Left: The 2019 Emirates Australian Open was the fourth time in six years that The Australian had hosted the tournament, taking its total to 21, the most of any other club in Australia
WORDS AND PHOTOS: BRETT ROBINSON
Above: The Australian’s tournament crew numbered 50, with 28 volunteers from across Australia and around the world assisting Phil Beal and his team
improved much by the time the tournament teed off on Thursday, with Kiwi professional and asthma sufferer Ryan Chisnall playing his opening round wearing a face mask. 2015 winner Matt Jones, who would eventually go on to win for a second time on a much clearer Sunday, commented after his first round that they were the worst conditions he had ever played in. “I’ve never experienced anything like this,” stated Jones. “Even when I played in China I don’t think it was like this at all. The smoke’s not good. It’s tough to see where your golf ball finishes. Your eyes do burn and I’ve got that
cough like you’ve got something in your lungs. It’s not fun.” For Beal and his tournament crew of 50, every morning they went out with backpack blowers to clear the greens of ash and in some cases burnt leaves that had settled on the course overnight prior to cutting. Indeed, all The Australian’s fleet of mowers and maintenance vehicles were covered in a thin veneer of black soot all week. “The conditions were pretty challenging to work in,” explains Beal. “The smoke haze was very bad early in the week and for the golfers the first round was probably the worst.
It cleared up by the weekend but the haze was still very visible. “Some of the guys on the crew wore masks while out on the course and quite rightly too. At one point on the Tuesday after lunch I was considering bringing everyone in as the smoke was that bad. Every morning there was ash everywhere and it looked a mess. It was amazing just how much there was. I don’t think it had an effect on the greens, but you just don’t know.”
DIALLING IN Despite such unique circumstances, Beal and his crew ended up producing another sublime stage for what was the club’s 21st hosting of the Open. Among some of the key practices to get the course up for the tournament in the months and weeks leading up to it included; l Poa annua infestation on the A1/A4 bentgrass greens proved a headache over the cooler months. Assistant superintendent Dave Smith and crew member Sean Breen spent numerous JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2020
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