feature ◗ Marc Cousineau
Hole #3
Hole #16
Preparing for the PGA:
Glen Abbey readies for Canada’s largest golf tournment ◗ Preparing to welcome more than 150 world-renown men takes a while. Almost two years to be exact. It was in the fall of 2011 that the golf course management team at Glen Abbey Golf Club began getting ready for the 2013 PGA Canadian Open and transforming the course to challenge some of the greatest players in the world. And there was no better way to start doing so than to target a feature that draws the ire of players during the tournament; bunkers. “All the bunkers were renovated from wall to wall,” says superintendent Andrew Gyba. “This includes new drainage, fixing subgrades, putting in new sand and also going around and redoing all the sod work around the bunker, especially focusing on greenside bunkers. That was our biggest project.” Redoing bunkers was the groundwork, but Gyba and his team also looked a little higher to get the course in top shape for the Open. “We had to do a lot of tree work that had we had to get permits for, especially on our 11th tee, which is one of our signature holes,” says Gyba. “There was lots of overgrowth and it was well overdue for pruning, so we worked with a certified forester and the regional forester to go through the process and 20 greenMaster | www.golfsupers.com
open up the whole thing beautifully.” Trees and bunkers were the two biggest projects, according to Gyba, but the whole course had to be looked at very closely and upgraded where necessary. The team at Glen Abbey worked on re-sodding and focused on preparing the pro tee decks with a main goal of aerifying them at least four times a year. These projects demanded a lot of time and attention, but the hardest part is yet to come for Gyba and his team, says the six-year veteran superintendent. “One of our biggest obstacles will be the amount of play we’re going to have on the course prior to the tournament,” says Gyba. “It’s a very busy property. We’re going to be closed for a week prior to advance week and before that we’re going to have to be very diligent that the course doesn’t get too chewed before the pros get here.” Gyba says he will institute some practical measures to keep the course in pristine condition for when the PGA visits, including closing down and fencing off the pro tees, being “incredibly diligent” with repairing ball marks and having a team completely dedicated to filling divots. These on-course measures also come with off-course responsibilities; mainly balancing the intense conditioning of the course with member access. “The key to that is communication,” says
Gyba of managing member expectations. “It starts with conversations throughout the whole process. You can’t keep anything behind closed doors.” “We fully intend on communicating our full aeration schedule to members and working with our corporate events coordinator to make sure events around the time of aeration are okay with that. We’re also going to take full advantage of member newsletters and email blasts and member meetings to let the members know what to expect.” But there is an advantage when your course has hosted the Canadian Open as many times as Glen Abbey has, a total of 11 times in the last 20 years. “A lot of our members have been through the Canadian Open before,” says Gyba, “and a lot of the membership has a realistic expectation of what we have to do to prepare and they are as excited as the rest of us to see the pros play their home course.” Glen Abbey’s members may have a lot of Canadian Open experience, but Gyba, however, does not. Gyba’s learning curve has been steep, but it is part of what makes preparing for the tournament a great experience, he says. “It’s constantly a learning experience,” says Gyba of preparing for the tournament. “Probably one of the experiences that I