The signature No. 6 hole at Thai CC in Chacheongaso, Thailand, where Tony Taylor is CGCS.

2001 Leo Feser award candidate

The challenge of preparing for a golf tournament may not be new to many, especially in North America, where PGA Tour events are regularly on the calendar. In Asia, which has faced a major economic crisis over the last several years, there have been few top-level events. I was fortunate to have helped with the tournament preparations for Asia's premier golf event in 2000. What I learned is that differences in culture and language complicate the challenges of staging a major professional golf tournament.

The Johnnie Walker Classic 2000 was played at Alpine Golf Club on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand. The winner, Tiger Woods, is part Thai and and is an icon in this golf-enthused nation of 60 million (approximately 500,000 are golfers). The Classic featured some of the world's top golfers, including Woods and Ernie Els, and it matched some of Europe's top players, like Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, with top players from Asia and Australia.

Taylor served as consultant at Alpine GC in Bangkok, Thailand, home of the 2000 Johnnie Walker Classic.

In Thailand, there are about 200 golf courses of varied construction and design. Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye, Robert Trent Jones Jr., Denis Griffiths and Ron Fream are some of the world-famous golf course architects who have projects in this country. Yet there are smaller and lesser-known golf courses that have been designed, built and operated by the U.S. Army and Navy, and there are even estate golf courses. So, there are a variety of courses available to Thai, Asian (Thailand is a regional golf destination) and international golfers.

Levels of maintenance are gradually improving, with golf course owners and management realizing the importance of good agronomic practices. The Asian economic crisis' impact reduced existing budgets, which ultimately hurt many golf facilities in Thailand. As Asia and Thailand make a steady recovery, more funding has returned to golf course maintenance operations. The belt-tightening during the recession years led to a better and more efficient use of available resources. For example, a relatively low-cost, low-maintenance ride-on mower has been developed for Asian markets and is increasingly being sought by golf operators.

In the course of my career, I have had the good fortune to have tournament preparation work in America. Preparing for two NCAA Championships, one Florida Open and assisting at the U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open has helped me hone my skills and provided me with a frame of reference.

At Thai Country Club, where I am resident superintendent, my crew and I prepared the course for Woods' assault on the Griffiths-designed layout in 1997 at the Asian Honda Classic. My services were engaged as a consultant prior to the Johnnie Walker Classic in 1998 at Blue Canyon Country Club on the resort island of Phuket, some 500 miles south of Bangkok. In late 1998, Thai CC hosted one leg of the Johnnie Walker Super Tour, and once again I supervised the preparation of the golf course for some of the world's top golf professionals.

The task ahead
I was asked to serve as a consultant for the Johnnie Walker Classic 2000 by the management of the host club. I oversaw the resident crew prepare the Ron Garl-designed facility to European Tour specifications and expectations.

During tournament preparation, I was under contract to be at Alpine eight days per month. In order to uphold professional standards and expectations, I spent up to 12 days per month, and in the weeks right before the tournament, I was there 12 to 14 days at a time. All of this was in addition to my work at Thai CC.

Spanish great Sergio Garcia (left) joins Taylor on a fairway at Alpine GC.

I had four months' lead-time before the tournament in mid-November. Some of the preparation work included supervision of mowing crews, fertilizer programs and monitoring moisture levels. The newly installed Toro LTC Plus has performed well since it went on line in August 2000. Technical support from the Thai Toro distributor has been very good, with the usual "teething" problems, such as arranging for proper flow controls.

In this part of the world, heat is intense and rainfall is heavy and often abrupt. As such, the problems superintendents face are often water removal and algae control. Extended days of rainfall without much sunshine can often complicate the situation. This facility already has about 20 kilometers of subsoil concrete main drains, ranging from 30 centimeters in diameter to 1 meter. Another 20 kilometers of herringbone drains were added during renovation work in early 2000. Fortunately, my consulting and construction company, Quality Golf Consultants, was involved with the renovations over the past two years, so I was already familiar with the project, the 70-person grounds staff and the various work crews at Alpine.

The heat in Thailand is often intense. Temperatures range from 34 to 40 C (93.2-102 F) almost year-round. There are three seasons in Thailand: the rainy season (July-November), the warm season (December-February) and the hot season (March-June). The amount of sunshine during the warm and hot seasons tends to bake the grass. Yet in the rainy season, there is often not enough sunlight to allow for adequate photosynthesis. These extreme conditions make it difficult to use proper agronomic practices. However, the team at Alpine worked hard preparing for the tournament, and the professionals were able to execute their shots.

Air circulation is another factor that is often overlooked in the tropics. We addressed this during course preparations and renovations. Many owners or general committees think it is beneficial to plant large trees to provide shade. However, dense shade is detrimental to closely mowed turf. With careful and calculated pruning and thinning, tree branches are trimmed and canopies are "opened up" to provide for better growing conditions. At Alpine, many air channels were opened up to allow for better circulation, resulting in healthier greens and improving trees, landscaping and turf.

On green complexes, subsurface aeration is a must. Portable blowers are periodically used, especially in the rainy season, to aerate drainage pipes to promote healthier root systems. This has helped improve the overall quality of the turf on the green complexes.

Preparing the facility for world-class golf professionals was a challenging experience. Maintaining these higher levels of professional performance with consistent agronomic practices is an immense and ongoing task. Convincing higher management of the need for qualified professional help was a task in itself. Working with the resident crew brought new challenges requiring interpersonal skills coupled with technical knowledge and reinforced by work experience. With some help and cooperation from Mother Nature, all factors combined for stellar conditions at tournament week.

As executive director of Quality Golf Consultants Co., Taylor has acted as a consultant to many courses throughout Thailand and other Asian countries. Here he is conducting a course inspection of Alpine GC.

The future
My Thai partner at Quality Golf Consultants, Pirapon Nimatra, is a qualified civil engineer (MSCe) schooled at Rolla University in Mississippi and San Jose (Calif.) State. He has been very helpful in translating and helping me improve my language skills. Speaking fluent Thai not only helps the immediate communication process, but it also helps break down barriers.

In communicating with golf course owners, management and employees, I have found that it is important to use simple analogies pertaining to their own lives and businesses. Asian management tends to think about cutting costs rather than increasing budgets and allowing work to be done properly. Perhaps this is a factor of the "trading" culture that has been the basic premise and foundation of many Asian societies.

Many workers on golf courses in Thailand and Asia have no formal education or training in agronomy. Many do not even play golf. There are few agronomy schools in the region, and the number of turf professionals remains small. The quality of turf crews varies tremendously, especially in Thailand, but I have had the good fortune to train and supervise many individuals who are now very proficient. Because many of the available workers were rice farmers and casual laborers, continued training and supervision are crucial. A schedule for training is drawn up, and opportunities for self-improvement are offered.

With these factors and plans in mind, it is hoped that our management practices can and will succeed in raising the standards of agronomy and turf management practices in Thailand.

Tony Taylor, CGCS, is resident superintendent at Thai Country Club in Chacheongsao, Thailand, and a 10-year GCSAA member. He also works with other facilities in Thailand and Asia as executive director of Quality Golf Consultants.