I saw this on another board...a note to the members of the course where the Houston Open is playing this week. Some details about course prep that may be of interest.
"Dear Members,
We are finally in advance week in preparation for the Shell Houston Open. I don't think we ever thought it would get here or that the weather would cooperate with us. Spring is definitely in the air! The trees are budding out, the pollen is falling, and the ryegrass is shining. We are shaping up for a great event as we are putting on the final touches.
Most of you don't get to see what it truly takes to pull off an event like this, especially with the course closed the week before. It is not your average Tour event either. Our maintenance crews are here before anybody else and we don't leave until well after everybody leaves. From the start of advance week to the last day of the event, there is not a single blade of grass that is not touched and groomed at least once a day. We mow and blow all of our roughs daily in one direction (towards the green), we mow and blow all fairways, approaches, and tees daily in one direction (towards the tee), and we hand mow and blow all of our bunker fingers and surrounds daily. Those 3 steps alone take in excess of 40 people. The mowing of the grass in one direction (opposite directions) helps to create a sharp contrast between short grass and rough. The repetitious mowing helps to keep the grass nice and tight but also helps lay the grass down at an angle that will create the contrast. Th e players will see the same thing when they travel to Augusta.
For the 4 acres of bunkers and pretty white sand, the work is just as intense as the mowing. We will spend most of this week with 4-8 men packing the sand with vibratory plate compactors that get the edges nice and firm. Not only does it help with fried egg/plugged lies, but it preps them for the grooming of the sand that takes place after. We will use a combination of a teeth rake and brooms to float the floors to the consistency that the Tour requires. You might actually see us watering them from time to time to keep it consistent. The players like it a little fluffy on the very top, but firm down below. All of these steps are in preparation of our daily hand raking that will take place during the event.
We saved the most intense work for the most important part of the course - the greens. We will spend most of this week cutting the greens 2-4 times per day (a morning and afternoon double or single cut) and rolling greens at least twice daily. We will begin working our cutting height down to achieve speeds that the Tour desires. It doesn't stop there. The other huge element of speed and consistency is all in the moisture content in the profile, which drives speed and firmness. I'm sure some of you have seen our little purple devices that we plug in the greens before we water. These devices are moisture sensors that give you a percentage of moisture content. We have a desired target percentage that we want the entire green to have and the meters let us know where to water. So, the big hill at the back of the green should have the same percentage as the low spot on the front. This creates consistency that the players love. Firmness and speed are two things you will hear th e players and announcers talking about next week.
I could write a novel on every detail that goes in to what we do to prepare. I hope I have given you a glimpse of what it takes. I didn't even mention all the meticulous edging of everything. There truly is no blade of grass that goes untouched. We hope you take as much pride in watching the event as we do in preparing the course for such a special event. We hope to see you out for the Shell Houston Open! Come by and watch us after play concludes each day - if you want to see 75+ guys on one hole prepping the course....it is quite a sight!
Randy Samoff
Golf Course Superintendent"