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RBC CANADIAN OPEN

July 20, 2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO

DAN PINO: Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for joining us today for our Superintendents Association presentation. To get us started I would like to introduce Greg Holden, president of the Canadian Golf Superintendent Association, who is joining us to make a presentation to our superintendent here at St. George's, Keith Bartlett.
GREG HOLDEN: Hi. Okay. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's truly a pleasure and honor for me to be here to make this presentation to Keith. Apparently it's been some years, 1968 I think was the last year it was here, so it's especially an honor to be here now.
The Canadian Golf Course Superintendents Association, CGSA, represents almost 1500 individuals involving the profession of golf course management. The CGSA provides education, certification, representation and communication services to members with the objective of improving the image of superintendents and the appreciation of the industry for the golf course manager.
Through the development and the delivery of training programs and the development of national occupational standards, the CGSA is working to ensure that superintendents are knowledgeable concerning the latest tools and techniques available to assist with environmental protection, sustainability and the consistent golf course conditioning and the ability to apply that knowledge in a responsible and effective manner.
Part of the ongoing efforts to recognize the importance of the superintendent to the industry involves the presentation of a national tournament plaque to members that host these events. The RBC Canadian Open is the most prestigious of all these tournaments, and it is my complete pleasure to call upon Keith Bartlett, master superintendent at St. George's Golf Course and Country Club to accept the CGSA National Tournament Award. I'll read the inscription on the plaque here.
It is: "The Canadian Golf Course Superintendents Association recognizes the contribution of Keith A. Bartlett, master superintendent AGS, to the success of the RBC Canadian Open at St. George's Golf and Country Club. Ontario, 2010, July."
Keith, thank you very much. Congratulations. Here you go.
DAN PINO: Why don't we get a couple of quick comments from Keith and then we'll open it up to Q and A.
KEITH BARTLETT: I don't have much to say really. The PGA is on tour. They've been here for a couple of weeks. They're very pleased with the golf course, how it's ready to go, and when Thursday comes around the golf course is -- we're going to be ready. So we're very exciting.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
KEITH BARTLETT: Means I got four more days until I get seven hours of sleep.

Q. In terms of rough.
KEITH BARTLETT: Yeah. The rough is going to be -- it's going to be four inches. We're doing the final cut last night and tonight, which was always going to be the height.
And they're very pleased with the density. Because it's a national open, they've allowed it to be beyond a regular PGA standard. Greens speed is going to be set at 11 feet because of the slopes on our greens and and so on. And they're pleased with everything they see out there.

Q. Okay. Given the history of the Canadian Open the last couple of years, obviously we're thick in rain. I know there is a couple of spots of rain coming in. But if there is any kind of issue with rain? I mean can the course handle it well?
KEITH BARTLETT: Yeah. This is a great property, and of the improvements we did over the last couple years, one of the things that we focused on is we resodded around all the greens around and ensured that there was no surface drainage issues in the bunkers.
There was only a few pockets where water could sit where we would traditionally have to get the pumps out. So we've drained those.
So about three weeks ago we had a two-inch thunderstorm go through here, and the golf course performed exactly how we had hoped it would. So there's one bunker that we have to pump just by design, which is not an issue. We know where other maybe small pocket areas are, so I have 40 regular staff and 32 volunteers. So our crew of 70 will be well prepared.

Q. Other golf courses in the area, the other golf courses in the area to help you out?
KEITH BARTLETT: Well, I put a notice out through our provincial and national association about a year ago for volunteers and had a great response. I have superintendents and assistant superintendents from as far as two hours away that have come to Toronto to stay and take time away from their golf courses, and other superintendents have allowed their assistants to take time away from the golf course, because it's a great experience. As much as they're learning, I'm learning more.
There's a certain standard that the PGA wants, and there's a lot of details that are great and they'll get a lot from it, and how many times -- it may not be back into Toronto for a few years, so what a great opportunity to see it at a traditional golf course and work at a traditional golf course.

Q. Keith, are there any greens out there specifically -- there's lots of talk obviously about No. 3 -- that you have to treat differently as far as how you cut it, how you roll it or how many different hole locations you can use?
KEITH BARTLETT: Well, that's one of the reasons I think green speed's 11 feet is they have to make sure there's four pins everywhere. And every green has four pin locations.
They don't want to turn it into circus golf. So I think we're going to be fine. I don't think there's anything out there to be of concern, and even No. 3 green isn't going to be treated differently. Everything is the same height, and the rolling procedures and so on are fair, and the greens are rolling well.
They're predominantly poa greens, and we've done a lot of work to make sure that the ball rolls true, so I think the players will be happy.

Q. Have you been told for sure if they're going to use the back deck on 6 at all for the week?
KEITH BARTLETT: No. As far as I'm concerned the back deck on 6 is the only back tee that's not open, but everything else is going to be playing from the back tees.
Now, rules officials -- there's one rules official on each nine. They set the golf course up, and if there's wind conditions or something that they don't like, they have the opportunity to do that.
But every indication from the meeting I just came out of is that they're going to be playing from the back tees unless there's another situation that's unforeseen.

Q. (Question about length).
KEITH BARTLETT: Well, it's 7150 off the markers now, but you shorten it. I'm just going to do quick math in my head. It's about say just under 7100 with No. 6 playing forward.

Q. Have you had a chance to talk to any of the players about their first experience out there, and Mike Weir today?
KEITH BARTLETT: No. I haven't had a lot of time. So no, I haven't. My staff has, and I think they've been through the club, and I hear it's positive.
And I think there's a lot to it. I think one of the things that the rules officials -- feedback they were getting is that players don't get to play traditional golf courses like this all the time. So they really get to enjoy it because I think it's a shot maker's golf course. I might be wrong, but I think you have to position your ball well off the tee. You have to hit the greens. You have to be on the right side of the hole. The rough is very fair and will be I think a good test. Yeah. So I hear they like it. Yeah.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
KEITH BARTLETT: About 160.

Q. How does that compare to like a new golf course?
KEITH BARTLETT: It's about the same.

Q. I got the impression it was a smaller, more compact.
KEITH BARTLETT: It's a little tighter, but not much.
DAN PINO: Any more questions? Keith, thank you very much. Congratulations.
KEITH BARTLETT: Okay.
DAN PINO: Greg, thank you as well.

End of FastScripts

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