AVONDALE, La. (Press Release) – The entire TPC Louisiana staff is very busy in the few weeks leading up to the PGA Tour on their way to Avondale, a suburb southwest of New Orleans.
TPC Louisiana Superintendent Tyler McCool joined the team nearly seven years ago after four years working on a course in Mississippi. McCool, who has a degree in agronomy with a concentration in golf management from Mississippi State University, has long loved golf and course management. Hired under the leadership of Brandon Reese, he assumed the post of Superintendent when Reese joined TPC Scottsdale in 2021.
Shortly after McCool joined TPC Louisiana, the course’s irrigation system was renovated and the entire course was re-landscaped in 2019. Celebration Bermudagrass was installed on the fairways, approaches, practice tees and some roughs. Simpson Sod, a sod farm in Covington, LA, provided 35 acres of Celebration for the renovation.
“For us, Celebration Bermudagrass is really aggressive. With a tournament date in April it works really well for us because we get some growth throughout the winter which helps with recovery. It greens fairly well with some fecundity and is green for us all year round,” said McCool.
“We approached Simpson Sod early in the turf selection process and told them what we were looking for. They didn’t have the acreage we needed, so they planted another field. They invited us to stop and visit to see the conditions while the lawn grass was growing.”
Simpson Sod even went so far as to mow the grass with a cylinder mower to bring the celebration up to game heights, which McCool says was huge for TPC Louisiana since the installation took place in late summer. McCool explained that this put the grass at a perfect height for the winter and put them ahead for the April Tour event.
The new court grass was turfed in August 2019, but the anticipated 2020 tour event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. “It would have been a great event, the sun was shining this week and new turf would have been perfect, but unfortunately it has been cancelled.”
Celebration Bermudagrass is currently being played on seven golf courses in the 2023 season of the PGA Tour. McCool praised both the color and recovery of Celebration and agreed that it is great weed for TPC Louisiana. “We can mow it at any height. From two inches in rough to under half an inch in short grass, it grows versatile and aggressive. It recovers well from divots or any other damage the turf will suffer. We really go out and put a lot of cultural practices on it in the summer and beat it up. It’s recovering really well and preparing for a late spring touring event.”
2023 PGA Tour event
Every day is different for a golf course superintendent, especially for McCool, who is preparing to host the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic on April 17 at the TPC Louisiana. Spring consists of regular meetings with on-site contractors and tournament staff to coordinate where materials are going, watering schedules, tournament setup, etc. TPC Louisiana plans to add another 40 volunteers to their staff in April. “There is a lot of planning ahead of a PGA Tour event, which can get a bit hectic at times.”
McCool explained that spring is the busiest time of the year before and after the touring event. “People want to come in and play where the pros will play and have played, so we get a lot of traffic onto the golf course. We are fortunate to be able to close for Advance Week, the week leading up to the PGA Tour event.”
During Advance Week, TPC Louisiana closes for game operations so staff can focus on special mowing and maintenance practices to dial things in to prepare the pitch for PGA players and thousands of fans.
“We add a set of brushes to our fairway mowers to get things up, get things a little tighter and get rid of some excess leaf stalks in there. We’re spraying a little more fertility than we normally would just to recover the divots as much as possible and push the turf as much as possible so as little error as possible from normal play flows into the Tour event.
McCool said it’s very cool to see professional golfers play on the golf course, but seeing it for the whole world to see is a little nerve-wracking at times. “But it’s also good for our team because it shows all the work they put in throughout the year to get everything in the right conditions for a PGA Tour event.”
TPC Louisiana staff listen to feedback from the event to see if there are any improvements or changes to focus on for next year. “A lot of data is collected during the week of a PGA Tour and we take that into account for future renovations or new green spaces. It’s definitely part of the talks for any changes that are made to the golf course.”
McCool said that during the 2019 re-greening with Celebration, they removed a lot of the organic matter that had built up on the pitch over time. Now they can mow the turf a little deeper on the fairways and approaches because they have a much tighter lie. TPC Louisiana sees an average of 70 inches of rain a year, so this tournament is often a wet tour event. “Since 2019 we have been lucky with the Celebration that we no longer had to find flood balls in the fairways. We were able to mow deeper and a little narrower than before,” he shared.
McCool said they must learn to manage the weather and prepare for heavy rain. He’s also grateful for the network of clubs that host these touring events and for the agronomists who travel to each class on the touring event to discuss maintenance strategies and see what the superintendents are doing differently week to week. “They will share their thoughts and connections with other superintendents facing the same obstacles to give ideas and vice versa.”
McCool explained that they plan to re-grass all tees at TPC Louisiana with Celebration Bermudagrass within the next two years, which would convert the rest of the course’s short grass to a uniform variety. The tea boxes are currently greened with another Bermuda grass variety.
He encourages anyone who hasn’t visited or played golf at this course to plan a trip. “TPC Louisiana is a Pete Dye design in a unique part of the country. There are many alligators and wildlife to see while playing the golf course. And then visit the great city of New Orleans with great food and great people. It’s just a great place to visit. New Orleans hospitality is second to none,” he said.
More information about TPC Louisiana can be found here.
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