On a message board in the corridor of The Australian Golf Club maintenance facility is an A4 sheet of paper with the words ‘Positive Feedback’ printed in bold. Pinned all around it are printouts of emails, text messages and social media posts thanking the crew for their efforts. It’s full. After the 2023 ISPS Handa Australian Open this week they may well need to add another board such has been the superlative feedback from players and officials alike about the conditioning of the course which is hosting its 22nd Open, the most of any other club in the country.

To say that The Australian and tournament co-host The Lakes (see separate article in The Cut) have smashed it out of the park this past week would be an understatement. While they are two vastly different courses in terms of design, challenge and turf varieties – The Australian boasts Santa Ana couchgrass fairways, The Lakes kikuyu – the exemplary playing surfaces that superintendents Dan Cook (CSTM, The Australian, pictured right) and his counterpart Anthony Mills (The Lakes) have presented this week with their expanded tournament crews is undeniable.

It is the second year that the dual-course, triple event format (men’s, women’s and all abilities fields) is being played after a highly successful debut on the Melbourne Sandbelt in 2022. Just as they did last year, many players have taken to social media lauding the playing conditions of the host courses, with Europe’s Ryder Cup hero Robert MacIntyre going so far as to say that The Australian was “Hands down the best conditioned golf course I have ever played.” While those sorts of comments are humbling for Cook and his senior management team of Shane George, Marlon Johnston, Vince DeMarzo and Josh Presland, they ultimately know they have come about as a direct result of the huge amount of ground work the crew has put in over many months in the lead-up to the tournament.

On a personal level, this is a huge week for Cook. Coming on board as superintendent of The Australian in the spring of 2021 after a successful 14-year tenure at Elanora Country Club, Cook was given three main areas of focus by the club – improving green speed and firmness, bunker playability and the landscape area. Putting his unique stamp on the management of the Kensington course, Cook has made significant changes both on and off it, all of which is on show in what is his first Australian Open in the big seat.

Those changes have encompassed a different approach to managing The Australian’s short cut turf surfaces and renovation practices, improving the playing corridors by trimming back the landscape to highlight the Jack Nicklaus ‘signature’ design and, most recently, overhauling 8000 square metres of bunkering. Starting in mid-June and running for a hectic 17-week period, a total of 76 bunkers were reconstructed with the installation of a porous liner along with freshly imported sand. Indeed, the striking white sand and presentation of the bunkers this week has been one of the major talking points, such is their contrast with the pristine couchgrass, while the liner certainly saved the crew a significant amount of work after 20m fell on the eve of the tournament.

While the bunker refurbishment was ongoing, renovation of the playing surfaces took place in late August and early September. That timing allowed eight weeks to condition and maintain a good stand of grass for the club championships which only finished two Sundays before Open. The recovery from renovation was excellent and turf health coming into the new growing season was at one of its strongest points, enabling Cook and his team to get them in their sweet spot for this week.

“I am really happy with the consistent stand of grass inside the ropes, wall-to-wall,” reflects Cook. “The crew have done a lot of work and this week is the fruition of that. Shane George has done a huge amount of work on our 6mm (fairways and approaches) and 15mm (surround cut) couchgrass surfaces and he’s got an incredible and consistent standard of grass out there which is something he should be very proud of.

“The bunkers too have come up really well. The bunker project was done at warp speed which probably left the finish work a little short. Crew member Connor Mizen put his hand up and said he’d like to own that. Bunker work is not always the most desired, but he made it his own and between himself and fellow crew member Max they sorted out the bunkers and their finished shape. They have had a lot of support this week from the volunteers and our crew to present them, but leading up to the Open those guys packed, rolled and shaped every face of every bunker on this golf course.

“A lot of the focus and credit during a week like this goes towards the superintendent, which I don’t think is correct. For me the whole team is invaluable and without the crew I don’t exist. I see myself as up the front driving the bus, but there are four other management guys who really push this thing around and then there’s the 18 other people behind us that are the motor driving us forward. They’ve all had their key areas – Shane has been looking after our 6mm surfaces and the tournament bump in, Marlon looking after the irrigation and scheduling leading in and both Vince and Josh looking after our bentgrass in regards to moisture and making the most of the applications on the property. Those guys are first class.”

Although a "rookie" when it comes to the hosting his national Open, Cook has a significant tournament pedigree. In a previous life, for a two-year period in the mid-2000s he became the first Australian to be part of the management team at Augusta National Golf Club, rising to the role of second assistant role. He managed the back nine greens at the 2007 Masters and every year heads back as one of a select few to volunteer on the tournament crew. He has also been involved in numerous other tournaments, both on the crew and as an observer. That included spending time in Melbourne last year with Steven Newell (Victoria GC) and Hayden Mead (Kingston Heath GC) and gaining some insights as they hosted the Open's dual course format for the first time.

