They don't get it - and they never will

This year's Solheim Cup highlighted much of what is good about golf.

 

The hybrid course fashioned from 36-hole Des Moines Golf and Country Club was immaculate thanks to Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS, and his crew, who have been preparing for the event for much of the past five years. Tegtmeier also received a lot of help during the week of the event from dozens of volunteers from throughout state and the surrounding region, most of whom had previous ties to Iowa or Tegtmeier or both. Galleries turned out in record-setting numbers, and the state of Iowa, which isn't a familiar stop on the golf major trail, showed that it was more than capable of grabbing the spotlight on the game's biggest stage.

 

The event also shed light on some of the things that are wrong with golf. At the top of that list is the obvious fact that those who don't live every day in the turf world have no idea what takes place behind the scenes to ensure such an event goes off without a hitch.

 

Remember the Staples Easy Button? Regardless of how many "Thank a superintendent" ads the GCSAA cranks out on weekends, there are many people who believe pressing that button is all that is required to provide championship conditions, even for a high-profile event like the Solheim Cup.

 

That was never more evident than when a single irrigation head malfunctioned for no apparent reason, delaying a final-day match between Paula Creamer and Georgia Hall for all of three minutes. Tegtmeier's team was on top of the situation, and lickety-split the sprinkler was shut down, any excess water was squeegeed off and play resumed. No harm, no foul.

 

The incident falls under the category of stuff happens. Unexpected blips like this occur in every industry every day. The story isn't that these things happen. What is important is how those involved recover afterward. 

 

Did it affect the match, won by Creamer, 1-up? Not likely.

 

Did it affect the outcome of the contest, won by the U.S., 16.5-11.5? Not a chance.

 

Things happen. It was fixed. Play resumed. End of story.

 

So, when reporters seized sprinkler-gate as a story opportunity, it's no wonder Tegtmeier, who spent nearly every day for the past five years preparing for the event, was, in a word, frustrated.

 

One media outlet even went so far as to say that the green would have flooded under the pressure of three minutes of water from a single head if not for the heroic efforts of a rules official who tried to stand on the sprinkler. Even the PGA of America climbed on the sprinkler-gate bandwagon.

 

Flooding? 

 

After 3 minutes of water?

 

On a new, tournament-ready green?

 

Seriously?

 

One member of the media went so far as to point out his position in relation to the sprinkler, making the story not about how the mishap affected play, but how it affected him.

 

As Mark Twain once said: "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

 

Tegtmeier hinted that a better storyline might be how the club staged what by all accounts was a successful event after five years of preparation that included dozens of people from multiple. 

 

In all fairness, the local paper did a short feature on tournament prep, but spent more verbiage on the threat of rain and who at the LPGA was really calling the shots than any of the nuances of DMGCC or those who worked to make sure the best women golfers from the U.S. and Europe had a venue worthy of a Solheim Cup.

 

"That's not much of a story," was the abridged version of the response Tegtmeier received.

 

Therein lies the problem.

 

 

Media outlets were abuzz after the event about record attendance, record merchandise sales, and how city and state organizers came together to host an event that made Iowa and the Des Moines area, which never have held a U.S. Open, PGA Championship or Ryder Cup, look like veterans of major championship golf. For the record, the nearby Wakonda Club does a great job every year as the host site of the Champions Tour's Principal Charity Classic and DMGCC was the site of the 1999 U.S. Senior Open, but the area has never before been part of anything of this scale.

 

Civic pride? News.

 

Concerts? News.

 

Sprinkler malfunction? News.

 

Reporter standing near said sprinkler? News.

 

How to set up the venue on which the event is played? Sorry, nothing to see here.

 

The topic of turf management always has carried the stigma of being "too inside baseball" for the average media consumer, and evidently the average media outlet. Those outside the business don't care about grass as long as it is green. When playing conditions are less than perfect, even for 3 minutes, everyone wants a scapegoat.

 

If members of the media really want to know what is involved in preparing for a golf tournament, invite them to find out for themselves. If they want access to the superintendent, for good stories, or bad, they can be at the maintenance facility at 4 a.m. during tournament week like everyone else. See it, live it, learn it, understand it. Otherwise, keep your questions and comments to yourself.