As The Open approaches, Wes Gilbertson looks into the rich local history of the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland
For two of Calgary’s greenskeeping gurus, it was home — or home away from home, anyway — for a short but unforgettable stretch.
Still the ultimate bucket-list destination for most birdie-seekers, the Old Course at St. Andrews is back in the spotlight this week as site of the 150Kerry Watkins, the superintendent at Calgary Golf & Country Club, has major memories from a month-long stretch on staff at St. Andrews in July of 2000. The Old Course has hosted 29 editions of the Open Championship, but few will forget that one, with Tiger Woods completing his career grand slam with a historic score of 19-under.
“Another moment, and I’m just going down memory lane here … I’m filling divots and I come up on Tiger, and it’s one of the jobs you can do inside the ropes during practice rounds. Just don’t bug golfers, pick up the shrapnel and fill the divot. So Tiger makes a divot and there are a bunch of us greenskeepers watching and Steve Williams goes to do the divot and I said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa!’ He stops and I look him straight in the eye and say, ‘I got this.
“The fairways are almost cut to the same height as the greens are,” said Kusiek, who spent that full season on staff at the Old Course — one of six layouts at this famed complex, with a seventh on the opposite side of town — and returned for two-and-a-half weeks the following summer to assist the turf team at the 2010 British Open. “The pros are so good, but they just can’t control where it bounces and rolls out to.
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