Double Eagle Double Eagle Golf Course Columbus,Ohio

Case Description:

John McConnell dreamed of building his own tournament-class golf course ever since he was a business administration student at Michigan State University in the early 1940s. He was so enthralled with this project that he managed to include the initial design of the course in his senior thesis. Forty years later, after achieving remarkable success as CEO and Founder of Worthington Industries, he purchased 300 acres just northwest of Columbus, Ohio, as the site on which to bring his dream to life. To meet the demanding requirements set forth by Mr. McConnell, golf course architects Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish were selected to do the design.

Terry Buchen, an experienced grow-in superintendent, was hired during the planning stage of the project. For this project, however, he also carried the title Owners Rep. This meant that he would serve as liaison between Mr. McConnell, the architects, and the contractor, and would have complete decision-making authority whenever Mr. McConnell was not available.

Construction began on July 24, 1990, with staking and clearing operations. Given an experienced construction crew and a virtually unlimited inventory of modern equipment, an ambitious schedule was established calling for planting operations to begin by mid-Fall. At first, construction moved along with impressive efficiency. Topsoil was stockpiled at strategic locations for replacement upon completion of rough grading and irrigation and drainage systems installation. Record-breaking rainfall during the latter half of 1990, however, resulted in innumerable delays and extended construction well into the following Spring. Finally, with the completion of fine grading in late May, Terry knew that he and his crew could begin turfgrass planting (a.k.a. "grassing") operations by Memorial Day. He also knew that Mr. McConnell dreamed of playing the course before the end of summer. His challenge was to get all 19 holes, including greens, tees, fairways, and roughs, planted and playable within three months. Hoping for a dry summer in which he, not "Mother nature", could control soil moisture, Terry began the task of planning his planting and post-planting operations.

Prominent within these operations was Terry's grow-in schedule. During the first few months following seeding, approximately 5 acres of greens and tees received 12.74 lb N, 16.27 lb P, and 5.04 lb K per 1000 sq.ft., while approximately 75 acres of fairways and roughs received 16.4 lb N, 14.4 lb P, and 14.7 lb K per 1000 sq.ft. This amounted to more than 28 tons of N, and approximately 25 tons each of P and K applied to the golf course in the first few months following seeding. When asked about the environmental consequences associated with the substantial quantities of fertilizer nutrients applied, Terry responded that "this is what it takes to establish new golf course turf" and that, once fully established, "much lower rates will be used for maintenance." Afterwards, he began to wonder about the potential for pollution of surface and subsurface water bodies from applications of these fertilizer nutrients. If ground water and surface water sampling and analysis had been done within or immediately adjacent to the golf course, what would these have revealed? If local news reporters or environmentalists were to conduct investigations, what might they discover and how would they use this information? Finally, if he had to do this over again, what might he have done differently?

Study Materials

• Site Preparation
  
• Turfgrass Propagation

Assignment:

One group will be assigned the responsibility for making a presentation containing the following elements:

A brief synopsis of the case description
A detailed analysis of the facts presented in the case description
A list of the issues emerging from the analysis
A broadly stated strategy for addressing the issues
A detailed action plan for implementing this strategy
This group should also prepare a report using the format that follows and submit hard copies along with appropriate attachments to on the date shown in the course schedule.

Download Format for Preparing Your Case Report