Valhalla team uses Jacobsen equipment ahead of US PGA Championship
With the US PGA Championship underway at Valhalla, the club’s superintendent Roger Meier has reflected on a particularly busy period.
Meier and his crew, which grew to 41 staff and 84 volunteers ahead of the tournament, worked round the clock to prepare the course ahead of the event.
It’s not the first major tournament at the club that Meier has been involved with, having volunteered at Valhalla ahead of the 2008 Ryder Cup.
“I volunteered here in 2008 and met the former superintendent Mark Wilson,” he said. “I was able to spend time with him and learn more about how Valhalla was prepared for the Ryder Cup.”
Previously superintendent at Chariot Run Golf Club in Indiana, Meier has used a fleet of Jacobsen ECLIPSE walking green mowers to prepare the Valhalla course for the tournament, which takes place 7-11 August.
“The Jacobsen ECLIPSE mowers are very user-friendly,” he said. “There’s just so many things you can do with those mowers to increase the quality-of-cut and achieve the results that you want from a green speed standpoint without putting all that mechanical stress on the plant. We’ve got the frequency-of-clip settings on these mowers so dialed in that we’ve been able to raise our height-of-cut leading up to the tournament yet still maintain impressive speed on the greens for our membership.”
After the tournament has taken place, Meier said that his team will be looking to ensure Valhalla is back to normal as soon as possible.
“Really the number one priority is to get this course reconditioned for our members,” he said. “Their satisfaction is what it’s all about.”