OB SPORTS GOLF & LEISURE
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FALL 2016
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obsports.com
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IN THE NEWS
I
t's a significant undertak-
ing for any golf course to
host a major championship,
particularly when it comes to
preparing the grounds for the
world's best players.
That was surely the case in
getting CordeValle Golf Club
ready to host the 2016 U.S.
Women's Open over the sum-
mer, as a four-pronged effort
between the resort, the United
States Golf Association, third
party event managers and OB
Sports resulted in course con-
ditions that drew rave reviews
from the USGA.
But it took some work.
In September, 2015, OB
Sports was brought in to assist
with the overall golf opera-
tions at the Northern Califor-
nia course. And, according to
OB Sports Senior Vice Presi-
dent Sean Cracraft, it "quickly
became apparent that the main
focus of our work would re-
volve around golf course
maintenance leading up to the
U.S. Women's Open."
In November, the course's
superintendent left the facility,
leaving Cracraft to take over
day-to-day operations of the
maintenance department until
CordeValle's Director of Golf
Operations, Bob Marshall, ar-
rived on site in February. Be-
tween the two of them, they
oversaw all the prep work
leading up to the event. More
than a dozen more superin-
tendents and general managers
from OB facilities joined in.
"It truly was a team effort,"
Cracraft said. "Any time there
is a change in leadership, espe-
cially leading up to a major
event, there is a level of con-
cern that has to be dealt with
right away. But with OB
Sports' history in hosting
events and our knowledge of
the USGA and its standards
and goals, we were able to
overcome any concerns and
even exceed expectations for
how the event was executed."
Already faced with the chal-
lenge of getting a course ready
for a major championship, that
challenge elevated in the
weeks before the event.
The region was experiencing
record-high temperatures,
which put the course and
everyone involved in planning
the tournament under extreme
stress, Cracraft said. But in the
end the results were extraordi-
nary, at least based on the feed-
back from the USGA, which
has staged events at many of
the finest courses in America
for more than 100 years.
"The USGA was extremely
pleased with how the course
was prepared and how it
played during the event,"
Cracraft said. "They com-
mented the greens were some
of the most consistent they had
ever seen in regards to speed,
moisture and firmness."
American Brittany Lang
was the eventual winner of the
tournament, played July 7-10.
›› DISCOVER golf packages
and more at CordeValle.
GROUND CONTROL
n MAINTENANCE CREW SHINES AT U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN
< The team at CordeValle.
