--- --- --- r si ii 04 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, September 1, 1999 Baker's field Weir, Singh, Leonard and O'M eara F ollow th e m o n foo t. N o t in th e p ap er. By Kathy Yanchus SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER I t's that time of year again. Bell Canadian Open fever is in the air at Glen Abbey Golf Club and no where is that more evident than on the links. This week is the busiest for course superinten dent Dean Baker and his staff of 35 who are up with the sun raking, repairing, cutting and groom ing the 18 holes that will attract some of the biggest names in golf next week. "The course is in pretty good shape," says Baker. "At the beginning of the summer it looked like we were going to have a repeat of '98 with the heat and humidity." But once again, Baker's sidekick, Mother RGGAr L j I - L I . v C a n a d i a n O p e n Nature, came through with some rain and cooler nights, allowing for "a good recovery" from July's wear and tear. Irrigation doesn't take the place of natural rain and for a while it looked like there would be no rough for the pros, says Baker. "Now the greens are below l/8th of an inch. They're 7/64th of an inch and the rough is 4 to 6 inches of good old Kentucky Blue Grass," he says. During dry, hot spells, there is special concern over the 11th and 12th holes in the valley, but even these holes have come through the summer "better than they have in years." This fact Baker attributes to a number of things including the addition of fans in the valley to improve air circulation and experiments with various fertilizers. In the month leading up to the Open, Glen Abbey becomes the destination of diehard golfers, anxious to put their game to the test. Baker allows this but qualifies the conditions to a degree. "Lightning fast greens (and long rough) only equates to seven hour rounds. We slow the greens down and the rough is cut so they can find their ball," says Baker. Even then, the avid linksters who play the course arrive in the clubhouse elated. "They may have played a long round and lost 12 balls but they're just elated to play under the Canadian Open conditions," says Baker. The excitement of preparing for the tourna ment never wanes for Baker either. Few golf courses in the area or in the country for that matter have the opportunity to host the best golfers in the world, he says. This year, with the transfer of Glen Abbey's ownership from the Royal Canadian Golf Association to ClubLink, the Open has been fortunate to have many employees from other ClubLink courses help out. "It is very exciting," says Baker. There have been no changes to holes this year but plans are under way to change some greens in the future, the 12th hole in particular, he adds. T H E R E 'S N O T H IN G LIKE B E IN G T H E R E . September 6-12, Glen Abbey Golf Club* 1 800 571 OPEN www.hell.ca/cdnopen A bout the title sponsor Bell Canada came on board as title sponsor for the Bell Canadian Open in 1994, and recently committed to an additional five-year sponsor ship through to 2003. Together with the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), Bell will use Us expertise in communications to enhance the Bell Canadian Open experience for both Sard. s -n t /u in y s f ' . f i / r u f r d T O r ^ f U T E Beaver Three T ines a Week I t a t .... Drive. . . . the New Saturn L The next big thing from Saturn. Did we mention that the new Saturn L-Series is bigger? It has loads of passenger room, along with the biggest trunk capacity in its class. And as Saturn logic goes, more car means more creature comforts. Like standard A /C with dust and pollen filter. Power windows with driver express-down. Heated side mirrors. Multi-adjustable front bucket seats. 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