While the focus of each morning and afternoon shift this week is solely on presenting The Australian at its absolute peak, the week as a whole is very much about ‘the experience’ for Cook. Drawing from all those past events he has witnessed and been involved with, Cook has tried to pick the best parts to make sure that his crew of 22 and the more than 60 volunteers can enjoy the week and be part of something memorable.

With the assistance of course administration manager Becca Cody, who has put a lot of those ideas into practice, no detail has been spared to give the tournament crew the best operating environment to work in. That includes everything from ensuring an intense work schedule is structured so that the volunteers get alternate afternoons off to counter the onset of any fatigue, through to providing more nutritious and healthier catering options instead of egg and bacon rolls for seven days straight.

As part of the huge volunteer contingent, riding shotgun for the week are a number of people close to Cook who have helped shape his career over the years. They include former colleagues from his time spent working in the US who have gone on to become lifelong friends. They have made the long trek Down Under, many of them for the first time, to help out a mate in one of the biggest weeks of his career.

Among those are Seminol Golf Club (Florida) superintendent Nelson Caron. Cook interned with Caron at Kingsmill Golf Resort and Spa in Virginia in the early 2000s and they would hook up a few years later at The Honours Course in Tennessee where they played a major role in preparing the course for the 2005 US Mid-Amateur Championship. As Cook states he and Caron “have been through thick and thin” and they get together once a year when volunteering at Augusta.

Caron headlines a strong US contingent that also includes Simplot USA’s John Doyle and Akoni Ganir, leading US irrigation consultant Paul Granger (Aqua Agronomic Solutions Inc.) and Purdue University’s Cale Bigelow. Professor of horticulture at Purdue University in Indiana, Bigelow was just a month ago named a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, their highest honour, for his outstanding contributions in education, research and service. Self-confessed ‘turfgrass tourist’, Asian Turfgrass Centre chief scientist and PACE Turf's Micah Woods, has also got a guernsey this week and helped to facilitate another two volunteers from Keya Golf Club in Japan – their American superintendent Andrew McDaniel and his assistant Satoshi Fujise.

While the internationals add a unique flavour to the crew, Cook has also been ably supported by a host of local “rock stars” this week. Among them are the likes of NSW industry stalwarts Darby Muller, Craig Easton and Peter Watts. Superintendent at Muirfield Golf Club for the past 14 years and previously at Terrey Hills for a similar period, it was Watts who gave Cook his first taste of golf course management as a Year 10 work experience kid at Terrey Hills in the mid-1990s. Watts would also go on to employ Cook after he returned from his Ohio internship.

Cook’s former club Elanora is well represented with the likes of director of course and grounds Jake Gibbs, superintendent Mark Ward and assistant Sam Rose part of the tournament crew. Cameron Smith from nearby Bonnie Doon GC has been on back nine set up, while Concord superintendent Chris Howe (rolling) and his assistant Adrian Kuipers (tees) have also been part of the morning and afternoon shifts. Cronulla Golf Club superintendent Aaron Taylor, who was assistant superintendent across at The Lakes when it hosted the 2018 Australian Open, has been blowing fairways during the week. Hayden Westwood, now superintendent at The Grange near Wollongong and who was part of the Royal Melbourne crew for the 2019 Presidents Cup, has also rejoined his former team for the week.

Although not able to volunteer himself, New South Wales Golf Club superintendent Mark Parker has still played a significant role, loaning no less than 10 members of his crew to help out with the afternoon shift. Their presence has enabled Cook to give the other volunteers who are working the morning shift those alternate afternoons off.

Four spots on the tournament crew were also offered up to four female sports turf managers through the ASTMA’s Women in Turf Strategy workplace experience program. Spending the week at The Australian and soaking up the opportunity have been Susana Oliveira (The Grange GC, SA, pictured above), Kim Kennedy (Kingston Heath GC, Vic, pictured below cutting the 12th green), Helen Oliver (The Cut, WA) and Thelma Mason (City of Cockburn, WA). Both Oliveira and Kennedy, who played significant roles in LIV Golf Adelaide and 2022 Australian Open tournaments respectively, took the opportunity on their afternoon off on Tuesday to drive around with Cook to gain a further insight into The Australian's agronomic practices and management techniques.

Toro Australia, with whom The Australian signed a preferred supplier agreement just recently, also have four spots on the team this week. Toro senior sales manager Mark Johnson is chaperoning three apprentices sourced from customer clubs, with Connor Flett (Barwon Heads GC, Vic), Zac Naismith (Goondiwindi GC, Qld) and Zac Semmens (Horizons GC) joining him for the week in Sydney.

