Saturday
Sep112010
Lapp: Lack of roots cause of Dubsdread's trouble
Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 8:01AM
Writing from Lemont, Illinois
Saturday, September 10, 2010
Cog Hill Golf & Country Club course superintendent Ken Lapp said Saturday that he began to get “really concerned” about the state of Dubsdread’s greens “about three weeks ago.”
He also said that, because of a tough spring for weather, followed by a hot, wet summer, it had been difficult for the greens, no more than a year old in terms of growth seasons, to mature.
“We had rain, heat, then more rain, and then it was 95 degrees,” Lapp said. “When you get all that rain early in the spring, you lose your roots.”
Grass then tends to find water by going in the other direction, up, and it can die. Cog Hill’s greens didn’t get to that extreme, but they’re not great, especially, Lapp said, the fourth, sixth and 13th greens. And from those have come the cascade of player complaints that have echoed around Dubsdread.
“It’s been a rough summer,” Lapp said. “When the weather broke (a couple of weeks ago), it got tremendously better.”
The PGA Tour called in turf expert Paul Vermillion to assist Lapp, and Vermillion’s trick of replacing areas of green with what Lapp called “bricks” helped the cause. Turf on the edges of some greens was also replaced. Still, pros playing for $7.5 million demand perfection and didn’t get it. Hence, the complaints.
“Grass is a living thing,” Lapp said. “It’s only going to take so much.”
Lapp, echoing the comments of Cog Hill owner Frank Jemsek, said the SubAir system that was installed in conjunction with Dubsdread’s $5.2 million renovation helped “at certain times.”
The bad form makes next year a critical year for Cog Hill. It’s the last year the Western Open – whether under BMW’s name or not – is contracted for the course. In 2012, the Western will be a Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., near Indianapolis. After that, Chicago’s likely, but not sure, and Cog Hill’s in the same spot.
“We would look at every option,” Western Golf Association CEO John Kaczkowski said. “This (conditioning) is a one-off, but 20 years of goodwill with the players is gone.”
The WGA may recommend to Cog Hill that Lapp be given a full-time assistant, or perhaps contract with Vermillion to consult on the agronomy of Dubsdread. Lapp, who spends almost all of his time tending to Dubsdread, has a large staff, including superintendents for the other three courses.
To Stewart Cink’s comment Friday that the greens were “minus-3” on a one-to-10 scale should be added this: He said he was “echoing the comments” of Zach Johnson. Both are among the least quotable players in golf.
Johnson quipped after his Saturday round, “That’s under par,” adding of the condition, “It’s just unfortunate. I’m from the midwest, we’ve had extreme cold, then extreme heat, and it doesn’t help the golf courses at all.”
There was more from Cink, as first reported by Steve Elling of CBS Sportsline: “It’s too hard for the average player. And anybody good enough to play it knows what a wreck it is. The course is length on top of length op top of length.”
And the Associated Press got this from Geoff Ogilvy: “The short answer is it’s just not that enjoyable to play. Look, if your mission is to really punish a slightly bad shot and make it really hard all day, then it’s a success. If your mission is to create a place people enjoy playing, then it’s a failure.”
In fact, that was the mission. Rees Jones refurbished the course, originally designed by Dick Wilson and Joe Lee, to be tough enough to host a U.S. Open. Mike Davis, the competition guru of the United States Golf Association, says it can do that. Whether the UGSA competition committee ever decides to come to Cog Hill, given its location in Cook County, is another story.
Players generally hate Rees Jones’ redos because they’re extremely difficult, as a U.S. Open is supposed to be the toughest test in golf. Ogilvy should know that. He won, or at least backed into, the Open thrown away by Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot.
With better weather, there would have been no controversy over conditioning. With a few more years maturation, there might not have been any even with bad weather. That leaves the multiple tiering of the greens, a Wilson specialty that Jones accentuated. If the players don’t like putting from one section to another, perhaps they should hit more precise approach shots.
As Ben Hogan once said when asked by a player how to make more long putts: “Hit the ball closer to the hole.”
An ace and a scholarship
Sean O’Hair aced the second hole, which was playing 211 yards on Saturday to a back right pin placement. He followed that achievement, the 40th ace in Western Open history, with a double-bogey 6 on the third, giving back the two shots he gained. It’s the first hole-in-one in the Western since Sergio Garcia and Bart Bryant made aces at Bellerive Country Club in 2008, and the first at Cog Hill since a trio of them, by Mike Small, Lucas Glover and Scott Hoch, in 2004. Glover’s came on the second hole as well.
That brings a $100,000 bonus from BMW to the WGA’s Evans Scholars Foundation. BMW gives an extra $100,000 to the foundation for each ace in the tournament.
Moore, Wi leading
As of 2 p.m., Ryan Moore has finished at 8-under 205, with Charlie Wi 8-under with three holes to play.
