43
On course for ‘Greatest’
Photo
Mike Ferranti, right, golf pro at The Lake Club in Poland, watches Thursday as course superintendent Chris Brown uses a stimpmeter to check the roll on a green. The two have spent the past several weeks making sure every blade of grass and every grain of sand on the course is up to par for the championship round of the “Greatest Golfer of the Valley” tournament on Sept. 18. Opening play is Saturday at Mill Creek and Sunday at Trumbull Country Club.
By JON MOFFETT
jmoffett@vindy.com
POLAND
Michael Ferranti has had Sept. 18 circled on his calendar for a long time.
The golf professional at The Lake Club, Ferranti has spent the past several weeks making sure every blade of grass and grain of sand are in their place. He and the rest of the staff have spared no expense and wasted no time in preparing the course.
That’s because The Lake Club will host the championship round of the “Greatest Golfer of the Valley” tournament, sponsored by The Vindicator and Farmers National Bank. And after the first two rounds conclude, the best of the best will play at his course.
“The summer has gone by pretty fast, and before you know it [the tournament] is here,” Ferranti said. “We planned this out in the spring, and there has been a lot of talk about it ... And the next thing you know it’s the end of August and the tournament is right around the corner.”
The three host courses — Ferranti’s The Lake Club, as well as Mill Creek and Trumbull Country Club — have spent the past few weeks preparing. Ferranti said this time of year is the perfect time for golf courses.
Especially tournament golf courses.
“The grass starts growing again in the fall,” Ferranti said. “It makes it through the summer when it’s hot and everything kind of stops growing. And any time there is a good time to grow, a golf course is in good shape. You can do a lot more with it.
“You can cut the grass down, get the greens rolling really good and not have to worry about the summer conditions.”
John Diana, the head pro at Trumbull, said there is a lot more that goes into preparing a course for a tournament, as opposed to regular play.
“What we are trying to do is get the quality of the greens up to tournament specifications,” Diana said. “A lot of the mowing and things like that will be done for tournament play. And we had to add certain tee locations that we don’t traditionally have because of all the divisions. We’ll have to have tees for women and seniors.”
Dennis Miller, golf director at Mill Creek, said the day before a tournament somewhat resembles Christmas Eve for children.
“Oh I’m definitely excited,” Miller said. “I loved when I first heard about this ... I’m very proud of the golf in our area; in the Valley.”
He continued, “It takes us a good whole day to prepare for tournaments like this. We need to make sure everything is cut that day. The greens will be rolled, double cut and rolled, to make sure they are smooth and fast. Then we will mark pin placements, the tees and stuff.”
The maintenance of the course also changes based on the type of play, Diana said.
“The course is generally in pretty good shape, it’s just a matter of setting it up for tournament play,” he said. “But you have to be very clear about what are hazards, what are in bounds and what isn’t. The rough has to be a certain length and all of that.”
He added, “Getting the rough the right length is also key. We want it to be fair, but penalize you if you get off the fairway. But the biggest things is the tee locations as well as the pin locations. Normally, in the normal course of play, the pins are very friendly. For these type of things, it’s less inviting.”
Trumbull and Mill Creek will host the first rounds of the tournament. Golfers from seven divisions (6-12 handicap, 13-17 handicap, 18-plus handicap, women, seniors, super seniors and scratch) will begin play this weekend. Tee times begin at 10 a.m. for Mill Creek on Saturday, and the same time for Trumbull on Sunday.
More than 60 of the 100 golfers will advance to The Lake Club for the championship round.
And Ferranti hopes the greatest golfers in the area swoon over what he feels is the greatest course in the Valley.
“We look forward to it, and we have been for a while,” he said. “We’ve got our facilities in really good shape as a championship-style course that will test every part of your game.”
And while the other courses may not agree on the greatest course in the area, they can conclude such a tournament is the greatest golf idea in a while.
“It’s good to give the amateur golfers around here a taste of tournament golf,” Ferranti said.
Miller agreed, saying, “I love bringing tournaments back to this area, and I think we have been lacking in that area. We have a lot of golf outings and things like this, but a championship-style tournament is a great thing.”
Diana said the tournament’s first year is crucial. But he is also looking forward to future tournaments.
“There’s not too many gross-scoring amateur events in this area,” he said. “The possibility for this thing to grow is enormous. We’re including all the surrounding counties, and it’s a good chance for amateur golfers around here to be successful.”