Course Superintendent At Mercy Of Nature

Mike Crawford begins his day at TPC at Sugarloaf at 6:30 a.m., going over the course and making a checklist of what needs to be done each day.

That is what the course superintendent can do. What he cannot do is create warmer temperatures and more sunlight for favorable grass-growing conditions.

Crawford must play the hand he is dealt and the hand he is dealt is a tournament that begins in Atlanta on the last day of March this year.

That means the temperature in the preceding weeks - vital for getting the course in shape - can have lows in the 30s and highs in the 40s. So when viewers tune in for the BellSouth Classic and fans show up for the tournament this week, they will see a two-tone course: drab olive - dormant - zoysia rough and bright green Bermuda grass fairways.

Along with bentgrass greens, Crawford said it was the intention of Greg Norman's design team to set up that visual contrast. But with the zoysia lying dormant, the contrast is perhaps a bit more than what was intended.

"It's definitely a challenge, agronomically," Crawford said. "We're still in winter mode. Spring temperatures haven't quite gotten here. It tests your strengths."

Unlike some courses, TPC at Sugarloaf does not "overseed." That means using one kind of seed that will grow in winter, usually rye grass, and another that will grow in summer, typically Bermuda, so that the course is green year-round.

More significant than whatever color, or lack thereof, the zoysia's dormancy might bring, it also affects the way the course plays. Unlike the way a course is prepared for a U.S. Open - notorious for jungle-thick rough - TPC at Sugarloaf is a bit more friendly.

"We really don't have a rough to speak of," Crawford said.

The last three years, the tournament's winners have been Zach Johnson, who shot a 13-under 275 and Ben Crane and Retief Goosen, who each shot 16-under 272s - fairly low scores.

However, this will be the last year in which the tournament is played with the dormant zoysia rough. Crawford said in time for next year's tournament, the club will remove the zoysia and replace it with Bermuda grass as part of a larger renovation of the course (the bunkers also will be restored to their original design).

Crawford said the PGA Tour Rules committee suggested the change in grass and that the club also was responding to comments made by its membership over the years. Even when zoysia is in bloom, Crawford said, it allows the ball to sit up, making for an easier shot. With Bermuda grass, the ball tends to sink deeper, causing players to have to cut through it to make their shot.

Crawford said the changes will make the course "more challenging."

About one week before the players arrive, Crawford makes sure that all of the course's playing areas are mowed every day. Normally, mowing is done three days per week so as not to stress the grass. But for about two weeks a year, different measures are in order to keep the course in ideal playing condition.

Now the superintendent just needs warmer temperatures and more sunshine to ensure optimum playing - and viewing - conditions.

"We're ready now," Crawford said.