Congressional Country Club
Course Fact Sheet
Fairways:
Width: Ranges from 18 to 35 yards, averaging 25 yards wide in the primary
landing zones.
Grass Type: Predominantly Penncross creeping bentgrass along with other
varieties interseeded over the years.
Mowing Height: 0.345 inch
Tees:
Grass Type: Penncross creeping bentgrass
Mowing Height: 0.345 inch
Greens:
Grass Type: Greens were rebuilt in 2009 to USGA Guidelines for Putting Green
Construction and established with a blend of Penn A-1 and A-4 creeping
bentgrass.
Mowing Height: 0.10 inch
Mowing Height for collars and approaches: 0.310 inch
Target Stimpmeter Reading: 14-14.5 feet
Irrigation Practices: Only hand-watering on the greens. The goal is to achieve
firmness without compromising the health of the grass. Soil moisture levels are
constantly monitored with hand-held testers and in-ground sensors. Fairways
and tees are irrigated on an as-needed basis. Wetting agents have been applied
due to sand topdressing of both fairways and tees. The goal is to achieve even
wetting when irrigation is applied.
Roughs:
Grass Type:
o intermediate rough – primarily perennial ryegrass
o primary rough – predominantly turf-type tall fescue.
On each side of the fairway, a 6-foot wide swath of intermediate rough
running the length of each hole will be mowed at 0.875 inch. The same
mowing height is used for the bunker tie-ins.
On greens with a primary rough, the mowing height is 3 inches.
For the sixth consecutive year, the USGA will use graduated primary rough. This
setup creates a tougher and more challenging recovery shot for those who hit
their drives farther off-line.
The first cut of primary rough is 6 yards wide and mowed between 2.75-3.25
inches, depending on the length of the hole.
The second cut of rough is mowed to 4 inches, depending on the turf growth
rate. This height extends to and beyond the gallery rope lines.
Bunkers:
Maintenance: New sand has been added to all bunkers. All bunkers are hand-
raked.
Maintenance Crew:
Congressional C.C. crew size: 55
Number of mechanics on staff during the Open: 3
Number of volunteers: 120. Most are experienced golf course superintendents
and assistant superintendents who volunteer their time for the week.
Where the volunteers are housed: Nearby in housing at American University.
How the maintenance crew and volunteers are fed: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
are prepared by the Congressional C.C. chef for the entire maintenance staff and
volunteers.
Typical hours worked during the championship: Morning shift 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Afternoon shift 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Staff is on property throughout the day in
case of rain.
Miscellaneous Maintenance Points:
Amount of extra equipment on hand: Six walking greens mowers, four walking
collar mowers, eight turf rollers, four walking tee mowers, 19 five-plex fairway
mowers, three rotary rough units with 9-foot cutting width, two rotary rough units
with 6-foot cutting width, one reel rough unit with 6-foot cutting width, two
mechanical bunker rakes, 22 maintenance carts and 36 squeegees.
Typical mowing schedule during the championship: All principal in-play areas will
be mowed every day. Greens, tees and fairways are mowed twice a day.
Soil moisture: Monitored by in-ground soil sensors and hand-held soil moisture meters. The greens are also equipped with an underground water evacuation
system.
Soil Firmness: The firmness of the greens will be measured each day (morning
and evening) using the USGA TruFirm system to monitor soil firmness. A relative
range has been determined for each green to gauge the receptiveness of the
green in holding an approach shot.
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