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CN CANADIAN WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 4, 2009James BeebeBob BurrowsCALGARY, ALBERTA DAN PINO: Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for joining us for the presentation from the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association to our superintendent here, James Beebe. I'm going to pass it over to Bob Burrows, superintendent of the Banff Springs Golf Club, to make our presentation. BOB BURROWS: Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Clearly, James Beebe has an entourage here, everybody inside the tent clearly, and a lot of people outside the tent, and the television viewers watching this event. We're going to recognize the efforts of the host, greens and grounds crew, specifically James Beebe, the host superintendent. I'm Bob Burrows, the course manager of Fairmont Banff Springs, and the immediate past president of the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association. We represent approximately 2,000 members, superintendents from coast to coast, and we take great pride in recognizing the efforts of our members, whether they're mechanics or assistants, horticultural people, in preparing for major events such as this the CN event. And we specifically want to highlight the efforts -- I know James will be eager to answer some of your questions, and afterwards I'd be happy to answer some of your questions in terms of the global golf industry and the golf industry in Canada. So James, I know you want to share with us how you've been doing, but truly, we've been hearing remarkable comments on the golf course. And I'm sure the prep a couple years in advance and two weeks in advance has been daunting, but you seem to have pulled it off. All the ladies are having a great time. And on behalf of our 2,000 members coast to coast, James, I want to recognize your success at this event. Good job, buddy. JAMES BEEBE: Thanks, Bob. (Applause). Well, I appreciate the recognition, but of course, it is an individual recognition, but it's a real team effort. There's no doubt about it. It takes lots of people to make it happen, from the entire management team, and especially the guys on the grounds crew. We've got lots of our assistant superintendents here today. And as Bob mentioned, it's a busy week, but it's a year in advance, a lot of work, a lot of preparation, and especially during the week the guys have been great, putting in long hours, but it's been really exciting. It's a good opportunity to learn, get exposure, and the guys are having lots of fun. So we're fortunate that the weather looks good and the players are enjoying the golf course, and that's what it's all about. We want everyone to have a good experience, and it's been a lot of fun. DAN PINO: We'll open it up for some questions. Q. James, we had a little bit of weather yesterday afternoon. I'm wondering if that caused much damage to the course and if it made you guys have to work a little harder last night and this morning. JAMES BEEBE: Well, weather certainly, whether it's in a professional golf championship or day to day with the members is always the biggest challenge. Yeah, we certainly had a great storm whip through here for a couple hours yesterday. I think we must have had winds up near 70 kilometers an hour. I believe we had eight trees that either blew down or broke off halfway through, and of course, the golf course was covered in debris afterwards. So it was a challenge because we've got everybody scheduled to do specific tasks in a very tight window after the players finish at about 7:00, so our staff had to readjust, reschedule to get everything done. We got everything cleaned up by about 8:30 last night, and of course, the wind picked up again and made another mess, so the guys went back out again till dark. And then first thing this morning again we had to reschedule and have different people doing different things, but a wonderful job by the whole crew. You can't even tell that the winds came through and there was a storm out there. So it wouldn't be the same if there wasn't a little storm or a little curve ball thrown out there. BOB BURROWS: I mean, just an example, at the Canadian Open and what they had to deal with, squeegeeing greens, our paternity really copes with a lot of those curve balls truly that you throw in with the major event. Same with Glen Abbey and this crew, they've really stepped up. Q. The course looks great this week. I was just wondering if you could share with us what you and your crew did to get ready for tournament week. JAMES BEEBE: Well, like I said, almost the entire season is based on preparing for this week, so all of our programs, whether it be our aerification or fertility programs are geared to peaking this week. And fortunately we've had good weather to show the golf course off. We've been growing the rough a little bit longer through member play and then letting it go to pose more of a challenge to the players this week and preparing greens speeds. Working on sand traps, sand trap maintenance, trying to have the bunkers play consistent for the players is always a great challenge. And quite frankly, the sort of six weeks leading up to the event, trying to prepare the golf course playability wise, but also trying to make sure that with all of the infrastructure that you see, the tents and hospitality tents and bleachers and sky boxes that are being built in the weeks leading up to it don't conflict with the work that's going on out on the golf course. There is a potential for damage out on the golf course. We've got crane trucks and forklifts and trucks and trailers driving all over the golf course, and we had inclement weather. It was very wet leading up to the event, save the last two or three weeks. So a lot of that took our attention and trying to balance making sure the golf course was still in the best possible conditions with the turf and making sure that the infrastructure went on well was a real balance. And quite frankly, tournament week itself is maybe a little bit easier to go through your programs and your schedules. Everything is set, than it is