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 From the News Desk...Currier moving on from Bethpageby Bradley S. KleinBethpage State Park’s Black Course, site of this year's U.S. Open, is getting a new 15th green. It also will get a new head superintendent. The historic A.W. Tillinghast-designed daily-fee layout in Farmingdale, N.Y., opened in 1935 and rated No. 18 on the Golfweek’s Best Classic list, went under the knife (actually, a bulldozer blade) on Nov. 17. The plan is to reduce the slope of the notoriously elusive, steeply pitched green on the uphill, 478-yard, par-4 15th hole. It also was the site of the 2002 U.S. Open. Craig Currier, Bethpage State Park’s director of maintenance with authority over the park’s five courses, will be leaving after 12 years. Currier will move to a private golf club on Long Island, Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury. No successor at Bethpage has been named. The 15th green has so much back-to-front slope that it offers only two usable hole locations. It receives special treatment during U.S. Open play, with rolling and reduced mowing so that it doesn’t become unplayable. Architect Rees Jones, who oversaw extensive renovations of Bethpage Black before both U.S. Opens, also is in charge of the latest project. Plans call for rebuilding the green, with the back lowered slightly and the front raised just enough to create more level areas for hole locations. Construction is being done by McDonald & Sons, with the work expected to take two weeks and with grow-in not to be completed until spring. The course is closed and will reopen in April. |
In other news... Study examines spring pre-stress fertility programs Research finds no correlation between biostimulant applications before spring core cultivation and recovery. Posted: 09/02/2010 Read more » Aquatrols, TurfNet present Water Week The series of five Webinars is aimed at helping superintendents manage water and soils more efficiently. Posted: 09/01/2010 Read more » News and people briefs Registration opens soon for Irrigation Show, Briggs & Stratton elects new chairman, FMC taps new director for professional solutions division Posted: 09/01/2010 Read more » GCSAA selects firm in search for new CEO Kansas City-based company will open search process for Mark Woodward's successor in October. Posted: 08/31/2010 Read more » Water foul! Research shows that droppings from non-migratory geese on turf can result in nitrogen runoff into adjacent bodies of water. Posted: 08/26/2010 Read more » Complete news index » |
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