Uplands ready to put on a show
Fast fairways, even faster greens will be true test for PGA Tour Canada pros
Mention the words Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist and a smile quickly stretches across the face of Ian Stone.
As head pro at the Uplands Golf Club, Stone takes great delight in annually playing host to the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event, which this year runs June 4-7 and is the second stop on the 2015 tour.
“It’s hard to believe it’s already June. We’re here and it’s time to show off Uplands again — to have the volunteers here in the community step up. We’re ready,” said Stone, who along with the entire staff at the private course, is proud to hold the event.
“It’s a nice thing for our club, to be able to host this, and it’s great for the golf community in Victoria to have an event like this and show it off.”
It promises to be another spectacular event, one of the most popular stops on the tour.
“The golf course is immaculate. We had a great winter and a nice hot spring so far. The golf course is firm and fast and healthy and as green as can be,” said Stone. “Brian and Dennis Youell and their [greens-keeping] staff are all-stars around here. They’re ready.”
As they are every June with the Uplands Golf Club receiving recognition from PGA Tour Canada players.
“I think the last couple of years the guys have voted us as the best greens on the tour and it’s a claim to fame for us and something we’re very proud of — just how nice our greens are, how healthy they are and how fast they get,” said Stone.
The honour is a tremendous credit to Brian Youell, the master superintendent.
“The course is fantastic. It’s been a dry spring so we’re probably three to four weeks ahead,” he said of the club that was founded in 1922. “There’s lots of ball roll on the fairway. Everyone tends to focus on the greens, but I like to focus on the fairways so the guys see a lot of roll out off the tee.”
The crew has been busy preparing the tight track — situated just off Cadboro Bay and Lansdowne roads — with light top dressings on the greens.
“Once again they will be firm and fast,” said Youell, who remains in contact with the tour’s agronomist and sends in daily moisture and firmness readings as the tournament nears.
“They’re all about surface firmness, not only on the greens, but the fairways,” stressed Youell, who, like Stone, takes pride in showing off the facility, not only to the visiting players, but the entire country through any media coverage that is picked up along the way.
“We really enjoy that week, the crew really comes together to see what they can do to rally as a team for the week. It’s a good motivator to get it into top shape, not only for the tour but for our members as well,” said Youell, who says the rough — which he describes as “gnarly” — will eventually be between three and five inches
Not much has changed at Uplands for 2015, but tour players will notice a new fairway bunker on the left side of hole No. 1, as well as a left-side green bunker.
“The first fairway is now pinched a little bit with the fairway bunkers and there’s a little more bunkering around the green, just to scare them off a bit,” said Stone.
“I think we’ll see most guys still hit driver, hit it out there and see where you get it. The rough gets thick for this event and it’s usually a 50/50 split where the guys might think about 3-wood and keep it in the fairway or they say I’m just going to try and bomb a driver, get it out there as far as I can and wedge it out of there.”
A fairway bunker was inserted last year on the right side of the first hole.
“The fairway bunker on the left has tightened it up a bit and there’s the new one at the front left-side of the green so you’ll have to wake up early,” Youell said with a chuckle.
The tree-lined fairways usually grab a player’s attention.
“Big trees, tree-lined, and every hole makes you feel like you’re out there by yourself. It’s a classic design with old, old trees as tall as you can see,” Stone said of the 6,420-yard course. “The guys are probably hitting between 7-10 drivers on the day.”
Which has changed, somewhat, over the years as players have become bolder.
“When Ken Duke won here [in 1999] he only hit four drivers a round. Most guys look at the course and say they can shoot 63 or 64, then they go out and shoot 73 or 74. It’s the trees we have that force the higher scores,” said Youell, who will remain busy until the last putt falls on the Sunday of tournament week.
As for Stone, his job becomes one that is more of a public relations role.
“For me, personally, it’s a chance to walk around and be a host. I get to meet the players and chat with the volunteers and the fans. I don’t have to sit at my desk or stand behind the counter all week, I get to walk around, enjoy the sun. It’s a very nice week for me to be able to show off the club,” said Stone, who has long been a fixture at Uplands, but is in just his second year as head pro.
He will be working his 11th overall stop on the PGA Tour Canada (formerly the Canadian Tour).