It is unusual

McKenzie: “Let’s just say we have a pedigree when it comes to professional events.” Photo: Celtic Manor Resort
He’s a Scot who’s spent most of his career in England and Wales but he’s about to host an event that knows no geographic boundaries.

The Ryder Cup matches return to Europe next month, this time at Celtic Manor’s Twenty Ten Course, a venue that’s not well-known to most Americans or even to most pros outside of Euro Tour regulars who play at the Wales Open. The event will be the culmination of two decades of positioning, lobbying, building, remodeling and massive investment by the resort’s owner, Sir Terry Matthews. It also represents 17 years of preparation and perspiration for Jim McKenzie, the director of golf courses and host superintendent.

It’s McKenzie’s first major – and he says he’s ready agronomically and logistically – but the Ryder Cup means big things to the tiny British nation known more for coal mining and crooner Tom Jones of “What’s New Pussycat” and “It’s Not Unusual” fame. He’s now part of a team that an entire nation is buzzing about.

“This is the biggest thing that’s ever happened here,” McKenzie says.

Not the usual host superintendent pressure, huh?

McKenzie has been at the facility since 1993 and spearheaded much of the construction work and fine turning that ultimately led the PGA European Tour to select it as the site for the Cup matches originally planned for 2009 (the annual schedule changed in the aftermath of 9/11).

McKenzie’s path to one of golf’s biggest stages was not typical. “I played some golf, but had no particular desire to work. I also didn’t have much desire to go to school either and left (school) without telling my mum. My aunt dropped by, found me sleeping instead of at school and dumped a big bucket of water on my head to wake me. She took me shopping and there was a job center there and they had an opening for a trainee greenkeeper and I grudgingly applied. That’s how I got started.”

He quickly rose through the ranks and also collected a certificate in greenkeeping and groundsmanship at Elmwood College. After working in Scotland for a decade and hosting a Euro Tour event in Glasgow, he landed the job at the ultra-high-end Wentworth Club outside London, which is both home to the European PGA Tour’s headquarters and the BMW PGA Championship. He stayed until ’93 when he was lured away to help put Celtic Manor on the map.

Despite fighting through one of the driest years on record, in a few weeks, McKenzie will be in the eye of the hurricane as the golf world comes to Wales. We wondered what makes him tick and whether he was feeling any pressure from Colin Montgomerie to mimic the partnership formed between Valhalla Golf Club superintendent Mark Wilson, CGCS, and U.S. captain Paul Azinger two years ago. So we decided to get to know the man who will put his relatively new course on display for millions of fans and enter the very unusual world of international championship golf as the host of the Ryder Cup.

   
Celtic Manor is a bit of a mystery to most of your colleagues across the pond. Tell us about it.
It’s quite an unusual course. It’s a hybrid of two courses. We opened the Wentwood Hills course in 1999 and held the Wales Open there from 2000 to 2004. That was the original candidate venue we asked the (European) PGA to consider. The problem was the old layout had some huge elevation changes – 300-feet plus in places – which was fine going down but not so much going up. And the popularity of the event and the likely crowds grew dramatically. It just wasn’t big enough. So we bought more land and brought in IMG and the European Tour to design a new nine and redesign nine on the old course to become the Twenty Ten Course. So, half is 11 years old and half is four years old.

How did you get the designs and the turf to match up on the old and the new nines?
Grassing the greens on the new nine (of the Twenty Ten) was a challenge. If we’d seeded them all new to get the same surface, we would have had to close the old side and that would have been prohibitively expensive. We also wanted to avoid dealing with young grass with rootzone issues plus take-all patch, nematodes and Poa. So, we took sod off the old nine and put it on the new. The two courses mesh together well… the bunkering style is slightly different so it’s not quite seamless, but it’s pretty close.

Here’s a strange side story. We ran out of sod from the old course and didn’t have enough for putting green. We brought in Providence (bentgrass) and we introduced Poa to get to the same 50-50 mix that was on the course. We spent 2 ½ years encouraging Poa, but players still complained about the mix! So, we came up with something quite interesting. Wentworth was being remodeled (by Ernie Els) so we bought the sod – which matched our greens nicely – from them and trucked it in. Ironically, Wentworth had the Ryder Cup in 1953 (and the U.S. won). So technically, the USA has already won on that grass so they should be happy.

Besides the very different construction and grassing, what preparation challenges have you faced?
We’ve had a very, very dry year indeed. On the plus side, it made for a great Wales Open in June. But it’s been dry and warm since then and the lakes started getting low. Since we couldn’t keep irrigating all three courses on site, we turned off the water on the fairways on the others to try and preserve available water for the event. Twenty Ten has ryegrass tees and fairways, so it doesn’t require a lot. Still, we used a lot of hand watering and wetting agents. Thankfully temperatures have finally dropped, the lakes have come back up and the golf course is looking quite good at the moment.

One other thing we worked hard on was that the rough was inconsistent at the Wales Open. Our irrigation set up tended to make it higher or lower from place to place. So we put in lots of effort and fertilizer to even out the rough.
Finally, we’re a resort. First and foremost we have to take care of guests and keep the course open until Sept. 6. We’ve had high occupancy rates and lots of play so we haven’t been able to do a lot of the major tournament preparation work yet. I’m really looking forward to closing. We’ve put a disproportionate effort into day-to-day maintenance instead of getting ready.

