PGA Championship preparations underway

Oak Hill Country Club is gearing up for the 2013 PGA Championship. The Rochester, N.Y., course was founded in 1901 and has hosted all six men’s championship tournaments: the Ryder Cup, the PGA Championship, the Senior PGA Championship, the U.S. Open Championship, the U.S. Amateur Championship and the U.S. Senior Open Championship.

Oak Hill’s graduated rough added a “new dimension” to the crew’s mowing practices.

The approximately 7,000-yard course features tree-lined fairways and challenging rough. The PGA of America has requested some tweaking, however.

“We are going to have a graduated rough that will be 14 feet outside the width of the fairways and roughly the same around the green surrounds,” said Oak Hill Superintendent Jeff Corcoran. “That is really a challenge and a lot of extra labor…it adds a whole new dimension to our mowing practices and the amount of bodies we have to use.”

During tournament week, each crew member and volunteer will log about 105 hours, and in some cases more, to keep the course in shape for this year’s final Major.