leading up to the tournament,' Barnes says.
Preparations also include making sure the maintenance team are trained to follow the strict guidelines of the European Tour and ensuring the staff are up to speed with tournament preparation and cultural practices for the week of the event.
'All of this preparation along with narrowing the fairways, increasing the green speed to tournament standards, letting the rough grow higher and the hole placement will help to 'toughen-up' the course to challenge some of the best players in the world,' Barnes says.