that six weeks leading up to it. There's a lot of curve balls thrown at you, but it's been great. Q. You mentioned tournament week is a little bit easier for your staff. Can you go through a typical day or some of the responsibilities for your staff members this week? JAMES BEEBE: Well, sure. It's an early start. The guys are here just a little before 5 AM in the pitch black, and we've got a crew of about 60 people that they have to get coordinated with out on a front nine, Back 9 start. We're out waiting on the golf course in the dark, waiting for just enough light to start the maintenance, and then we have to be very cognizant of the players on different parts of the golf course. So we do things a little bit differently from a schedule standpoint. We may have to mow 18 first or 17 first because there will be a conflict on certain holes once the players get out there. And they'll go through the program in the morning for about four hours, trying to get the golf course maintained ahead of play, and then most of the staff are off with the exception of supervisors who are on call during the day. Yesterday we had weather roll in. They were on call removing broken branches, bringing trees in, clearing away for trees that were falling and on squeegee duty, if there was rain. We have a meteorologist on staff who was calling for rain. Fortunately we didn't get any, but we had to be out beside the greens ready to go with squeegees. So back at 4:30 and work till dark and going through the program again. So it's really just following a schedule and then during the day putting out any little fires, but they're long days, 18-hour days for the guys, but there's so much enthusiasm and excitement that they go by pretty quick, and you're more than excited to get up in the morning and do it all over again. Q. I understand, obviously, you're not solely responsible for course setup or anything, but I'm wondering as a superintendent how you feel when you see a course record get shot like we saw yesterday. JAMES BEEBE: That's a good question. We certainly want the golf course to defend itself, and it is a great golf course. It's a difficult golf course to play. I can attest that to myself. I've played it many times. And I think you're just in awe to see scores like that, especially in the weather. And when you're out there following these ladies and watching how good they are, you can't be upset about it. I think you just have to applaud them, and just shows how good they are when the course is playing tougher than it normally does. Q. I was hoping you could just elaborate on environmental issues going on right now for golf course superintendents, and maybe how you've dealt with those. JAMES BEEBE: Okay. Well, that's a great question. Certainly the environmental issues over the last five years, and even more so right now, are sort of a hot button in the golf industry. And it's really a great opportunity for golf course superintendents to prove their value to the golf industry as a whole. Golf superintendents have really been stewards of the land and environmentalists since the beginning. We've been, you know, performing environmental-friendly practices for many years, and with the push to, in many parts of the country, including Alberta right now, to reduce pesticide use, manage your water use a little bit more efficiently and a plethora of other items, it really comes down to showcasing what we do and making sure that you're taking the time and having the steps in place for recordkeeping and those type of things. So we're working hand in hand with the government officials responsible for the environment, whether it be locally, provincially or nationally, and I think it's really showing the value of the professional superintendent because we've been proactive for many years. And we're sort of wanting to wear the white hat and be the good guys and help the government get on the program, and they've really recognized that. It's been great for golf in general. Q. This is your second major women's tournament in 10 years. What's the significant difference at this one and the first one? JAMES BEEBE: I think the scale of it. We had the event in 1999 when it was the du Maurier Classic. It was a Major back in '99. So I think the club in general has a little bit more flexibility as far as course setup goes. We had tightened the fairways a little bit, grew the rough a little bit longer and thicker because it was a Major, but in general the whole scope of the event is just much larger. It seems like there's much more emphasis on all of the corporate issues that are out there. Like I said, we've got the many sky boxes and bleachers that are out there. I think that CN and RCGA has really taken it to that next level. It's really just more grandiose in scale, if you will. And I think that when you come in and you see all of the signage and all of the logos everywhere, it's really impressive. I mean when you come up the 18th hole, it just gives you an amazing feeling. It's exciting. Q. With the tournament being this late in the summer, have you had any problems with staff leaving to go back to school? JAMES BEEBE: No. As a matter of fact, that was definitely one of the issues that we were concerned about, weather being another one, because we can get frost or snow at this time of year, which fortunately we've been blessed with great weather. But our staff has been outstanding. Normally at this time of year you have university kids that work for you through the summer leave halfway through the summer to maybe take some holidays before they go back to school. But our entire staff has been so excited throughout the season to have the opportunity to showcase their golf course, see their handy work on television and see how the best players in the world play their golf course. We literally have not had any staff leave, so there will be a mass exodus on Sunday after the event, unfortunately, because everyone's going back to school, but they've truly been wonderful and they're really excited to be here. DAN PINO: Any more questions? James, congratulations. End of FastScripts |
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