Oregon Grasses Greet Ryder Cup Team

TANGENT, Ore., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The first players to appear at the
2008 Ryder Cup are declared winners long before tournament play actually
begins. These champions are the turf varieties that were selected entirely
from U.S.-produced seed.
Valhalla, home of this year's Ryder Cup, specifically selected grasses
from Barenbrug USA. Mark Wilson, Valhalla's managing superintendent, approved
the turf selections because of Barenbrug's ability to personally see to the
demands put in place for the event and their understanding of Valhalla's
climate challenges and the tremendous impact they have on the course.
Mark Wilson has been in Ryder Cup mode since late 2005. "We've been going
34 months on this and have a few weeks to go," he says. The excitement of
hosting another big-time golf event (two PGA Championships and a Senior PGA
Championship have been played here in the last 12 years) is clearly evident in
his voice.
Work at Valhalla has focused on four key areas; principal among them are
changes to the course, which like Augusta National, seem to be a constant work
in progress. "The PGA of America, which owns Valhalla, invited Jack Nicklaus
Design back to make the necessary alterations," says Wilson. He worked on
virtually every hole, making significant changes to 13 of them including
building four new greens. Bunkers were also added in multiple locations and
the course lengthened some 329 yards, taking it just four yards shy of 7,500.
"To challenge the players of today we needed to add some length," said
Nicklaus at a press conference in summer 2006. "We needed to add a little bit
more spice to it. We actually softened some of the greens to give more cupping
area, but at others we added more interest and challenge with some general
rolls."
Three of the rebuilt greens were actually modified again late last year
when Nicklaus and Kerry Haigh, Managing Director of Tournaments at the PGA,
took out some of the slopes to add to the choice of pin placements.
As well as alterations to the course's actual design, the greens, rough
and grassed sections outside the playing areas were re-turfed. Penncross
bentgrass on the greens was replaced by a Penn A-1/A-4 blend and the rough was
seeded using Barenbrug's Turf Saver(R) with RTF(R) mix, the only rhizomatous
tall fescue blend available in the market. Wilson chose it for the turf
quality and its excellent performance in the transition zone. Barenbrug's Turf
Blue(TM) was used for the intermediate rough. Wilson indicated that he was
completely impressed with the turf quality and rapid establishment of the
Kentucky bluegrasses within the blends.
For no-mow areas and shade, Turf Sense, a Barenbrug fine fescue blend that
Wilson and Barenbrug salesman Roger Crenshaw christened "Valhalla Dunes Mix,"
was chosen. "It was slow to establish," Wilson adds, "but since taking hold it
has required almost no maintenance. It also requires little or no fertilizer
and tolerates poor soils."
U.S. Team Captain Paul Azinger visited October in 2007 and met with Wilson
to discuss plans for the set-up of the course. "We haven't talked about it in
too much detail but he doesn't want the U.S. team to lose their length
advantage, so I doubt you'll see anything to deter the Americans from hitting
their driver off the tee."
Excitement over the 37th playing of the Ryder Cup is building steadily and
in order to get his course ready for 24 of the world's best golfers, Wilson
will soon revert back to those seven-day work weeks. "Whatever it takes"
remains his motto.
High-resolution images available upon request.

Contact:
Jeremy J.Husen
Marketing/Communications Manager
PO Box 239; 33477 HWY 99E
Tangent, OR 97389
Phone: 541.926.5801
http://www.barusa.com
info@barusa.com

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SOURCE Barenbrug USA

Jeremy J.Husen, Marketing-Communications Manager of Barenbrug USA,
+1-541-926-5801, info@barusa.com