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2007 Superintendent of the Year finalist... Ralph Kepple, East Lake Golf ClubAs a superintendent at a high-profile club that is the site of a PGA Tour event, Ralph Kepple learned two things long ago: to meet your problems head-on, and develop a thick skin, because challenges and criticism are part of the job. Kepple experienced both last summer when searing heat nearly cooked the Crenshaw bentgrass greens at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta in the weeks leading up the season-ending Tour Championship. Tour players were warned in writing of the conditions awaiting them at East Lake, and Kepple had to endure remarks by TV commentators that brought into question his ability as a superintendent.Other superintendents throughout Georgia who were experiencing the triple-digit heat and record drought first hand knew differently. And many came to Kepple's aid as he turned a potential disaster into what colleagues and many PGA Tour players regarded as a stunning success story. Other superintendents throughout Georgia who were experiencing the triple-digit heat and record drought first hand knew differently. And many came to Kepple's aid as he turned a potential disaster into what colleagues and many PGA Tour players regarded as a stunning success story."Essentially the greens became a non issue and the tournament was a huge success," wrote Mike Crawford, CGCS at TPC at Sugarloaf in his nomination of Kepple for TurfNet's 2007 Superintendent of the Year. "Through Ralph's proactive communication and his staff's hard work they took a situation that could have been disastrous and turned it into a success story." Whether the mid-September tournament would be a success, however, was touch-and-go early on. August brought a deadly combination to Atlanta - relentless heat and sunlight: 26 of 31 days with temperatures in excess of 90 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, spelled death for the East Lake greens. "We were holding our own for a while," Kepple said. Temperatures continued to climb throughout August, topping 100 degrees on several occasions. According to the National Weather Service, the average daily high for the month was 96, with a record high of 104 on Aug. 22. Soil temperatures at East Lake also climbed, and an infrared sensor indicated temperatures in excess of 100 degrees in the top 2 inches of the soil profile for 10 consecutive days. Kepple called PGA Tour officials to inform them of the situation. Soil temperatures at East Lake also climbed, and an infrared sensor indicated temperatures in excess of 100 degrees in the top 2 inches of the soil profile for 10 consecutive days."The greens were as close to dead as I ever want to see them," Kepple said. PGA Tour vice president of agronomy Cal Roth visited East Lake after the call and soon realized that Kepple's concerns were legitimate. "It was excruciatingly hot," Roth said. "It was a 105 degrees in the shade in a golf cart. We had a thermometer, so I would know. The greens obviously were in trouble at that point. "This was challenging, to say the least." And the pressure was on Kepple to meet that challenge because 2007 was the first year of the Tour's FedEx Cup, and officials wanted the series finale to be just right. In the weeks leading up to the tournament, grass had disappeared from problem areas and along the edges of several greens and what grass remained was struggling. The club decided to limit play as much as possible. Try as he might, Kepple could do little to slow the damage in the last year before an already-scheduled offseason Bermudagrass conversion of East Lake's greens. The club immediately limited access to the course in the afternoons and stopped accepting new tee times until the tournament was completed. "Ralph did what he could, which wasn't much until the temperature broke," Roth said. The week before the tournament the PGA Tour issued a notice to players warning them of conditions in Atlanta and informing them that three greens would be closed for practice rounds. The Wednesday pro-am also was canceled. Just before the tournament temperatures finally dropped into the 80s during the day and 60s at night, but by then the damage had been done. Help poured in from colleagues throughout the area. Jennings Mill Country Club in Bogart and Augusta National each sent 10 giant greens-cooling fans. Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta sent six and Berkeley Hills Country Club in nearby Duluth sent another three. TPC at Sugarloaf sent 10 members of its crew while Crawford prepared the Duluth course for one of its most important tournaments of the year. Kepple, his staff and a crew of volunteers soon were able to improve conditions enough that by the time Tour players arrived all greens had been reopened. Workers spiked the greens with one-eighth-inch tines, seeded with Princeville bentgrass, which is known for quick establishment, sodded some bare spots and decreased the putting surfaces on Nos. 10, 13 and 17 by some 1,200 square feet. "Ralph exhibited great turf management skills just to keep the greens alive," wrote Ken Mangum, CGCS at Atlanta Athletic Club in his nomination letter. "He also kept his professional demeanor during a time when most people were looking for someone to blame as opposed to looking at the facts." "Ralph exhibited great turf management skills just to keep the greens alive," wrote Ken Mangum, CGCS at Atlanta Athletic Club in his nomination letter. "He also kept his professional demeanor during a time when most people were looking for someone to blame as opposed to looking at the facts."The recovery was deemed so dramatic that by some players wondered whether conditions had been overstated. PGA Tour player Mark Calcavecchia told reporters after arriving for practice that the greens "are 10 times better than what the Tour told us they were going to have. I think that might have been kind of a plan so nobody would be completely in a state of shock when they got here." Roth said the Tour's concerns were real and that the rapid turnaround was the result of a break in the weather and a good plan by Kepple. "We prepared (Tour players) for what we saw at the time," Roth said of the letter. "By no means was (the letter) an exaggeration. That's how much of a turnaround Ralph was able to experience in a few days." Although it was Kepple's principles, programs and instruction that set East Lake's recovery into motion, he is quick to credit many of his colleagues from throughout Georgia, and their employees. "I can't tell you how much help we received from Sugarloaf," Kepple said. "Were it not for that, we'd have never gotten it done." 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