Tournament Turf at the U.S. Open

LebanonTurf stands up against golf’s stiffest competition

“I don’t think there’s any other product that can even compete with it.”

The U.S. Open is all about the best players playing at the highest level in the toughest conditions. It doesn’t get much better than that. This year, the U.S. Open came to one of golf’s most historic and intimidating courses: Oakmont Country Club, just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

And that “best” adjective doesn’t just stop at the players and the course. Some of the best superintendents and grounds crews come from all over the world to volunteer at this legendary tournament.

And they’re all here to help one man, John Zimmers, the superintendent of Oakmont Country Club.

John and his crew, along with hundreds of volunteers, hit the course each day leading up to—and during—the U.S. Open, mowing fairways, raking bunkers, and making the course look and perform perfectly.

One thing that helps him do his job is his arsenal of LebanonTurf products. Here’s what he had to say about them:

“To use products from Lebanon on our famous greens here, I think you don’t have to go any further. It’s a fantastic product. We use a lot of their starter products, but we don’t only use it on our greens. We use it on our tees, our fairways, our approaches and our rough. They have been a tremendous part of us preparing to make this grass look so good.”

That’s not a bad testimonial, but when it comes to preparing for this course, he had a specific challenge that LebanonTurf products helped him conquer:

“You know what you’re going to get with them. The particle size on this Poa Annua is the most important [thing]. I don’t think there’s any other product that can even compete with it.”

If you’re rooted in the turf industry, you know that Poa Annua can be a killer (literally) to consistent turf conditions. It can die off when the temperature heats up, leaving dead spots and empty patches. In the USGA’s premier golf event, words like “dead” and “empty” don’t fly.

That’s where that LebanonTurf consistency comes in. The entire course has to play even, with the fewest imperfections. Then the true challenging nature of the course and the true skill of the players can take center stage.

So what products does John Zimmers specifically use on his course?

“Country Club MD. We use the 18-24-12, we use the 18-3-18, we use a variety of different things.”

Making the 2016 U.S. Open a success takes the help of a lot of people, and a lot of quality products; that includes volunteer grounds crews, their mowing and turf renovation equipment, and turf care products like ones from LebanonTurf. In the end, their goal was to make the course fair, consistent, and challenging. And if you ask any volunteers, players or John Zimmers himself, they’ll say it was a success.

To get a closer look at what it takes to put on a U.S. Open, and how LebanonTurf played a role this year, check out the above video.

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For more information about LebanonTurf, our products or how to improve the quality of your turf, visit our website or our Facebook page.