The member tournaments are very important to everyone at Sonoma Golf Club including the maintenance staff because we enjoy detailing the course for those special events. We have the Member/Member, Match Play and Highlander all within six weeks of each other to keep us busy.
In preparation for these events we make sure all of the bunkers, hazard lines, cart paths, trees, etc. are string trimmed. The sand depth in the bunkers will be checked and all of the grass clippings will be removed from the rough. Every mower will have newly sharpened blades to ensure a perfect cut.
The greens get most of the attention in the days leading up to a tournament. We double cut the greens for a week with added rolling and verticutting. This will give the green a smooth putting surface by reducing the amount of leaf blades and imperfections for the ball to roll on.
The most important agronomic step in preparing for a tournament is water management. We all want the course to be firm and fast so we must time the drying of the soil to correspond with the final round of the event. This is why you might see the greens get faster as the days go on.
There is a lot of planning and execution that goes into preparing the course for an important member tournament. We take great pride in giving the members the best course conditions possible. This brief description of what we do to get the course ready can only be accomplished by having a great hard working maintenance staff like we do. Thanks guys!!!
Sonoma Agronomy 