Valhalla Golf Club to host the Senior PGA Championship in 2014
Senior PGA Championship is to return to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky from May 26-29, 2014. The venue has hosted the Ryder Cup in 2008, the 2004 Senior PGA Championship and the PGA Championship in 1996 and 2000.
The news was confirmed by the Golf Course Superintendents' Association of America (GCSAA) Class A golf course superintendent, Roger Meier, in an interview. He disclosed the big news and said that he has been working on the course
to prepare it for the big event.
Meier, who worked for Chariot Run Golf Club for five years, came to Valhalla last year and took up the responsibility of rebuilding the greens and the fairway grass after it was destroyed by the flood.
Meier recovered the course from the affects of the hot and wet summer. He utilised his knowledge of turf grasses and was successful in bringing the course to an outstanding condition. In addition to that, he used bent grass on
the greens to make them smoother, faster and firmer.
After working on the course, Meier received an encouraging response from the experts. They said that the rough was really tough, which would make the ball sit down. Hence, in order to card a low number, the player would have to
keep the ball on the fairway.
Meier also shed light on the changes that he brought to the fairways and the hazards. He said that his team of 30 people, which included superintendents, assistant superintendents, internees, turf grass students and industry experts
had been drying the wet fairways and bridging the tees from the bunkers.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Meier stated, “We finally got the rain moved out of here after being inundated early this spring. The course has flooded six times this season, so we have spent an inordinate amount
of time dealing with debris. We got caught up two weeks out from the tournament as the course dried up. We started establishing tournament mowing routines advance week and really getting the course dialled in.”
Meier, who has been a certified superintendent for 14 years now, has worked with Valhalla and helped it earn the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program certification. The next task aligned for the American is to welcome 20,000 spectators
in 2014 for the fourth major at the Champion Tour.
Tags: