12-year GCSAA Class A member new on job but not new to majors Myers has Southern Hills ready for PGA Championship Experience will not be in short supply at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., when Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Certified Golf Course Superintendent Russell Myers hosts the 2007 PGA Championship August 9-12.
A 12-year GCSAA member, Myers has been at Southern Hills less than one year, but has been involved in 21 tournaments during his career, including a PGA Championship, four U.S. Opens, four Masters, two British Opens, two Walker Cups, three U.S. Amateurs, two Senior Opens, and three of the PGA Tour’s Memorial Championship. Southern Hills is no stranger to championship golf either. The par 71, 7,131- yard layout designed in 1935 by Perry Maxwell has hosted three PGA Championships (1994, 1982, 1970), three U.S. Opens (2001, 1977, 1958) a U.S. Senior Open in 1961, the 1965 U.S. Amateur, two Tour Championships and other USGA championships.
Myers spent the eight years prior to his arrival in Tulsa as the head superintendent at Card Sound Golf Club in Key Largo, Fla. Before that, he worked four years as an assistant-in-training at Augusta
(Ga.) National. Myers holds a bachelor’s degree in ornamental horticulture from S.U.N.Y. Cobleskill (N.Y.).
Southern Hills underwent an almost year-long renovation prior to the
2001 U.S. Open that included a regrassing of the putting surfaces to an A1/A4 bentgrass mix, the construction of 10 new championship tees that stretched the course’s length to over 7,200 yards and a full bunker renovation. A nine-month renovation followed in 2005 in which fairways were converted to U3 bermudagrass, roughs to a bermuda/fine fescue blend, sub-surface drainage work was done on the greens, and the ninth and 18 greens were re-contoured to create more hole locations. For more about the PGA Championship preparations at Southern Hills, read the feature story in Golf Course Management magazine’s August issue.
Even before his first day on the job, September 1, 2006, Myers received and began reviewing Southern Hills’ logistical and agronomic plans for review. Last August, he accompanied club officials on a visit to the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club in Chicago.
During his first week at Southern Hills, Myers met with his predecessor at the club, John Szklinski, and Kerry Haigh, the PGA’s managing director of tournaments. Myers has also benefited from inheriting a trio of veteran assistant superintendents at Southern
Hills: Roy Bradshaw, Jeremy Dodson and Chris Wilson.
Preparations for the championship have been hindered by 30 days under ice during a rough winter and 10 weeks of rain this spring. Summers in Tulsa are notorious for being hot and humid, adding to the stress on the turf. But Myers believes that one positive from all the adverse weather is the lower traffic on the course. He admitted that having to make quick adjustments to the unique conditions and making decisions on the fly fits into his management style quite well.
GCSAA is a leading golf organization and has as its focus golf course management. Since 1926, GCSAA has been the top professional association for the men and women who manage golf courses in the United States and worldwide. From its headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., the association provides education, information and representation to more than 21,000 members in more than 72 countries. GCSAA’s mission is to serve its members, advance their profession and enhance the enjoyment, growth and vitality of the game of golf. The association’s philanthropic organization, the Environmental Institute for Golf, works to strengthen the compatibility of golf with the natural environment through research grants, support for education programs and outreach efforts. Visit GCSAA at www.gcsaa.org.
Contact:
Jeff Bollig, GCSAA director of communications 800-472-7878, ext. 4430 or jbollig@gcsaa.org
