Volunteering at US Women's Open

 

During the week of July 5 thru July 12, several members of the Grounds Maintenance Department had the opportunity to volunteer at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, PA for the 2015 U.S. Women's Open. This is a valuable experience for all, as we get to see first hand the preparation of a course for a major, and the host course gets experienced, temporary employees to supplement their staff for a tremendously busy week.

Sunday evening meeting with volunteers and staff

 

Over 100 people are involved with the grounds maintenance staff during tournament week. The immense amount of work involved during the week of any tournament is too much for the host course's standard grounds staff to handle. Many courses will ask for volunteers to help get the course to peak condition under the strict time constraints of a tournament.

The week started Sunday evening prior to tournament week, with a meeting and training session, to get all volunteers and full time staff on the same page.

Ben Evans, our intern from Manchester, England and myself were in Lancaster from Sunday the 5th thru Wednesday morning the 8th, returning to prepare for the Braemer. Pat O'Brien and Tony Taylor left following the Braemer shotgun and worked Thursday evening thru Sunday morning.

The tasks that Hyde Park staff were involved in varied greatly. Ben and Tony were both involved in bunker prep, rolling of green surfaces and divot repair. Pat was happy to mow fairways and I was involved in the daily setup of the course with the USGA officials.

 

USGA Officials determining daily hole locations

A look back down the 7th hole in the evening

It is a great experience for our staff to volunteer at these tournaments, as we get to see other courses and operations, as well as meeting and working with our peers from different parts of the country and/or world.

I would like to thank Todd Bidlespacher, Mike Yelenosky and the rest of the Lancaster CC staff for allowing us to be a part of the preparation for the 70th U.S. Women's Open.

Thank you. Any questions or comments please feel free to email me at gnickerson@hydeparkcc.com and follow on twitter @ganick23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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