We Did It!
Glen Abbey Staff And Volunteers
Make The 2013 RBC Canadian Open
A Memorable Success
By Eric Kohanik
From prepping the locker room, planning menus and stocking merchandise tents to making sure the fairways, greens and even the famed Tiger Trap were all groomed and ready for action, the activity had already been buzzing for quite a while as the staff of Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. got things in top shape for the 2013 RBC Canadian Open.
This year's event,
held from July 22 to 28, marked the 26th time that the Canadian Open
has been held at Glen Abbey. And whether they were veterans of
previous times or newcomers who had never participated before, more
than 1,400 volunteers joined the ClubLink staff members
who had already rolled up their sleeves and were enthusiastically
geared up to ensure a successful event.
At a special staff
orientation on July 15, Glen Abbey Director of Operations Allan
Huibers and Golf Canada Tournament Director Bill Paul welcomed
employees from Glen Abbey and a host of other ClubLink courses,
offering them vital instructions on what they could expect in the
days ahead.
For many, though,
preparations had already long been in full swing. Take Executive Chef
Jamie Hussey and the team in the Glen Abbey kitchen, for instance.
Preparing the clubhouse menu for the Canadian Open was a task that
stretched back to the beginning of the year.
“Back in
January, I started composing menus and themes,” Hussey recalls.
Once the menus were set in February, the primary goal was working to
make sure the clubhouse buffets would be pristine each day and that
the players, media and other event participants, as well as the 500
to 600 RBC guests in the clubhouse every day, would be looked after
flawlessly.
“In all of July,
it was obviously all hands on deck,” says Hussey, who noted that
his team included 30 cooks and nine dishwashers.
The culinary bill
of fare ranged from a special “RBC Blue Item” – a
maple-blueberry salad with grilled salmon, Canadian wild rice and
quinoa – served in the clubhouse to such on-course treats as the
soft pretzels and Buddha Dogs (smoked hotdogs) that prep cook Kim
Gaudon was grilling for players on the 11th tee during the Golf
Canada Foundation Pro-Am on July 22.
Out on the golf
course itself, meanwhile, Superintendent Andrew Gyba and his team of
65 staff and volunteers had been toiling away for months to make sure
bunkers, fairways, greens and even the rough were up in top
condition.
Preparing the
course often meant 15- to 16-hour work days for Gyba and others in
the week leading up to the Open. The task ran into a few extra twists
and turns along the way, including a violent storm that hit Oakville
on the Friday just before tournament week.
“We had an
arborist on call and we had 60 people picking up debris,” Gyba said
of the post-storm activities. “But we just finished redoing all the
bunkers earlier this year, so it wasn't that bad. We were back to
normal the next day. Like I always say, in this business, you hope
for the best but prepare for the worst.”
Fortunately, it
was the best that prevailed. With the exception of a storm warning
that halted play for a short while on Saturday, the weather
co-operated almost perfectly during the rest of the Open week.
With several weeks
still to go before the Open, it was the rough at Glen Abbey that had
already caught the attention of a lot of Club Members and public
players. Long and thick enough to gobble up a ball that merely rolled
a few inches off the fairway, the rough presented a considerable
challenge for Glen Abbey's starters and play coordinators when it
came to helping Club Members and public golfers maintain their pace
of play while still making sure they had a memorable and enjoyable
experience.
Once Open week got
rolling, the task of making sure the pro golfers were well
looked after was a top priority, especially for those manning the
Glen Abbey locker room during the event. Their tasks ranged from
cleaning and polishing golf shoes and carefully storing players'
clubs to taking care of individual laundry deliveries and making sure
the golfers' every other need in the locker room was met and
fulfilled enthusiastically.
With three
previous Canadian Open tournaments already under his belt, veteran
Golf Services staff member John McLellan was often the go-to guy for
many of the locker-room staff. According to McLellan, the key to
doing a good job in the locker room was simple.
“Just be patient
and nice...” he says, adding with a wink: “...and use a soft brush,
not a stiff wire brush, on the tops of the shoes!”
As the week drew
to a close, there were so many people to thank that Glen Abbey Office Manager Cathy Hyatt ended up sending out a series of e-mails to staff
that kept adding to the list of individuals and departments whose
hard work she wanted to acknowledge.
“I hope it was
an exciting experience for everyone,” she wrote to all in one
missive. “I know it's a long hard week … but man, it's worth it!”
(Eric Kohanik is a starter and play coordinator at Glen Abbey Golf Club.)
(First published in On Course - Fall 2013.)
