When it rains, it pours. But even if it pours during a golf tournament, the grounds crew at Muirfield Village Golf Club is ready. After all, it does take showers to green up the fairways.
The landscape at the Club returns to its traditional pristine beauty each spring. This year, Paul Latshaw, director of grounds operations for 10 years, and his crew are working hard to restore areas affected by unexpected rainfall and record crowds during The Presidents Cup.
Last year was especially busy for Latshaw and his staff. Besides preparing the course for the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance, his crews did the landscaping and irrigation around the clubhouse. After the Memorial, the crew began the process of relocating and rebuilding the 18th tee, adding 40 yards to the picturesque and challenging finishing hole. The purpose was to “put the driver back in the hands of the golfers,” Latshaw says.
While it sounds like a relatively simple project, expanding the tee was the third or fourth largest project Latshaw has done at Muirfield, he says. He was there while the 16th fairway and green were rebuilt, a similarly significant undertaking.
Additionally, he had to prepare new hospitality areas for The Presidents Cup. A large spectator stand was placed around the first tee for the ceremonial introduction of players, for example. After the event, bleachers and hospitality facilities were removed to make way for reseeding and new sod. The well-drained course was unscathed by the rainfall.
Work along stream beds and tree trimming were among the crew’s cold weather efforts, in addition to indoor work on rehabbing equipment and painting benches, trash cans and other items that are refurbished annually.
The post-Cup restoration included over-seeding 24 acres and laying about 5 acres of sod, plus additional seeding where temporary structures had been. Lathsaw’s crew is about 15-20 full-time, year-round employees and swells by about 30 during golf season. Some are high school or college students who return to class in the fall. Last year, volunteers from other courses around the country were brought in to strengthen th
e crew during The Presidents Cup. The workforce numbers are bolstered by interns, exchange college students studying agronomy or golf-related fields, and The Ohio State University students pursuing golf course management-related degrees.
Latshaw’s goal: “Getting (Muirfield Village) to look like it did before The Presidents Cup.”
And he will. The course is consistently among the top courses in the world – currently ranked 14th in the U.S. by Golf Digest and 48th in the world by GOLF Magazine.
Lisa Aurand is editor of Dublin Life. With reporting from Duane St. Clair. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.