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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, July 18, 2013 | 6 Working to make Glen Abbey ready for Open continued from p.1 week to put on a good show for all the spectators." Gyba has worked for Club Link, the company that owns Glen Abbey Golf Club, since 1998. During this time he has worked as the assistant superintendent at RattleSnake Point Golf Club in Milton and superintendent at Eagle Ridge Golf Club in Georgetown. He has been at Glen Abbey Golf Club for a year and a half and calls the 18-hole golf course a demanding property. Glen Abbey, he said, is not only very busy, but it also holds many special challenges for ensuring the grass is kept in tip-top condition for this high-calibre course. Gyba's job will be magni ed next week (July 22-28) when an estimated 100,000 people descend on the golf course for the RBC Canadian Open. Around 30,000 people are expected on the Sunday (July 28) alone. Three months of preparation Gyba noted preparation for the Open began months ago. "Everything that is going to get the greens through the tournament happened three months ago," he said. "It's how diligent we were through the spring (aeri cation), fertilizing, watching salinity levels in our greens and providing air exchange." Gyba said there is a science behind growing that perfect turf -- cutting at certain times of the day to the point it is actually trained not to grow up, but to ll in and tighten. This work is taken very seriously with weekly tissue tests of the grass, which are conducted at a lab, helping the golf course tune its agronomic program where needed. However, Gyba said the course is always co-operative. The greens on the oor of the Sixteen Mile Creek Valley have the reputation of being some of the most dif cult to maintain in the country. "The valley walls are so steep and Spotlight "Connected to your Community" there is so little air ow down there that you end up with these hot little stagnant pockets where the air just doesn't move. I'm sure there is some scienti c reason why, but it is ve degrees hotter down there than anywhere else. So things don't dry out," he said. This can be a real problem as hot weather can essentially cook the course's short wet grass, leaving it brown. To prevent this, Glen Abbey staff have a number of techniques including using large fans to dry out the valley oor grass after a rainfall. All this work is essential, Gyba said, to providing as consistent a surface as possible for golfers. This allows the player to learn what to expect as they move from one hole to the next. Major projects A number of major projects were also undertaken in preparation for the Open including a complete bunker (sand trap) renovation, which began in 2011. "In 2008 and 2009, the unfortunate thing was we were plagued with rain," said Gyba. "Bunkers don't last forever and drainage doesn't last forever and it was just unfortunate timing where the bunker drainage was at the tail end of its life and we happened to be hosting the 2008 and 2009 Canadian Opens." Gyba said the heavy rains repeatedly lled these bunkers with water forcing maintenance crews to pump them out and repair them during the tournaments. Following this experience, the bunkers were renovated to improve drainage so in the event of rain the course could be returned to a playable condition as soon as possible. Tree work in the Sixteen Mile Creek Valley was another project that was undertaken. Gyba said trees in the valley had grown so much over the last few years, golfers at the 11th tee could not see where they were hitting their ball. Working closely with a Halton Regional Forester, the golf course undertook some extensive pruning in order to open the area. No shortage of work With all the major course preparations and renovations complete, there is still no shortage of work that The grounds crew at the Glen Abbey Golf Club are busy preparing the course for the RBC Canadian Open next week, with events running from July 22-26. Above left, Glen Abbey Course Superintendent Andrew Gyba gives directions to bunker crew Evan Cuberovic (left) and Kody Moir (right), as he surveys the fairway during preparation for the Open. Above, Glen Abbey bunker crew Brad Anker and Moir (right) rake the "Tiger Trap" on one of the holes. | photos by Nikki Wesley ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) needs to be carried out. "You want to be in a position coming into your advance week and your tournament week where all you are doing is grooming the golf course," said Gyba. During the tournament, maintenance will take place every night with a shift working from 4-9 a.m. cutting the greens, raking bunkers, removing dew from the golf course and changing the pins. An evening shift will cut every fairway, double cut every green, and smooth out every play surface with a special machine. Gyba's staff will nearly double from 35 to 65 during this period to keep on top of these duties. While no one wants a repeat of the weather experienced during the 2008 and 2009 Canadian Opens at Glen Abbey, Gyba said they are prepared for that possibility. "In this business you kind of learn to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst," he said. "We are going to work with a local rental house to ensure we have a suf cient number of pumps on site. The best case scenario for me is I pay to rent these things and they sit there and they collect dust and I never have to use them." 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DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS Regional General Manager Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Halton Region Editor in Chief ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor