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THe North shore weekend
Conway Farms superintendent
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Doing business in and around Lake Forest for over 25 years! We may be the perfect alternative to having a “house sale.” Consider using Antique & Art Consignment Visit us at www.annasconsignment.com and see for yourself the fine quality of furniture we carry. Monday-Saturday 10-5 | Sunday 12-5
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46 hiBBard rd., Winnetka, il Awesome Chalet-style custom contemporary home on expansive 150x267 park-like grounds. Double-wide circular drive plus side drive & basketball ct.; 3.5 car att. garage. Center, double-door entry, party-sized foyer. Amazing 40x22 cathedral ceiling family rm./fpl; opens to wood deck; exquisite backyd. 1st-flr. den/bedrm; 5 bedrms 2nd-flr. Bonus 3rd-flr office. Front/back stairs. Fab. finished LL rec. rm., exercise rm., bathrm & sauna. $1,549,000 1100 Central Ave. Wilmette, IL 60091
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04/06 – 04/07/13
■ by
bob gariano
At this time of year, homeowners look out on their reappearing lawns and plan maintenance schedules that will bring their grass back to life. Imagine having more than 200 acres of property that will visited by several hundred tough critics while around 150,000 visitors walk across that grass in a single week. This is the daunting prospect faced by Chad Ball, the golf course superintendent at Conway Farms Golf Club, the site of this year’s FedEx BMW PGA Tournament. Chad is responsible for making sure that the golf course is in pristine condition for this event. Of course, he will have some help. Chad’s regular team at Conway Farms includes nine full-time, year-round employees and a dozen seasonal workers who report for duty each summer. During the tournament this fall, Chad will also coordinate more than 30 volunteers who will assist in keeping the grounds in order. The Conway Farms grounds crew maintains over 180 acres of golf course including 26 acres of fairways, three acres of greens, and four acres of tee boxes. These are all planted with penncross bentgrass, a special hardy variety of golf course grass that was developed by Professor Burt Musser at Pennsylvania State University in the mid-1950s. This grass rapidly replaced the standard bluegrass used on golf courses up until that time. Penncross bentgrass is so valuable today that the original strains are still jealously guarded in growing sheds at State College, Penn. The stolons are flown each year to Oregon, where they propagate on special turf farms for distribution throughout the golf course market in North America. Chad’s team also maintains Conway’s 40 acres of rough, which are sown with a blend of bluegrass. Conway also has 60 acres of natural prairie grasses. This last would seem to be maintenance free, but the natural prairie grasses must be mowed each autumn. These natural grasses are also prone to invasion from non-native weeds. In addition to the natural prairie, the club’s six acres of wetlands give the course some of its challenging character. These natural spaces are home to a variety of wildlife including deer, coyote, red foxes, owls, hawks, geese, ducks, and a community of smaller rodents. The grounds crew maintains the driving range, the practice tees, the sand bunkers, hundreds of trees and shrubs, flower and herb gardens, and flower pots. All this is under the demanding eyes of a membership committed to the traditions of golf and this year the PGA. “I came to Conway because it is a highend, walking-only golf club. We have more single-digit handicap members than any other club in the Chicago area,” Chad said.
“And I came because the commitment of Conway Farms is to contributing to the tradition of golf by hosting amateur events from all over the country. I have met with our course designer, Tom Fazio, on many occasions and this helps us preserve the tradition.” Chad, a Grand Rapids, Mich. native, has spent his entire career in golf-course maintenance, starting as a night water man at Cascade Hills Country Club. In 1980 he interrupted his career to attend Michigan State’s esteemed turf grass management program. After graduation he returned to work in progressively more important roles at several top golf clubs in the Milwaukee area, before coming to Conway Farms in 1995. The most skilled hands still need proper tools. Conway Farms has more than $1 million of course maintenance equipment. The six walking greens mowers are set at 0.100 inch height, the six tee box mowers are set exactly at 0.315 inch height, the four big riding gang mowers used on the fairways are set at 0.400 inch height, and the rough mowers are set at 3.000 inch height. “The PGA event will use mostly the back tees so the course will play at 7,216 yards. But, we have not made the course any harder than it normally plays. The PGA wants spectators to be entertained, and this means that people want to see eagles and birdies.” Water is the lifeblood of a golf course, especially in an area where severe summer droughts are common. “Everything we do from an irrigation standpoint is controlled by the weather,” he said. “We monitor temperature, humidity, and dew point and then our computerized watering system calculates the flow for each of our 1200 sprinkler heads on the property. We don’t need a night water man these days.” The irrigation system is made up of over 100 miles of PVC piping from the big 14-inch diameter supply pipes to the 1 1/2 inch distribution lines. All of the irrigation water comes from the three rainwater ponds on the course and these feed three pumps of 100, 60, and 30 horsepower each, located in the pump house adjacent to the 15th tee box. The pumps are cycled and controlled by a computer system that balances the supply. The pumps can supply water to the system at a maximum rate of 1,800 gallons each minute. The retention ponds are connected by underground culverts. In extreme drought conditions, the ponds can be replenished by a well that is located on the east side of the 15th fairway. This well can pump 300 gallons each minute. Hosting a major golf tournament is a honor for any club. But it is a particular compliment to the people who devote their careers to creating and maintaining a world-class course like Conway Farms. ■