Delaware Valley University Alumni and Students Help Prepare for U.S. Senior Open Golf Tournament
Doylestown, PA (06/13/2022) — Delaware Valley University (DelVal) alumni and students are helping to prepare the grounds of the Saucon Valley Country Club (SVCC) in preparation for the U.S. Senior Open Golf Tournament on June 23-26, 2022. Jim Roney, a DelVal alumnus and director of grounds at SVCC, connected with the University's Turf Management professor, Dr. Doug Linde, to help gather workers and volunteers for the event. Roney is responsible for managing the event's entire grounds staff. There will be approximately 80 individuals working each day including SVCC employees, some of which are DelVal alumni, and volunteers who include current DelVal students and alumni.
"I feel very fortunate that DelVal is a part of a major golf tournament from the grounds perspective. It gives students a chance to experience what it takes to prepare for a professional tournament. I've been strongly encouraging students to be an intern or volunteer this summer. Jim Roney has been such a strong supporter of the DelVal Turf Program over the years and I do my best to supply students and graduates for him," said Dr. Linde.
DelVal's Turf Management program prepares students for careers as golf course superintendents, sports turf managers, grounds managers, researchers, educators and industry professionals. Staying true to DelVal's belief in experiential learning, students and alumni will get the SVCC golf course ready to play while developing relationships with other professionals in the golf industry. Preparation to host the U.S. Senior Open Golf Tournament begins many years in advance. The United States Golf Association (USGA) runs the tournament and suggests changes to the golf course holes and/or maintenance program in order to deliver the type of golf course they want the players to play.
Volunteers are necessary to provide high-quality playing surfaces during tournament week. During the tournament, DelVal students and alumni, will do things such as fill every divot with sand, hand-rake each bunker, fluff high grass that became laid over from tires, etc. In addition, the early start times for the tournament make it impossible for the normal crew to prepare all holes before play begins.
In addition, preparations must be made at SVCC to accomodate a large number of spectators, hospitality tents, special sponsor events, the media, safety of all attendees, and television cameras and their related gear. A few months prior to the event, the grounds staff began adjusting maintenance practices so that when tournament week arrives the turfgrass and sand bunkers will be in the condition that is desired by the tournament directors of USGA.
Below is a typical day during the U.S. Senior Open Golf Tournament:
4:15 am Meet in grounds hospitality tent
4:30 am Jim Roney announces morning assignments
5-8 am Assignments executed which include:
Mowing, rolling, raking bunkers, filling divots, fluffing rough, irrigating, course setup, whipping fairways, measuring firmness and speed of the putting greens, supervising.
8 am Breakfast served in grounds hospitality tent
4:00 pm Dinner served in grounds hospitality tent
5:00 pm Jim Roney announces evening assignments
6-9 pm Assignments executed and are similar to morning assignments
Full-time Employees at Saucon Valley that graduated from DelVal:
Jim Roney '96, Director of Grounds
Jesse Ridington '13, Assistant Superintendent at Saucon Valley's Weyhill course
Luke Osterlof 21 Second Assistant Superintendent on Saucon Valley's Old course
Interviews available upon request for the interns and volunteers below:
DelVal Summer Interns at Saucon Valley (Current students):
Dylan Apgar 610-739-4955 apgardp7799@delval.edu
Ethan Saxe 484-661-7019 saxee0983@delval.edu
Nick Bogdan 267-909-0906 bogdannj3236@delval.edu
Current DelVal Turf Management students that will be volunteering:
Nick Koch 267-421-2975 kochnc1080@delval.edu
Garrett Zimmerman 215-859-7175 zimmermangd4579@delval.edu
DelVal Graduates that are expected to volunteer:
Kyle Behnert '15 Country Club of York assistant superintendent (570) 428-3724 kbehnert@CCYork.org
Mitch Stage '18 Hollywood Golf Club assistant superintendent (732) 575-0486 Mitchell.Stage1@gmail.com
Frank Perrone '14 Centerton Golf Club director of agronomy (609) 280-9123 frankperrone@centertongc.com
Mike Molchan '10 NuFarm distributor sales representative (610) 653-7983 michael.molchan@nufarm.com
Dr. Doug Linde '91 Professor of Turf Management and advisor to all Turf Management majors at DelVal 267-575-4348 Douglas.Linde@delval.edu
To learn more about the Turf Management Program at Delaware Valley University, visit http://delval.edu/turf or contact Dr. Linde at douglas.linde@delval.edu
About Delaware Valley University
Delaware Valley University is a private, comprehensive, nonprofit university educating students with a curriculum that emphasizes and requires experiential learning. Located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, the University offers more than 25 undergraduate majors in life and physical sciences, business, the humanities, and agricultural and environmental sciences; nine master's degrees; and a doctorate in education. Founded in 1896, DelVal has been cited by the National Society for Experiential Education as having the country's top experiential learning program, by Princeton Review as one of the best colleges in the Northeast, and by College Factual as having one of the top 20 animal science programs in the country.
Media Attachments
DelVal alumnus, Luke Osterlof '21, with Dr. Doug Linde. Luke works full-time at Saucon Valley as a second assistant superintendent and is preparing the golf course for the U.S. Senior Open.
DelVal alumnus and Saucon Valley employee, Jesse Ridington '13, prepping the SVCC course for play.