"The best week of my life"

“Installing CapillaryFlow was one of our best decisions,” Golf National course manager Alejandro Reyes told the 180-strong team of volunteer greenkeepers who, along with Reyes’s own crew, presented the golf course in such perfect condition for last week’s Ryder Cup.

Certainly, the bunkers on the Albatros course, all of which were rebuilt using CapillaryFlow’s bunker liner technology before the Ryder Cup, performed just as well as expected during the practice days and the matches themselves. But CapillaryFlow’s involvement goes beyond the bunkers.

Twenty of the greenkeepers who volunteered to work on the course for the event were sponsored by CapillaryFlow, ten GCSAA members from North America, and ten from FEGGA-affiliated countries across Europe.

“Alejandro and his team were the most gracious of hosts!” said Ryan Walsh, superintendent 
of Woods Hole Golf Club
 in Falmouth, Massachusetts
, and one of the twenty. “I really enjoyed the downtime to interact amongst his staff and have an understanding of the preparation that it took that led up to that week. During the week of the Ryder Cup, I was placed on the Practice Team. I very much valued every second of making an impact on such a high-trafficked area. It requires trust on all of the teams to have that mentality on each Team Section to provide the conditioning that we saw over the weekend. Kudos to all!”

“My expectations were high, but the experience exceeded them for three reasons: to have contributed to the success of the 2018 Ryder Cup with such a great group of golf course maintenance professionals, the great organisation of the event by FEGGA, CapillaryFlow and Le Golf National, including the education sessions with excellent speakers, and the opportunity to meet and exchange experiences with other head greenkeepers. It’s through this sharing that we evolve,” said Bernardo Sá Almeida, head greenkeeper of West Cliffs and Praia D ́el Rey in Portugal.

“It was an unbelievable learning experience,” said Steven Murphy, superintendent of Ole Miss GC in Mississippi. “It’s hard to pinpoint just one specific take away from the week but for me it has to be the culture of the crew and management of Golf National. I’ve never seen people so inspired to do anything and everything needed to get the job done at the highest level possible. Alejandro is a tremendous leader and his high level of energy and enthusiasm towards our profession is inspirational.”

“I think what I will take away most from my week at the Ryder Cup is realising just what is possible on a golf course when you have 180 greenkeepers working towards a common goal. The attention to detail was just incredible. Seeing guys and girls trimming sprinkler heads and bunker edges with scissors, to head greenkeepers divoting fairways and picking up garbage. Everyone checked their egos at the door and did what needed to be done to ensure a successful event,” said Paul Marley, assistant head greenkeeper of Estonian Golf & Country Club.

But the final word must go to Kyle Anderson, superintendent of Edgerton Towne CC in Wisconsin:“This was hands down the greatest experience of my life. Meeting new people, learning different ways to prep a course, working under conditions with language barriers, and being part of a team with 160 people involved. I will never forget this experience and have so many new friends and great contacts.”

The twenty greenkeepers selected to attend the Ryder Cup were:

FEGGA affiliates:
Paul Marley, Assistant Head Greenkeeper, Estonian Golf and Country Club, representing the Estonian Greenkeepers Association.
Bernardo sa Almeida, Head Greenkeeper, West Cliffs/Praia D ́el Rey Golf Club, representing the Portuguesse Greenkeepers Association.
Ciarán Byrne, Assistant Head Greenkeeper, Old Conna Golf Club, representing the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Ireland.
Hector Forcen, Golf Course Superintendent, Golf Club Payerne, representing the Swiss Greenkeepers Association.
Jiří Lahodný, Head Greenkeeper, Prosper Golf Resort Čeladná, representing the Czech Greenkeepers Association.
Matija Pipan, Golf Course Superintendent, Golf & Country Club Castello di Spessa, representing the Slovenian and Italian Greenkeepers Association.
Chloe Gallagher, Assistant Greenkeeper, Sunningdale Golf Club, representing the British &I nternational Greenkeepers Association.
Frank Czarnietzki, Head Greenkeeper, Golf Club Maria Bildhausen, representing the German Greenkeepers Association.
Mads Andersen, Course Manager, Søllerød Golf Club, representing the Danish Greenkeepers Association.
Abel Marius Pascariu, Assistant Greenkeeper, Golf Club Wien, member of the AustrianGreenkeepers Association

GCSAA members:
Brian Acosta, assistant superintendent, Spanish Oaks Golf Club, Bee Cave, Texas.
Kyle Anderson, superintendent, Edgerton Towne (Wis.) Country Club.
Natalia Arlint, superintendent, Polson Bay (Mont.) Golf Course.
David Eichhorn Jr., assistant superintendent, Elmcrest Country Club, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Jason Ellis, superintendent, Villages at Country Creek, Estero, Fla.
Brian Gietka, CGCS, Fountain Head Country Club, Hagerstown, Md.
Jeff Hacior, superintendent, Fort McMurray (Albeta, Canada) Golf Club.
Steven Murphy, superintendent, Ole Miss Golf Club, Oxford, Missisippi.
Herminio Plata, assistant superintendent, Monarch Dunes Golf Course, Arroyo Grande, California.
Ryan Walsh, superintendent, Woods Hole (Mass.) Golf Club.