“When we started looking for volunteers we went to the crew and asked for friends in the industry and family if they wanted to be involved," explains Cook. "We didn’t have to look too much further as we were full pretty quick. We offered up some positions to the ASTMA, NSWGCSA and Toro. Everyone else is here through one degree of separation which is making the atmosphere a really good one. There are a lot of like-minded people here helping this week and hopefully it’s a relaxed atmosphere.

“We brought everyone in last Saturday afternoon when the golf course was closed for tournament week. We had lunch and then took everybody on an 18-hole work through the property divotting fairways. It was a time to take photos and get acquainted with their teams and people they hadn’t met before. We called the Sunday that followed our ‘Fumble Day’. Realistically we knew we were going to make errors and learn a lot quickly and make adjustments which we did. Since that day all of the staff and volunteers have taken it upon themselves to really turn it on for us. I cannot thank them enough and am so grateful for their help and support. I hope they have enjoyed the week and that they have taken away something from their time with us.”

“This is 100 per cent major championship conditions without a doubt. The design, the views, the shape of it, the contours are amazing. Conditions are 10 out of 10.”

American club professional Michael Block who received an invite by Golf Australia and the PGA Tour of Australasia to play this week after his memorable PGA Championship performance at Oak Hill in May. 

For the tournament, The Australian crew has been split distinctly, with Cook’s two assistants George and Johnston in charge of the front and back nine teams and overseeing quality control and final detail. Second assistants Presland (front nine) and DaMarzo (back nine) are on course set up, with Muller and Smith assisting them.

The greens mowing crew, who are walk-mowing the A1/A4 greens at 2.5mm, number seven – a single and a pair on each nine with the respective teams led by James Lamb (front) and Kennedy (back). Long-serving crew member Scotty Cowell complements them by taking care of the putter, chipper and Southern Driving Range. That range green is 1900 square metres and Cowell grew it in as part of the area’s redevelopment and has continued to mow it pretty much every day since as part of his normal route. Greens have been cut morning and afternoon, with the exception of Wednesday when thunderstorms rolled through Sydney late. The bentgrass collar around greens is being cut at 4mm.

Green speeds are at the required level as set by tournament director Trevor Herden, with Cook doing whatever is needed to be achieve that. In some instances that has meant single-, double- or even triple-cutting greens, with Cook preferring to control speed through mowing and not rely on rolling (the greens did receive their first roll of the week on the morning of the third round). Where the rollers have definitely come out on a regular basis are on the approaches. Cook has loaned two Smithco ‘Tournament Plus’ rollers from New South Wales GC, one for each nine, with the approaches being rolled to about 20 metres out from each green.

The 6mm crew – which cuts the Santa Ana couchgrass fairways and approaches – are using two Toro 7000-Ds on each nine for the fairways (pictured above is James Cochrane cutting the par 5 14th in the Thursday morning mist), with Toro 3550s mowing approaches each side and 3400 triplexes doing the tighter areas and lap around greens. The Australian crew member Kingsley McConnochie picks up the fairway laps and is the only person going front nine to back nine.

The 15mm crew, using Toro 3100s, are doing the one mower-width step cut (called a surround cut) around each fairway which bleeds out around the greens (pictured above left is Luke Aram). Roughs are at 51mm and the Grand Prix couchgrass tees are being walk-mowed at 8mm. The bunkers, which have drawn so much positive feedback all week, are prepared morning and afternoon by a team of eight on each nine. Data collection on greens throughout the week has been the domain of Cook’s international guests, with Woods, Granger, Bigelow and Caron stimping and taking firmness readings.

Harking back to making the week an ‘experience’ rather than just an event, Cook, together with Cody, have devised a work schedule which sees jobs switched up between the morning and afternoon shifts. Those who are mowing greens in the morning will likely be on the end of a bunker rake or divotting fairways in the afternoon and vice versa. Which nine they are working on is also deliberately reversed so everyone can get to see the whole property during their time on site. In addition, those people that are working together – for instance Presland, a Kiwi, has two mates across from NZ for the week – have their scheduled afternoons off together. It is quite the logistical feat with such a large team, but a high level of planning has made it work seamlessly.

That level of detail also extends to having both a photographer (Chris Searl, part owner of Shortees par three facility in Sydney) and videographer (staff member Blake LeBonte) shadowing the crew all week. They are capturing the work that the crew are doing which enables them to focus on their jobs rather than scaling camera towers and grandstands to get photos.

The ASTMA congratulates Dan, his senior management team and crew and all the volunteers who have worked tirelessly to present The Australian for this week’s tournament. A full wrap of the 2023 ISPS Handa Australian Open from The Australian’s perspective, as well as a look back at the first two years of Cook’s tenure there, will be included in the upcoming edition of Australian Turfgrass Management Journal.

To view more images from the tournament, read the latest issue of The Cut, our weekly e-newsletter HERE.