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RBC CANADIAN OPEN

July 19, 2016

Oakville, Ontario, Canada

THE MODERATOR: We're here with Andrew Gyba, superintendent of Glen Abbey Golf Club, as well as John McLinden, superintendent of the Ladies Golf Club of Toronto and the Ontario Director of the Canadian Golf's Superintendent Association.

Maybe you can just tell us about your preparations for tournament week here.

ANDREW GYBA: Preparations have been going relatively smoothly. We have had a few challenges, I think mostly weather-related and lack of rainfall, so it's been an incredibly dry two, 2 1/2 months leading up preparing for this tournament. So we did get a little bit of rain Tuesday of advance week but prior to that, I don't think we've had a drop on the property for about two months.

So one of the downfalls of that has been the rough is a little thin out there. However, right up the middle, the golf course, is holding very well. Greens are nice and firm. They are rolling very true. They are incredibly consistent. I think we have the entire appropriate rolling within four inches right now, which is something that I'm very proud of. Green speeds are good, so things are good so far, yeah.

The MODERATOR: We all know it takes a village to get a course in this shape. Make you can speak to the outreach or the community that helps you here this week.

ANDREW GYBA: One of the things why I'm very lucky being part of a public organization is that we do have 40 different golf clubs that we can reach out to to ask for help, to ask for staff, to ask for extra equipment and tools and that sort of thing.

There's a lot of guys out there that are really looking for an opportunity to work an event like this, and just for the experience; guys that are trying to get into it the industry.

So all it takes is a few e-mails to local superintendents and call a couple guys up and ask if there's anybody interested. We just doubled the size of our staff, right. Normally we run around 35 and we are just over 70 now. Very fortunate to be part of this organization.

THE MODERATOR: Now obviously some people may not know, this isn't your first Canadian Open. How many Canadian Opens have you been superintendent?

ANDREW GYBA: This is my third now. So I was involved in the 2013, 2015 RBC Canadian Opens.

THE MODERATOR: Besides weather challenges, how different is this one?

ANDREW GYBA: If anything, greens preparation, which is probably the most important factor of what we're doing, I've been a lot more comfortable with leading up to this event. In 2013, I really didn't know what to expect. You know, I don't want to say we had to scramble, but we had to scramble a little bit in 2013 to get our green speeds prior to the event.

2015 got a lot easier and this year is just routine business, right. Now what it's about is just timing and trying to peak for the event and trying to make sure we don't push things too much prior to.

We have some very extreme weather coming it looks like for the tournament this week, so hopefully we're in a good position that the greens can handle all the abuse that they are going to take and they can keep rolling true and consistent through the entire event.

Q. It seems like you've done a lot of tree maintenance this year. Can you speak to that and how it's going to impact play?
ANDREW GYBA: You know, with as good as these players are and the design of this golf course, I don't think that it's really going to affect them that much to tell you the truth. What we're dealing with on this property is emerald ash borer infestation.

So unfortunately control -- John can tell you, too. Control methods are only so effective. Some of the products that are out there, will only give you maybe 40, 50, 60 percent efficacy at best, and you're talking about $1,500 a tree every single year to treat. We had to make a tough decision; we did have to remove a few. It's just kind of the way it is with invasive pests and kind of globalization of these pests.

I think what you find is that a hole like 16, for example, pushing those trees right off the edge of the fairway, is actually a lot truer to Mr. Nicklaus' design. If you get an opportunity to have a tour of Muirfield or any of his later prop ties, you'll find that he moved away from planting trees right up against the fairways like he did in the mid 70s and he's actually giving the players the opportunity to stand back and see the entire golf hole, give them a bit of rough on either side. If anything, I think a lot of these areas are truer to his design now than they were in the past.

THE MODERATOR: John, I think you have a few words for Andrew.

JOHN McLINDEN: Before I make my presentation, I just want to reiterate some of Andrew's comments.

Being in the golf industry, every year is different. But I think in southern Ontario, particularly, this year has been particularly tough on some golf courses. Andrew said that they have gone almost two months without a drop of water, and that has a real effect on the health of the turf. I took a little walk around the golf course today and everything looks absolutely fantastic.

I actually watched a few players hit some balls off the tee and they were very impressed with some of the roll, so there's going to be some firm, fast conditions for sure this weekend.

Very special thank you to Golf Canada and RBC for this opportunity to honor one of our members today. The Canadian Golf Superintendents Association is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The CGSA represents over 1,000 individuals at the national level across Canada. Its mandate is to support and promote the profession and to provide education and research resources for golf course managers.

We grow the game. As part of the ongoing effort to recognize the role of the superintendent at the golf facility, the CGSA sponsors a national tournament program for members that host these prestigious events. Our members are an essential part of the team that ensures that the golf course provides fair and consistent conditions for competition.

Andrew Gyba is the superintendent here at Glen Abbey Golf Club. He has been a CGSA member since 2013 and has 19 years experience in the golf industry. It is my pleasure to call upon Andrew to accept his CGSA national tournament award in recognition of his efforts in hosting the most prestigious of our national tournaments, the RBC Canadian open.

Congratulations to you and your staff.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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