What’s been the stated conditioning goal from the PGA European Tour?
Both the Tour and Colin (Montgomerie) have been quite magnanimous. They believe we should set up the course just like we do for the Wales Open. Colin has said we are not going to set up to favor a Euro win. There will be no tricks. Besides, you can’t really set up to covertly put it to our advantage. I’m not really sure that works anymore. U.S. guys routinely win over here and we win over there. There’s no point in any surprises, so look for everything to be fair and square. No narrowing of fairways or cutting of rough… it’ll be just like the Wales Open.

(U.S. captain Corey) Pavin played in the Wales Open in 2009 and said (paraphrasing), “I like this course. It’s a fair course. It’s right in front of you. If you can’t see it, it ain’t there.” That should tell you what you need to know.

How did you feel about what Mark Wilson did at Valhalla where he worked closely with Paul Azinger to set up the course the way Zinger wanted it?
Mark’s a great fellow and he did what he was asked to do. I spent some time with him (at Valhalla) and what I found most interesting wasn’t that or the agronomic stuff but the way he organized so many staff and volunteers. He was overseeing something like 120 people. The way he set about organizing food, uniforms and the lot was amazing. He was very helpful and gave me his lists and (staffing) sheets to help figure out labor and crew division.

Have you talked with Mark since he retired?
I didn’t know he had. I knew he was thinking about it. I think he’s coming to Wales and staying with a mutual friend so I hope to talk with him then.

McKenzie on Colin “Monty” Montgomerie: “I admire the fact that he wants us to use the Wales Open as a model (for The Ryder Cup).” Photo: Celtic Manor ResortHow much interaction have you had with Monty? Is he as explosive as he sometimes seems?
First and foremost, you’d be surprised at how nice he is. He’s a big supporter of the Wales Open and has been a great friend to us. We were delighted when he was named captain. It was announced when I was on my way to Louisville two years ago and we found out when we got off the plane. He made his first official visit in March 2009. He spent quite a bit of time looking at the tees to be used (for the event) and at a few bunkers we’d deepened and the new swale we added along the 11th green. We showed him everything. We went over the height of cut in the rough, how it played in the fall, where it gets damp – the works.

I admire the fact that he wants us to use the Wales Open as a model. Between 2005 and 2008 we played on three different course configurations during construction (of the Twenty Ten), but the event always stayed here. He hasn’t needed to have major input, but he keeps abreast of what’s going on. That’s good because we have other things to do. He’s a gentleman. He does an extraordinary amount for charity. I think very highly of him.

How much volunteer help will you get from your BIGGA colleagues?
This is the first time ever the event has been in Wales and Wales is a small country. The Ryder Cup is the third largest sporting event in the world. This is our Olympics… this is the biggest thing that has ever happened here. A lot of the time effort and money have come from Wales, so we’ve made an effort to make sure most of our volunteers are from Wales and work with BIGGA locally to recruit. All of the head greenkeepers and courses managers are very hands on here and they have a sense of ownership in the event. Plus, we have no accommodation or transport issues either!

There is one American coming over who worked for Steve Cook (host of the Cup at Oakland Hills). But he’s Welsh and – can you believe it? – his name is Tom Jones!

Tell us one big difference between your preparations and how you feel most U.S. championship courses are prepared?
It might surprise them – first and foremost – that we’re still open and still busy. Really busy. We are taking a very low-key approach until we close in September. So, right now (mid-August) it’s the same as we would be doing. That is except for $6 million worth of scaffolding, miles of transport tracks and 300 contractors building platforms, grandstands, etc. But that’s not totally new for us either. I’m not for one minute suggesting the Ryder Cup is the same as the Wales Open, but we’ve done this before. It’s not that different.

So, as they say over here, this ain’t your first rodeo?
I have to admit I haven’t heard that one before. Let’s just say we have a pedigree when it comes to professional events.

What worries you at night?
The major concern is fog. We’re down in the valley… so there’s nothing you can do about it. Rain, drought, etc. – we can deal with it. But getting fogged in keeps me awake at night. Then there are other strange things that wake me up at 2 a.m. How do I get staff in through security if they’re late? What happens if we blow a hydraulic hose on a fairway mower? I just got married so my boss likes to joke that people shouldn’t be asking what keeps me up at night! (Laughs.)

You squeezed in a wedding this year?
We got married halfway between the Wales and the Ryder Cup. It’ll definitely be a year to remember.

Besides getting married, what do you do for fun?
Pretty much the only thing I do outside of work is play golf… which I know sounds strange. It’s actually something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I’m 48 years old and haven’t really had a holiday for 25 years. It probably cost me a marriage (he was divorced in 2004) and I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to look for something non-golf to take my mind off work. So, one of my short-term goals is to get a hobby. I spend most of my spare time with Debbie, my new wife, so I guess she’s been my hobby. And she’s helped keep my feet on the ground.

What advice do you give young greenkeepers?
Don’t do it! (Laughs.) No, it really is a varied and rewarding career. I quite often say to the guys, when you meet someone and you say, “I’m a greenkeeper,” you’re usually the first one they’ve met. We’re quite a small group. But, it offers security, diversity and opportunity. There’s also the possibility of moving into club management… you don’t have to be a golf pro to be a club manager any more. More and more of my colleagues in this country are going that route.

Final thoughts?
It’s time to deliver. The event only happens 25 times a century. To be given the opportunity is quite humbling. Thanks to an owner with huge ambitions and drive, we went from farmers’ fields to a Ryder Cup in two decades. I’ll never forget that after all of the work and the bidding to get it, we got it essentially on 9/11, so we didn’t celebrate… no drinks or dinner or anything. It just wasn’t appropriate. We hope to make up for that in October.