23-year GCSAA Class A member readies for his fifth USGA
championship
Fruchte has Pine Needles ready for U.S.
Women's Open
The 2007 U.S.
Women's Open (June 28-July 1) will be old hat for Golf Course
Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Certified Golf Course
Superintendent David Fruchte (pronounced freck-tee).
In fact, it
would not be a bad idea for a competitor to put him on the bag that
week. Unfortunately, he'll be busy. Fruchte is in his 17th year as
director of grounds and golf maintenance at both Pine
Needles Lodge and Golf Club and Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club in
Southern Pines, N.C., which means he is overseeing his fifth USGA
championship and third U.S. Women's Open in 11 years.
“Since 1991,
when I found out we were going to host the first one ('96), we’ve
had a U.S. Open in the back of our minds every day here,” Fruchte
said.
Fruchte, a
23-year GCSAA member, teamed with golf course architect John Fought
in 2004 to strip the 79-year-old Pine Needles layout and restore it
to the original intent and purpose of legendary designer Donald
Ross. The greens, bunkers and tees were all rebuilt, the fairways
were re-grassed and trees were removed. An aerial photo of the
course from 1939 was used as a guide for the project.
For more about
the renovation, read the GCM story from
its June issue.
As part of the
renovation project, the greens were rebuilt to USGA specifications
and were grassed with A-1 bentgrass. The fairways were stripped of
six to seven inches of accumulated thatch and TifSport bermuda was
grown in. The short and tight chipping areas around the greens have
been expanded so that shots off line will travel further from the
greens and present a more difficult chip shot. The fairway widths
have been narrowed on average two yards per hole and 20 acres in
play were returned to natural areas.
“Our biggest
management change is that this Open will be played on bermudagrass,”
Fruchte says.
This year’s
event is not only a month later than the 2001 and 1996 U.S. Women's
Opens conducted at Pine Needles, but also plays many yards longer
and faster. Length was mainly added by moving tees farther back. The
par-4 15th was stretched to its original par-5 length of 530 yards,
resulting in a par 71 layout. The greens have more contours, more
hole locations and will run faster. Pine Needles is ranked the
number one course in Golf For Women's ranking of the Top 50
Courses for Women—an annual list of the best women-friendly public
golf courses in the country.
GCSAA is a
leading golf organization and has as its focus golf course
management. Since 1926, GCSAA has been the top professional
association for the men and women who manage golf courses in the
United States and worldwide. From its headquarters in Lawrence,
Kan., the association provides education, information and
representation to more than 21,000 members in more than 72
countries. GCSAA’s mission is to serve its members, advance their
profession and enhance the enjoyment, growth and vitality of the
game of golf. The association’s philanthropic organization, the
Environmental Institute for Golf, works to strengthen the
compatibility of golf with the natural environment through research
grants, support for education programs and outreach efforts. Visit
GCSAA at http://www.gcsaa.org/.
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For more
information contact:
David Fruchte, CGCS, director of
grounds and golf maintenance, Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, at
pnmpgcm@pinehurst.net or
(910) 693-7276
Bill Newton, GCSAA manager of media/public
relations, at bnewton@gcsaa.org or (800)
472-7878, ext. 3688
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