When it comes to career aspirations, Ralph Kepple has one goal, and it's a big one."I'm hoping to be like Clem Wolfrom," he said.
Wolfrom is the former superintendent of Detroit Golf Club, and earlier this year he completed a run that by current standards is almost unbelievable, working 51 years at the same club, a run that began in 1962.
"I don't know if I'll make 50 years," Kepple said. "When you look at what he's done, it's amazing."
The 51-year-old Kepple was born about the time Wolfrom was hired at Detroit. For the past 21 years, he has been the head superintendent at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, home of the PGA Tour Championship, and although he's off to a good start at catching Wolfrom, six years ago, even Kepple might have consider he might have thought such a run was attainable.
In the days leading up to the 2007 PGA Tour event, the club's bentgrass greens were struggling under brutal summer conditions in Atlanta. Only through help from volunteers, staff and PGA Tour agronomists as well as the support of club officials was Kepple able to develop and implement a plan that eventually made the tournament a success and salvage a reputation that was taking a beating in worldwide media.
Fast forward to this year, and rather than resodding barren areas on the greens in advance of the championship, final preparations often include a late-summer aerification that would not have been possible if not for a conversion to MiniVerde ultradwarf Bermudagrass immediately after the 2007 tournament.
Although it's a simple agronomic procedure, late-summer aerification illustrates how far the event and its superintendent have come since that fateful tournament six years ago. And although getting a stressed golf course back into tournament shape while concurrently dealing with the negative press would be just about every superintendent's worst nightmare, Kepple said he came out better for the experience. In fact, he still points to PGA Tour senior VP of agronomy Cal Roth, competitions agronomist and Jay Sporl, legions of volunteers and East Lake director of golf Rick Burton and other club officials for being there in his hour of need.
The makeup of the club's membership also worked in Kepple's favor.
East Lake is operated by the East Lake Foundation, which helps support social programs and residents of the urban neighborhoods surrounding the golf course. Its scrolls are comprised primarily of corporate members.
"It wasn't fun when it happened, but good things came of it," he said. "I'm still here, and that's a testament to the club. They stuck with me, and it would've been easy not to have done that."
If the club had individual members, "I probably wouldn't have survived what happened," he said.
Prior to 2007 the Tour Championship had been played in November, prime bentgrass-growing weather even in Atlanta. The tournament was moved to mid-September in six years as the culmination of the inaugural FedEx Cup series.
The new format instilled renewed enthusiasm for the game in the Atlanta area, and rounds played at East Lake swelled in the weeks prior to the event. Increased play coupled with a record heat wave created a perfect storm that resulted in struggling bentgrass on several greens and a maelstrom of negative press about conditions at East Lake.
Daytime highs in August 2007 in Atlanta topped 90 degrees on 26 of 31 days. The monthly average high temperature in the four weeks leading up to the tournament was 96 degrees, with the mercury in the thermometer exceeding the 100-degree mark on several dates, including a record high of 104 on Aug. 22. Soil temperatures of more than 100 degrees in the top 2 inches were recorded on more than one occasion, creating a growing medium that was inhospitable to cool-season turf.
Until this time, bentgrass was the predominant putting surface at many of Atlanta's private clubs, including East Lake. But a schedule change for the Tour Championship when it became part of the FedEx Challenge necessitated converting to Bermudagrass by 2008, and the tournament's subsequent success on MiniVerde has helped set off a cascade of similar conversions ever since.
It is widely believed around Atlanta that Berkeley Hills Country Club in Duluth was the only high end private club in the area to have Bermudagrass greens before East Lake. Since 2008, however, it is estimated that as many as 25 other facilities have since made the switch.
"You knew that once (Bermuda) had been established at a high-profile course that the dominoes would begin to fall," said Mike Crawford, who has been superintendent at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth for 18 years and who, along with several members of his crew played a key role in helping Kepple through the recovery process in 2007.
Flashback to 2007 when the event, historically played in November, was moved to mid-September as the culmination of the inaugural FedEx Cup challenge. The greens had been in great shape throughout the summer, until that combination of record heat and increased play took its toll by mid-August.
"We didn't foresee that increase in play in August," Kepple said of the increase in play.
According to the National Weather Service, 26 of 31 days in August had daytime highs in excess of 90 degrees. The monthly average high was 96, but temperatures topped 100 degrees on several occasions including a record 104 on Aug. 22. Soil temperatures at the course topped 100 degrees in the top 2 inches of the soil profile for 10 consecutive days.
"It was a perfect storm with the heat, the humidity and the duration of those conditions," said TPC Sugarloaf's Crawford. "Under those conditions, bentgrass can hang in there, but only for so long. If those conditions persist, bentgrass will eventually give up the fight, and that's what happened."
Tour officials posted warnings in players' locker room at the BMW Championship in Greensboro, N.C., informing them of the conditions that waited at East Lake. It wasn't long until the news was broadcast on television including at the Kepple house.
"My wife saw it, my kids saw it," said Kepple, a father of three. "When it upsets your family you know it's bad."
Kepple put his worries aside or at least kept them hidden from view and with help from Tour agronomists put together a plan that included resodding the edges of the affected greens with Bermudagrass, thus shrinking the contours of the bentgrass putting surfaces so the tournament could go on as scheduled. Given the short window of three to four weeks, it was the only viable solution. Growing in bentgrass in those areas was not a realistic option.
"Obviously, we had to let everyone know of the problems, and Ralph began efforts to recover the turf through cultural management practices and seed/topdressing," Roth said. "At that time of the year, bentgrass recovery was going to be difficult, especially with so little time, so plans were also made to acquire sod for repairs that ultimately were done during the week before the tournament."
It wasn't fun when it happened, but good things came of it. I'm still here, and that's a testament to the club. They stuck with me, and it would've been easy not to have done that."
After seeing the damage firsthand in mid-August en route from the West Coast to Florida, Roth called Sugarloaf's Crawford for help since the club is a TPC facility. Crawford, who has known Kepple since both were assistants more than 20 years ago, was eager to comply.
Crawford solicited a dozen or so volunteers from Sugarloaf, collected some tools and headed to East Lake. Almost immediately they joined other volunteers working to resod the edges of the thinning greens. Crawford and his band of volunteers spent every day at East Lake for the next several weeks, while co-workers back at Sugarloaf prepared for the club's annual member-guest tournament.
"We didn't know what to expect," Crawford said. "Some greens had some serious issues. We expected some to have loss of turf, and that's what we saw. But most greens had no real issues at all.
"We were glad we could help. The stress Ralph was under, I don't know the word to explain it. This isn't just a job to us. It's kind of our life. It's not more important than family, but it is our identity. It's who we are. The conditions on your property are a reflection of you and what you do. When conditions don't meet expectations, you take it personally. What he was going through had to be gut-wrenching."
When players arrived, there was hardly a hint of damaged turf. And by the time Tiger Woods had posted a tournament record 265 on Sunday, there was nary a word of what had been printed on those warning notices the week before in North Carolina.
"Ralph was quick to act and put together a plan with his team to recover as much turf as possible in the remaining weeks leading up to the tournament," Roth said. "Ralph remained very positive and proactive in his efforts to accomplish what was needed in order to provide playable conditions for the Championship. Our agronomy team worked very closely with Ralph, his team, and a team of professional turfgrass volunteers that Ralph enlisted from the Atlanta area to do everything possible to make this happen. It was a very successful effort by everyone involved and the hard work and results were greatly appreciated by the players and the PGA Tour."
Although no one involved in helping pull the event together was particularly eager about reliving the experience, Kepple says the challenge put before him during the summer of 2007 made him a better superintendent and eventually resulted in a series of events that made East Lake a better course.
"In the long haul, it was a positive thing for the club," Kepple said. "We're better for it now than we were then. We have more consistent and better playing surfaces.
"It wasn't fun when it happened, but good things came of it. I'm still here, and that's a testament to the club. They stuck with me, and it would've been easy not to have done that."