The greenkeeper: John O'Sullivan talks to Gerry Byrne, who has the huge responsibility of overseeing the preparation and presentation of The K Club.
The disparate views on the Ryder Cup and its stature in professional golf ranges from those who place it on a pedestal alongside golf's four majors to a school of thought that suggests its status is overblown.
Whatever about the views of sundry commentators and players, for The K Club resort superintendent Gerry Byrne it's unequivocally the pinnacle of his career. He is charged with overseeing the preparation and presentation of the venue for the biennial match between Europe and America, the first time it's been staged in Ireland.
It's a huge responsibility but one this second generation greenkeeper has embraced with gusto. From the moment (1998) the Palmer course at The K Club was announced as the 2006 Ryder Cup venue, Byrne has overseen every alteration from major surgery to cosmetic tweaks, ably assisted in recent times by his assistant, Eugene Hennessy.
The course has been lengthened, fairways narrowed, new bunkers installed and over €1,000,000 spent on just shy of 1,000 mature trees. A couple of greens, the 12th and 16th, have been completely reconstructed to present a golf course whose conditioning Byrne notes with genuine pride, he "can't get it any better".
It's apt to suggest Byrne was born to fulfil this role, his father Jim a greenkeeper of renown in Elm Park and Hermitage during a 40-year career, who inspired three of his sons to follow in his footsteps. Gerry's journey to The K Club included a greenkeeping education at Hermitage (1984-1988), Westmanstown (1988-1992) and Luttrellstown (1992-1996), establishing a reputation for excellence that saw him head-hunted by the Kildare venue.
The K Club boasts 24 full-time greenkeeping staff, the number increasing to 36 during the summer and 43 for the Ryder Cup. This crew will be augmented by 40 volunteers for the next seven days (83 in total), a mini-United Nations unit as they have come from America, Iceland, Sweden, Britain and Ireland. They will be accommodated in temporary housing on site, free. On a normal day Byrne and Hennessy would address a quick meeting of the greenkeeping staff at 6.30am who would then be assigned sundry duties for the day. That would includes cutting of greens (two hours 15 minutes), tees, fairways, edging and raking bunkers, edging of lakes and sprinkler heads, strimming of grass surrounding trees, clearing around the stand areas, grading rough (four rough mowers working constantly) and using blowers to ensure all areas are pristine.
Byrne admitted: "My job is to supervise and ensure the quality of cut is there. I have a great crew in which there would be about 10 leaders who would oversee the relevant work programmes. There is a board on the canteen area in which individual duties are written up.
"For this event I'd work with the European Tour and their consultant agronomist Richard Stilwell, amongst others. No stone has been left unturned to try to ensure the course is in pristine condition. I'd also speak with (Europe's captain) Ian Woosnam and see what his requirements are in terms of the way he wants the course set up.
"If we have to we could cut the entire course, everything, in one hour 15 minutes, weather permitting. We expect to have to cut twice a day, morning and evening, but we could, if directed, cut it again between the morning and afternoon's play. On Friday, sunrise will be at 7.13am but we expect to begin cutting at 6.40am and start again that evening as soon as play finishes.
"We have six full-time mechanics on site for 50 machines, two of our own, two from a grinding company in the UK, who will sharpen all the machines every day, and two from the machine manufacturers, Toro. It's been fantastic working on nine European Opens but this has to be the pinnacle of my working career. I'm proud to be an Irishman at the helm of something like this."