Updates as warranted. A complete report at the conclusion of play.
– Tim Cronin
Saturday, September 10, 2010
Cog Hill Golf & Country Club course superintendent Ken Lapp said Saturday that he began to get “really concerned” about the state of Dubsdread’s greens “about three weeks ago.”
He also said that, because of a tough spring for weather, followed by a hot, wet summer, it had been difficult for the greens, no more than a year old in terms of growth seasons, to mature.
“We had rain, heat, then more rain, and then it was 95 degrees,” Lapp said. “When you get all that rain early in the spring, you lose your roots.”
Grass then tends to find water by going in the other direction, up, and it can die. Cog Hill’s greens didn’t get to that extreme, but they’re not great, especially, Lapp said, the fourth, sixth and 13th greens. And from those have come the cascade of player complaints that have echoed around Dubsdread.
“It’s been a rough summer,” Lapp said. “When the weather broke (a couple of weeks ago), it got tremendously better.”
The PGA Tour called in turf expert Paul Vermillion to assist Lapp, and Vermillion’s trick of replacing areas of green with what Lapp called “bricks” helped the cause. Turf on the edges of some greens was also replaced. Still, pros playing for $7.5 million demand perfection and didn’t get it. Hence, the complaints.
“Grass is a living thing,” Lapp said. “It’s only going to take so much.”
Lapp, echoing the comments of Cog Hill owner Frank Jemsek, said the SubAir system that was installed in conjunction with Dubsdread’s $5.2 million renovation helped “at certain times.”
The bad form makes next year a critical year for Cog Hill. It’s the last year the Western Open – whether under BMW’s name or not – is contracted for the course. In 2012, the Western will be a Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., near Indianapolis. After that, Chicago’s likely, but not sure, and Cog Hill’s in the same spot.
“We would look at every option,” Western Golf Association CEO John Kaczkowski said. “This (conditioning) is a one-off, but 20 years of goodwill with the players is gone.”
The WGA may recommend to Cog Hill that Lapp be given a full-time assistant, or perhaps contract with Vermillion to consult on the agronomy of Dubsdread. Lapp, who spends almost all of his time tending to Dubsdread, has a large staff, including superintendents for the other three courses.
To Stewart Cink’s comment Friday that the greens were “minus-3” on a one-to-10 scale should be added this: He said he was “echoing the comments” of Zach Johnson. Both are among the least quotable players in golf.
Johnson quipped after his Saturday round, “That’s under par,” adding of the condition, “It’s just unfortunate. I’m from the midwest, we’ve had extreme cold, then extreme heat, and it doesn’t help the golf courses at all.”
There was more from Cink, as first reported by Steve Elling of CBS Sportsline: “It’s too hard for the average player. And anybody good enough to play it knows what a wreck it is. The course is length on top of length op top of length.”
And the Associated Press got this from Geoff Ogilvy: “The short answer is it’s just not that enjoyable to play. Look, if your mission is to really punish a slightly bad shot and make it really hard all day, then it’s a success. If your mission is to create a place people enjoy playing, then it’s a failure.”
In fact, that was the mission. Rees Jones refurbished the course, originally designed by Dick Wilson and Joe Lee, to be tough enough to host a U.S. Open. Mike Davis, the competition guru of the United States Golf Association, says it can do that. Whether the UGSA competition committee ever decides to come to Cog Hill, given its location in Cook County, is another story.
Players generally hate Rees Jones’ redos because they’re extremely difficult, as a U.S. Open is supposed to be the toughest test in golf. Ogilvy should know that. He won, or at least backed into, the Open thrown away by Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot.
With better weather, there would have been no controversy over conditioning. With a few more years maturation, there might not have been any even with bad weather. That leaves the multiple tiering of the greens, a Wilson specialty that Jones accentuated. If the players don’t like putting from one section to another, perhaps they should hit more precise approach shots.
As Ben Hogan once said when asked by a player how to make more long putts: “Hit the ball closer to the hole.”
An ace and a scholarship
Sean O’Hair aced the second hole, which was playing 211 yards on Saturday to a back right pin placement. He followed that achievement, the 40th ace in Western Open history, with a double-bogey 6 on the third, giving back the two shots he gained. It’s the first hole-in-one in the Western since Sergio Garcia and Bart Bryant made aces at Bellerive Country Club in 2008, and the first at Cog Hill since a trio of them, by Mike Small, Lucas Glover and Scott Hoch, in 2004. Glover’s came on the second hole as well.
That brings a $100,000 bonus from BMW to the WGA’s Evans Scholars Foundation. BMW gives an extra $100,000 to the foundation for each ace in the tournament.
Moore, Wi leading
As of 2 p.m., Ryan Moore has finished at 8-under 205, with Charlie Wi 8-under with three holes to play.
Updates as warranted. A complete report at the conclusion of play.
– Tim Cronin
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