The Grizzly Course
Brett Buttner and Brian Pero, Co-Superintendents
It seems appropriate that The Grizzly Course was designed by a bear. Namely, the Golden Bear himself, Jack Nicklaus. Owned by the city of Mason, Ohio, the Grizzly has hosted PGA, LPGA and Senior PGA events for over fifty years.
“It definitely has a rich history,” says Brian Pero, co-superintendent at Grizzly. “We’re trying to get that pride back into the golf course. It’s a struggle.”
Enter USGA regional agronomist Zack Nicoludis. “We started working with the USGA, specifically in 2017,” says General Manager Cate Becker. “And that’s when Zack started coming out to the course to do consulting visits.”
There was a lot of work to be done. “There were some turf health issues and we came in to assist with some of the challenges they were experiencing,” says Nicoludis. Adds Pero, “It was all hands-on learning for the fourteen years before that. And we noticed what we had learned was not entirely accurate.”
Enter the GS3 ball. “I learned about the GS3 ball with one of our visits from Zack,” says Pero. “It measures out not only your speeds but also your smoothness, trueness, and your firmness. Just such a neat little tool.”
He’s already seeing the results. “Where firmness is concerned, we’ve definitely cut back on our water usage,” he says. “We’ve also implemented a roller for our trueness and smoothness. With the GS3, we have seen a return on our investment. The ball has paid for itself several times over.”
Brett Buttner, co-superintendent at Grizzly, says Nicoludis has brought more than just the GS3 ball to the course. “After every visit, we get a report on course conditions as well as what we talked about questions we had, questions he answered and recommendations,” says Buttner. “It's an invaluable tool for us. One, it communicates to the city, the municipality, that we're doing our job, and they know that we're on top of any issues that come up on the golf course. Having the GS3 ball and the course consulting visits gives you the one thing you want: information.”
Pero couldn’t agree more. “Having the numbers to back up what you’re doing and to see where you need to make changes is invaluable,” he says.
