|
By Tom Hanson
Naples News
November 7, 2005
NAPLES, Fla. -- The Franklin Templeton Shootout starts Wednesday with the
two-day Pro-Am at Tiburón Golf Club.
It's the fifth time the tournament will be played in Naples. And as each
year passes, the preparation for this exclusive PGA Tour event is supposed
to get easier.
But nowhere in the how-to-run-a-top-flight-golf-tournament handbook does it
mention a hurricane -- especially one that hits two weeks before the best
players in the world are expected to tee it up.
Hurricane Wilma provided Shootout organizers their stiffest challenge ever.
The day Wilma whipped through Southwest Florida, setup for the Shootout was
scheduled to begin. Tents and bleachers were to be erected. Hospitality
areas to be filled for fans enjoyment. Months and months of planning were
to be set in motion.
But Wilma left those in charge of executing these plans literally
powerless. Wilma's winds turned the normally pristine Greg Norman-designed
Tiburón track into a pile of cluttered debris.
Tree limbs filled the fairways. A deluge of rain had changed the glorious
green grass to a pale yellow, burnt shade. Sand from bunkers left the
slippery putting surfaces looking like kitty litter boxes.
In the aftermath of the Category 3 storm, the thought of postponing or
delaying the 17th edition of the event certainly crossed the mind of
tournament director Taylor Ives.
"Until we got out to see the golf course, there were obvious concerns,"
Ives said.
To the credit of Ives, his staff of five, Tiburón superintendent Tom
Trammell and his staff, and the countless Shootout volunteers, the
tournament will go on as planned.
The course is once again lush and green. And fans should expect everything
they've grown accustomed to from past Shootouts.
"We had to make some adjustments," Ives said. "Crews have been working
around the clock to make sure this event comes together like it has every
year. We feel this is an important event in the community. We hope that it
will help people realize that things go on after the hurricane."
Trammell is becoming a bit of a hurricane expert.
Hired three months ago, Trammell comes to Tiburón from Vero Beach where he
experienced two Category 4 hurricanes in the past 12 months. He's become so
much of an authority on recovery from these destructive storms that the PGA
of America asked him to be a guest speaker at their yearly meetings.
"The biggest challenge is the interval between the storm and the Shootout,"
said Trammell, who worked at the Tom Fazio-designed Hawk's Nest in Vero
Beach before taking the job at Tiburón. "Fortunately I have so much
experience in restoring a golf course after a hurricane that I'm accustomed
to it. I spent the last year basically trying to recover from a hurricane."
Trammell experienced his first disaster detail in 1992 after Hurricane
Andrew ravaged South Florida. At the time, Trammell worked for the King,
Arnold Palmer. And who better to learn from than Palmer?
"You have to be prepared," Trammell said. "You have to be stocked up on
supplies and realize that you may not be able to mow or water for days.
There is certainly a mentality that is needed when dealing with a
hurricane."
Bringing Tiburón back to life provides Trammell and his grounds crew with a
double- edged dilemma. On one hand, the course needs to be ready to
challenge the PGA Tour's top players. On the other hand, the course needs
to survive the tournament and be ready for the onslaught of seasonal play.
Trammell is confident they can pull off the delicate transition.
"I know what they want and know what they expect, it's the balance is
pushing it to the edge to what they want and remembering that we are
heading into peak season," Trammell said.
But getting the course hard and fast, the way Norman prefers it, is nearly
impossible after Wilma dumped nearly six inches of water.
Tony Wallin, the PGA Tour's advance official in charge of the
pre-tournament setup of the Shootout, showed up in North Naples on Tuesday.
He was immediately impressed with how much progress had been made on the
course in a little over a week.
"You'd never know a hurricane hit here (recently)," said Wallin, who worked
the Tampa Bay event prior to coming to the Shootout. "We could play a
tournament right now and we have another week to go. The course is in
excellent shape."
Wilma did make Wallin's job a little easier. He does have to replace dozens
of hazard and out- of-bounds stakes blown away or taken out before the
storm. But the winds of Wilma blew away much of the heavy brush that
encompassed the outline of the course.
"This used to be nothing but jungle," Wallin said, pointing to cleared out
areas off the 10th fairway. "And that actually makes my job a little
easier."
Norman, the tournament host, worried about electricity being restored --
especially at the Ritz Carlton, where players and guests will be staying.
Late Thursday night, three days following Wilma, those worries were put to
an end. But the lack of power did delay the setup of tents and pavilion
areas.
Work crews worked around the clock even though their hotels didn't have
power or hot water. Ives solved some of their problems by taking them home
with him to shower and freshen up.
The question now is, will the fans show up? Ives believes that once the
players arrive, so will the fans. [Tickets can be purchased by calling
888-66-SHARK.]
"A week later people are starting to realize that the hurricane is (behind)
us," Ives said. "I'm certain the turnout will be as strong has ever."
| 
