8/9/2021 - By Mike Hess

Hundreds of people, vehicles all zipping through the same turf, TV crews building temporary newscasting platforms, enough foot traffic from just the pros and their teams to match a regular 200 round day, and to top it all off, you have a 120-person shotgun at 1:00pm the next day. Needless to say, there isn’t a whole lot of time for recovery in between events. At least this was the story for Alex Stuedemann, Director of Golf Course Maintenance at TPC Deere Run, whom I had the opportunity to speak with regarding the course.

Deere Run hosted the John Deere classic over July 7th-11th 2021, bringing in hundreds of spectators, multiple newscast teams, and plenty of competitors to fill up the brackets. An event such as this hold some obvious challenges organizationally, with the amount of people and movement alone, but with a team like Alex’s and the preparations they made, by the start of the tournament everything was set to go. Though the tournament itself went very smoothly and everyone involved had a great time throughout, we’re here to talk about what happens immediately after and how the course gets back on its feet.

Alex has been with the PGA Tour for 22 years, doing various events with TPC Twin Cities, TPC Deere Run, and TPC San Antonio. He started in the industry through a high school job, but quickly turned it into a passion, and Alex obviously has a knack for it.

When I asked him how the recovery process begins and what they’re looking for following this large of a tournament he said, “We still try and hit the main playing corridor, that’s the most important part, cause of course that’s where 90% of the golfers end up. We’re looking at any kind of wear we may have had, player crosswalks, guest crosswalks, you name it.” Due to the amount of sudden traffic on the course, one of the most important things they must begin doing, is aerifying the playing surfaces, loosening them up for growth to happen. There is not much down time between events on the course, so making sure business as usual can resume almost immediately is an absolute must.

However, before regular play began again on the course, there were only about six-hours of prep. While this is a thin timeframe, it leaves enough time for the team to assess the state of the course, find their areas of concentration (what they may need to block off, re-sod, aerify, etc.), and give the turf some room to breathe. As Alex and I continued talking, it became clear that there is no grand long recovery following a tournament. They don’t have to shut down, there isn’t a huge gap period between events and regular play, and no miracle product to instantly bring the turf back. The key to recovery lies in the preparation.

Being consistent with your applications and treatments throughout the year and ensuring that all turf areas are at their strongest, offers the peace of mind knowing that going into a tournament, the damage your turf receives won’t be nearly as bad as an unprepared turf. “Each year is just a little different. The biggest thing with tournament recovery, that I’ve found, is it’s more mental for everybody, especially going into the tournament pristine. It’s a fallacy to think that you’ll come out of it looking the same way, whether you’re inside or outside the ropes.” It takes some patience, aerating to give the turf space, and then allowing it to grow. With the proper supplemental nutrition applied before and after a tournament, this recovery time could be marginal, you just have to let the grass re-strengthen and return to normalcy.

When asked about the big changes in maintenance that come close to an event, Alex talked about how it really isn’t a drastic change, but more of a frequency change to suit the needs of the next few days. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s all about the preparation through the year, though the intensity does increase as events come. Top dressing, aerification, keeping the growing profile active, reducing compaction and increasing air flow to get the turf as healthy and receptive as possible through tournament time. If any supplements are needed, they add them into their daily plan, to build it up as strong as possible on top of the foundation which is already in place. For Alex, this foundation consists of a combination of custom granular blends in the fall, which they complement with the Harrell’sMAX® line of products for the growing season. But if that foundation is shaky, the rest of the treatments are more or less for not.

Alex always makes sure his crew is on the same page and ready for changes when they come. The week of the tournament, Deere Run was getting much more rain than they are used to this time of year, obviously this causes a lot more strain on the turf. However, the crew was ready for this weather and was able to prepare the turf and course appropriately, as it rained throughout the event, leading to less damage following. Having a strong crew who is trained to roll with the punches and fit the needs of the course when hurdles come up, is absolutely essential on all courses, but especially with an event on the horizon.

About tournament recovery:

• The best way to recover later is to prep before.
• Increasing intensity only helps on top of your existing prep but is not sustainable long term.
• Giving the turf room to breathe and grow following the event is the best immediate recovery. Close areas off and let the turf do its work.
• Training your already all-star crew to roll with the punches and grow as they go will help in any scenario.
• And of course, as Alex said, “Always being responsible environmental stewards, but also recognizing that we want to return this golf course to the way it was leading up to the event.”