When PGA Tour players like Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy stepped up to the tee box at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, they saw some substantial changes made to the Bay Hill Club & Lodge by its new superintendent Chris Flynn, CGCS, and his team.
“In addition to extensive tree trimming, we widened and lengthened all the fairways,” Flynn says. “To balance out the fairway changes, we also removed a lot of the rough areas in front of water hazards and bunkers. These areas have traditionally served as backstops for players, but now there’s a higher chance of your ball rolling into those hazards. We’ve also made the traditionally high rough even higher than in the past.”
Course changes were just the beginning of the trials for Flynn and his team. Orlando and Bay Hill were hit with a challenging winter that took its toll on the course’s greens.
“Almost the entire month of December was overcast with very little sun,” Flynn says. “That really stressed our bermudagrass greens. But they’re looking good now and ready for the tournament.”
In mid-May of this year Flynn will transition the greens to TifEagle bermudagrass.
Just like Arnold Palmer, Flynn grew up on the golf course and followed in his father and grandfather’s footsteps by working at a course in Westchester County, N.Y. He later went onto Pebble Beach for several years and served as an assistant superintendent at Spyglass Hill Golf Course and then superintendent at the Links at Spanish Bay. Before going to Bay Hill Club & Lodge less than a year ago he spent 10 years as the director of grounds at the Marriott’s Grand Vista Resort in Orlando.
When it comes to renovating and maintaining Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill, Flynn and his crew utilize a fleet of equipment from Jacobsen, a Textron company.
“All the Jacobsen equipment has been great for us and the support has been fantastic,” Flynn says. “The relationship between Jacobsen, Arnold Palmer and Bay Hill goes way back and we’re thrilled to continue that today.”
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