Here's a list of the best "playability" supers I know who are actually doing it, can do it in a heartbeat because they completely know how. I'm going to add to the list one at a time and maybe in a week my list will be complete of all those I know who are logically only in and around my region because that's what I mostly see and know. Others should start their own posts and lists on some of the real "playability" supers out there they know about;
1. Scott Anderson--Huntingdon Valley GC.
Personally, I've got to put Scott Anderson at the top of the list of the "Playability" or IMM Hall of Fame because he's done it longer than anyone I'm aware of and he was actually the first to tell me that this could be done on a consistent basis, weather premitting, of course (although he says he learned it from a guy in New Jersey who's done it longer than him). We're talking over twenty years ago, maybe even twenty five years now and back then he was out there virtually all alone with no one really to turn to for advice in the business, including the USGA back then. Becausr of that what he did could truly be termed OJT (on the job training)!
2. Bill Salinetti---NGLA
The firm and fast "playability" on this golf course may be some of the most impressive out there day in and day out. Is it getting near the extreme for the health and well-being of the golf course? I don't know, it may be---one would need to ask Bill about that. The point is the membership is demanding it and he's really producing it. If you want to see what extreme firm and fast playability is all about I'd recommend you try Oakmont right now and NGLA.
3. John Zimmers----Oakmont
I only know him slightly but I've been out there some recently and Oakmont which of course is about three weeks from the US Open is about the ultimate in ideal playability. The thing to notice about a course in this condition is how super fast it is throughout even though it's not brown. It has that hue I call "The light green sheen" that is an unbelievably awesome look but which is generally an indication of big budget clubs that have huge resources and manpower. The best of the supers I know who've seen Oakmont in the last few years say that JohnZ may be the one who's at the very top of their game right now.
4. Matt Shaeffer---Merion GC
This guy's the best. What an attitude and what a sense of humor about his job and his course. He said: "To maintain a course like this one this way you almost have to be married to it." He said he basically hates his grass because he loves his course so much, particularly this way, and he says his grass sort of likes to stand in the way of that unless he really pays attention to all its little and odd idiosyncracies with the goal of basically balancing them all out. He says he needed to get all of it on the same page or at the same table, so to speak, so it doesn't have to be constantly micro-managed individually ten ways to Sunday. I can't remember if he said the grass on the 11th or the 15th green is having a family spat with the grass on 13th green right now, but he might have. Matt is also about the best and most willing advisor to other clubs who want advice that we know of. He tells them the entire truth about the entire thing including the money if they think they want to do and need to do what Merion East is doing---and if they can't or don't want to spend that kind of money then they need to learn to understand the best they can get with what they have. That "light green sheen"? You should see Merion East that way right now.
5. John Goesslin---Aronimink GC
I think John has done a wonderful job in the last two years on the F&F playability of Aronimink. I really like his style towards his job. It seems like he works to simplify the business of agronomy rather than complicate it.
6. Mark Michaud---Shinnecock GC
I get the feeling there is nothing at all Mark can't handle. He's got an aura of confidence that would be hugely comforting to any club anywhere. Like JohnG it seems like he tends to simplify issues rather then unnecessarily complicate them but I guess that's something that does come with real talent and confidence. Personally, I'd love to see Shinnecock drier and faster particually "through the green" but apparently the membership really isn't all that into it. But if they do get into it I would love to see that course the way he could deliver it that way.
7. Scott May---Manufacturers GC
Scott is really into firm and fast playability and has been. Now the membership seems to be really getting into it too. He manages rye grass fairways in Philadelphia. He's one of our best and most willing advisors and question answer guys. The tree removal and Forse restoration project combined with Scott May's superintendency is going to be making Manufacturers "playability" really shine.
8. Bob Sawicki----Gulph Mills GC
Bob was Mike Smith's first assistant and he took over from Mike a couple of years ago. Mike began to transition the course into firm and fast playability after about 20 years of basically over-irrigation. I think we are most of the way home now and the course is really getting the attention of golfers now who say they can't remember it playing this good. Bob is really into it---it's his goal.
9. Donnie Beck----Fishers Island GC
Donnie manages one of the last of the great American golf courses that basically has minimal to no fairway irrigation. The course therefore sort of represents the look and play of Nature's weather spectrum and it can get very cool to play and to see when dry spells hit. Fishers Island must be one of the closest things to some of the great old courses of GB courses because of this. A summer or two ago Donnie claimed he had his fairways bouncing and rolling to the tune of about 100 yards! Donnie fishes a lot.
10. Matt Burrows---New Haven CC
I shouldn't say that no super tries to ultra dry out his course without the membership on board. Actually Matt did.
This guy is crazy, but that's what it takes sometimes. If the membership actually did give him a real F&F green light, watch out, New Haven would be unbelievable.