For the first time in his 10 years at Cherry Hills Country Club, grounds superintendent Mike Burke did not have winter kill to deal with.
That has made his job of preparing the golf course for the U.S. Women’s Open on June 23-26 much easier.
“There was zero winter kill,” Burke said. “That’s really unusual around here. You can almost count on some winter kill, especially in shady areas.”
On average, the Cherry Hills maintenance crew can expect 5 to 10 percent of the course to be affected by winter kill.
“Mother Nature was good to us,” Burke said. “It was a nice year to have a mild, mild winter.”
Spring snows and rainstorms have not been a problem, Burke said. In fact, the big, early April snow couldn’t have been timed better – just after Burke’s crew had spread fertilizer.
Cherry Hills’ rolling terrain lends itself to quick drainage and fast drying. Burke said only two areas are a concern during heavy rainfall. The approach-shot area on No. 15 is the lowest area on the course, with the water table sitting only 16 inches below grade.
The swale bisecting the fairway in front of the No. 18 green can collect runoff from the tennis courts.
“Fortunately, those are not huge issues, just something to keep an eye on,” Burke said.
Footnotes
With all the talk on the PGA Tour about driving distance, keep this in mind: The tournament leader in that category has not won any of the 18 stroke-play events. The biggest bopper of the week has finished among the top 10 on the leaderboard only five times this year. …
Dating to 2003, Vijay Singh has won 16 of his past 70 tour events and placed second nine times. With 27 career wins, Singh ranks 20th on the PGA Tour victory list. His next targets are Gene Littler, Paul Runyan and Lee Trevino, each of whom won 29 titles. Runyan, the two-time PGA champion who died in 2002 at age 93, served as a teaching pro at Green Gables Country Club from 1972-82. …
Brayden Brent Duval checked into this world April 21 at 7 pounds, 7 ounces, the first child of David Duval and the fourth for Duval’s wife, Susie. The Duvals reportedly purchased a multimillion-dollar home in Cherry Hills Village recently.
