Final Thoughts about St. George’s

 

While I think the final score was quite acceptable and the golf course drew rave reviews from everyone there, I worried about what the membership thought as the tournament progressed through the week. They must have been surprised by the number of players under par on the opening day, left wondering after the leading scores were already double digits after the second day and were completely flabbergasted to have a player shoot 60 on the third day.

 

This was all a big surprise for them since all week the players talked about the course being tough. It’s not easy for a member to watch the professional players take apart the course you hold so dear. Although I think the final day was what they needed to be assured that under drier conditions it would have been a much tougher test for the professionals.

 

I think this week was a huge success. Keith Bartlett did a wonderful job of managing the speed and presenting the course in outstanding condition (particularly considering the complications). I hope that the members are proud of their course and more importantly listened to the comments of players and the media rather than about the score. This is one of the best courses we have. It should be the foundation of a rotation of only the best courses and I hope that the RCGA and St. George’s figure out how to return for 2016

 

 

Understanding Heat Stress on Turf and what it means at Your Course

 

The current run of high temperatures, excessive rainfall, and high humidity are pushing our turf to its limits. Cool-season turfgrass such as Bent and Poa are under severe stress as temperatures climb and humidity remains high," Southern Ontario is experiencing unprecedented heat and humidity this summer and this will impact your course.

 

When you think about turfgrass, it’s always under stress. It begins by cutting turf to a lower height than it’s accustomed to, its increased when we have extensive foot traffic and it becomes problematic when other factors such as heat, drought or disease pushes it to the limit. We are in one of the more challenging periods we have seen for quite some time.

 

The answer is to back off on mowing, both in height and frequency, but we all know members don’t like that. While there may be some short-term impact on conditioning the alternative is the loss of grass and potential closure of greens.

 

I’m sure some members will assume that additional water will cool the green off, but they fail to realize that this is heat stress and not drought stress. The water can be counter-productive if the quality is poor or the course is already saturated since this will increase the chance of a disease outbreak that can be even worse.

 

So what should you expect at your course? This is beyond normal. Don’t be surprised to see the following: the mowing heights will be raised, cutting frequency reduced, all cultural practices cancelled, no double cutting or rolling for an event, frequent hand watering in small amounts, no applications of fertilizer, more control over the carts.

 

You need to understand some courses will weather this better than others, but most are barely hanging on. What is important right now is to manage the golf course in a manner so that turf can be kept alive until that point. This is an excellent time for you as a member to support the superintendent and allow them the flexibility they need to save your course for another day.

 

 

 

10. Things about St. George’s that you may not know.

 

1. Every single green was rebuilt in the mid 1930’s because the turf failed. While the contractor and costs were documented, there is no mention Thompson providing any supervision.

 

2. The 17^th and 18^th were originally back to back par fives

 

3. The fourth was the best four on the course and they changed the hole for the 1968 Canadian Open. The green is still there in the second landing.

 

4. The 16^th used to have a boomerang green with the lower part in front of the right bunker.

 

5. There were already 8 bunkers removed by 1938 and bunkers were removed at a pretty steady clip in the 60’s and 70’s.

 

6. The bunkers on the left of the 12^th hole were made deeper when Stanley Thompson added an extra 6 feet of fill to both the original hillocks

 

7. The clubhouse was not on the other side of the road because the golf course was in a dry county and the clubhouse was in a wet one, it was relocated there to sell houses since this was the first Toronto course not on a rail or streetcar line

 

8. The original clubhouse location was between the 1^st green, 2^nd tee, 10^th green and 11^th tee which would have left returning nines

 

9. The 15^th hole was a long four and finished with a blind green behind a large bunkered rise on the right. The green is still there, but the rise and bunkers are not. I have a great photo of it.

 

 

10. The original par three third was blind from an elevated tee. The rebuilt hole was designed by Robbie Robinson to be a Redan but the hill did not generate the projected fill and they revised the design to what it is today.

 

July 22nd, 2010

 

What Does the Canadian Open at St. George’s mean to me?

 

The most common question I have received this week is, “What does the Canadian Open being played at St. George’s mean to you?�

 

I’m really excited that the Canadian Open is going to one of Canada’s top courses. We only have a handful of truly great courses and St. George’s is one of the very best of all of them. I think the players will enjoy the challenge that the course presents, but I think they’ll also be blown away by the magnificent architecture. As Nathan Green said, "St. George's may have the best bunkers I have ever seen." St. George’s is one of the greatest pieces of architecture Canadian golf has.

  

I was thrilled to be given the responsibility to restore the bunkers and do numerous other projects while I worked for Carrick Design. The restoration was accurate, very well received, and certainly helped put the focus back on Stanley Thompson’s excellent architecture. That meant everything to me.

 

I not worried about how the course will hold up or whether the venue works well. The course is excellent and the people at the RCGA have enough experience to manage this. I hope the week goes well since I would prefer St. George's to become part of a regular rotation of excellent courses, but I think logistics will become the issue rather than golf course. We'll find out soon enough.

 

I’ll watch the play and revel in the architecture.

 

July 20th, 2010

Halifax