BADGER TURF & GROUNDS CLUB Preparing Riviera for the Nissan Open By Christopher Chase, University of Wisconsin-Madison BACKGROUND received countless accolades throughout the years. Golf The Riviera Country Club,located in Pacific Palisades, Digest currently ranks the course twenty-second in the California,is truly one of golf'sgreatest treasures. George nation. C. Thomas began construction in 1920 and by comple- This course has seemed to transcend time, providing tion had created a golf course that would prove to be a a great test of golf in a beautiful environment. test for the best golfers in the world for years to come. Management, members, and golfers all believed that Since its opening, Riviera has served in two major capac- the Riviera was deserving and ready for another U.S. ities. It is a glamorous layout for Hollywood'selite as well Open. However, all that would change during the 1995 as a proving ground for serious golfers. The Riviera has PGA Championship. The Riviera was slated for the hosted the 1948 U.S. Open, 1983 PGA Championship, Nissan Open in February and the PGA Championship in 1995 PGA Championship, 1998 U.S. Senior Open, and is September. The greens at the time were showing signs the annual site of the Nissan Open. of age. They were over 50% Poa annua and had over One cannot discuss Riviera Country Club without an inch of thatch. Six months prior to the Nissan Open, mentioning Ben Hogan. Ben Hogan won the 1948 U.S. the decision was made to sod the greens with Open and two Nissan Opens at Riviera. Soon after, 'Crenshaw' washed sod. The sod took very well, and Riviera adopted the nickname "Hogan's Alley." Jack under normal circumstances, would have worked out Nicklaus includes the par 4 second hole and par 3 fourth fine, but two major tournaments proved too much for hole among his 18 favorite golf holes. The course has the young turf. 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Riviera's reputation was ruined water, the greens survived but were marginal at best for and it was doubtful it would ever host another PGAtour the Nissan Open. Due to shallow rooting, the superin- event. tendent was reluctant to mow at a low enough height Riviera would do the only thing they could to gain and was simply unable to go the 4 days without apply- back the trust of the PGA. They hired Paul Latshaw as ing water to the greens. The greens survived, but were their superintendents. He is arguably one of the best highly criticized for playing too slow. They were rolling superintendents in the country. More important, he is a mere 8 feet on the stimpmeter. After the Nissan Open, trusted by the USGAand the PGA. He is the only super- the club had 6 months to get the course ready for an intendent to have hosted the PGA Championship, the even bigger tournament-the PGA Championship. The Masters, and the U.S. Open. He has worked at Oakmont, week of the PGA Championship rolled around and Augusta National, Congressional, and Riviera. everyone was discussing the speed of the greens. It was made very clear by the PGA that the greens had to be GENERAL PREPARATIONS rolling at least 10 feet on the stimpmeter. The health of The Nissan Open is an annual event held at Riviera the bentgrass still was not up to par and in the week the week of February 14 through 21. Throughout the prior to the tournament, the superintendent pressed year, the course suffers significant cart damage. This his luck. He was double-cutting the greens and rolling damage becomes more apparent in the winter months them with I-ton rollers. At the start of the tournament, when the turf is exposed to colder weather and less sun- the greens were up to speed, but were suffering. The light. In addition, it is not always possible to accomplish greens gradually got worse throughout the weekend, all management goals because of limited staff and less and by Sunday, the PGA agronomist estimated that sunlight. Therefore, it is important to take preventative 70% of the turf was dead. Words cannot describe how measures well in advance to avoid problems nearer to poor the conditions of the greens were. The superin- the tournament. We decided to restrict carts to the paths only beginning January 1, thus giving the course tendent lost his job and the press was brutally honest about the greens. This was a major tournament with ample time to recover from cart traffic damage. This policy was also adhered to by the maintenance crew. The entire course was closed one week prior to the tour- nament to further lessen any foot traffic damage and to allow for the maintenance crew and volunteers to work make monel with unobstructed. PROFESSIONAl Volunteers are a vital part of every major golf tourna- preen. ment. With all PGA tour events, there are plenty of peo- Two active ingredients for superior control. ple willingto volunteer - we had superintendents, stu- dents from area turf schools, crew members from area The number-one consumer weed preventative, Preen", courses, sales representatives, and friends and family of is now available in a professional formulation. Professional crew members. We had young children filling in divots, superintendents mowing fairways and mothers of work- Preen" can get your customers on ers whipping greens. In total, we had over 100 people your call list when you need them. preparing the course for play. It is the responsibility of Early. If you're already doing beds the host superintendent to provide housing, transporta- tion, and meals for the volunteers, which is a task taken and shrubs, you'll love Professional well in advance. We booked 22 hotel rooms, 3 shuttle Preen's active ingredients - proven to buses, and catering service for the meals. control grassy and broadleaf weeds. The PGA sets various guidelines to assist the host superintendent in preparing the golf course. A PGAtour For information, stop by your agronomist visits the site months prior to the tourna- ment to evaluate the course. The main objective is to Authorized Lebanon Turf Products provide a golf course that tests the players' skill, is fair Dealer. Or call 1-800-233-0628 to all contestants, and that has consistent playing con- ditions in all areas of the course. About a week after the visit, the superintendent receives a report with neces- Frank Baden sary changes and recommendations. The Riviera is an Territory Manager annual PGA site so there were no drastic changes need- Bettendorf, IA ed. Obviously the Riviera membership wants the course (319) 332-9288 to play easier than tournament conditions. For the • THE GRASS ROOTS JULY/AUGUST 1999 BADGER TURF & GROUNDS CLUB Nissan Open, we had to narrow a number of fairways, the lights, areas of the green received no morning ~un- adjust mowing heights, and increase green speed. light and in the winter had less than 6 hours of sunlight. These lights have an adjustable crank shaft to raise and GREENS MANAGEMENT lower them. We ran the lights in accordance with the Putting greens are the most important area on any amount of daylight hours. Throughout the winter we ran golf course. During a PGA tournament, the emphasis on the lights approx-imately 12 hours on and 12 hours .off. quality greens is enormous. When players give their Now,in March, we are gradually increasing the duration. opinion on course conditions, they almost always com- These lights remain on their pedestals year round and ment exclusively on the putting greens. Given their cause very little disturbance to play. We removed them importance, it is the superintendent's main focus to prior to the Nissan Open. achieve perfect putting conditions. Ideally that means We also control putting green soil temperatures. We greens that are finn and fast. have below-ground thermostats under the greens that The Riviera has 107,000 ft2 of putting greens. They regulate the soil temperature through the winter consist of about 60% Poa annua and 40% bentgrass. months. If you never lived in Los Angeles, you would be The greens were constructed to USGA specifications very surprised just how cold the winters get. We had (80% sand/20% peat moss). Throughout the year, the frost delays on the course at least a dozen times and the greens are cut at a height of 0.125 inch. The greens are average morning temperatures throughout winter hand mowed with Jacobsen, 18-inch fixed reels. All ranged in the 30's to 40's. The Turf Temp (trademar:k mowers are equipped with Wiley rollers except for the name of machine that controls our soil temperature) IS clean-up mower, which uses the solid roller. We have usually turned on from November through March.