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When Berry
Collett graduated from North Carolina State University in 1981, he wanted
to become a golf course superintendent. You could say he met his objective
– big time.
After interning
at Pinehurst and working as an assistant and superintendent at several
notable clubs, including five years at Amelia Island Plantation near Jacksonville,
Collett landed at the Sea Island Golf Club on Sea Island, Georgia in the
summer of 2000. As the Director of Sea Island Golf Course Maintenance,
Collett – who is a certified golf course superintendent – has
a hefty title with the responsibilities to match.
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Director
of Sea Island Golf Course Maintenance Berry Collett (left) finds
time to smile while pointing something out to LESCO Sales Representative
Mike Evans. Both are graduates of North Carolina State University.
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He was originally
hired to direct the maintenance of the three Sea Island Golf Club courses
– Plantation, Seaside and Retreat. Recently, however, he was given
the additional responsibility of overseeing the two private courses also
owned by the Sea Island Company. One is Ocean Forest Golf Club and the
other is Frederica Golf Club, which will open in 2005.
Plantation,
Seaside and Retreat are considered private resort courses and are open
for play by members, their guests and guests of the Sea Island resort.
Each hosts between 20,000 and 25,000 rounds of golf per year. All three
courses see some tournament play, but Seaside, a Top 100 course, is the
most popular tournament venue. It hosts the Georgia PGA Championship and
the Southeastern Conference Tournament each year. The course has also
hosted the Senior Women’s Amateur, the Western Junior and the Canon
Cup. Plantation and Seaside will host the 2004 United States Mid-Amateur.
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Each
of the three private resort courses owned by the Sea Island Company
hosts between 20,000 and 25,000 rounds per year.
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The
Ocean Forest Golf Club features a Rees Jones-designed course that has
been recognized on the Top 100 lists of both Golf Digest and Golf magazines.
Opened in 1995, it hosted the Walker Cup in 2001, the Southern Amateur
in 1999 and the Georgia State Amateur in 1998. Ocean Forest is the only
course actually located on Sea Island (the others are on St. Simons Island)
and is strictly private.
Frederica
Golf Club is under construction on the north end of St. Simons Island.
It is a Tom Fazio design and, like Ocean Forest, will be private.
Collett classifies
the Plantation and Retreat courses as park-style with rolling terrain
and mature trees. The Seaside and Ocean Forest courses are links-style
and feature such distinguishing characteristics as sand dunes, tidal creeks
and ocean views. The course at Frederica Golf Club will be a unique layout
with dramatic elevation changes.
Mission
accepted
As the man responsible for all Sea Island golf course maintenance, Collett’s
mission is clear, but not simple. It is his duty to see that the four
(soon-to-be-five) golf courses owned by the Sea Island Company are maintained
to tournament standards at all times.
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Kim
Fjellen, Jason Sperring and Jim Collins (from left to right) are
assistant superintendents at Sea Island.
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He terms
this his biggest challenge, but gives credit to his talented foursome
of superintendents, their assistants and hard-working crews for what is
accomplished. The superintendents and their respective courses are Phil
Petit at the Plantation course, Patrick Tye at the Seaside course, Kevin
Bell at the Retreat course and Randy Dallas at Ocean Forest.
“We’re
expected to be tournament-ready at all times.” Collett explained.
“It was a learning experience when the rebuilt courses opened back
up for play because it took some time for us to learn what was required
and to put numbers to what it was going to take to maintain them to world-class
standards. To be the best resort community in the world – that’s
the objective of the company.”
There
are advantages
It goes without saying that consistently keeping four courses in tournament
condition is challenging. But at the same time, having 72 golf holes on-site
does offer some advantages. For instance, because golfers can be accommodated
elsewhere within the resort, Collett is able to shut down each course
three times a year to concentrate on major cultural practices such as
aerifying, verticutting and overseeding.
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Seaside
is a Top 100 course and the most popular tournament venue at Sea
Island. It hosts the Southeastern Conference Tournament and the
Georgia PGA Championship each year.
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“The
month of June is sort of slow for us so that’s when we close for
10 days to do our aerifying,” he said. “And then we close each
course for six days in August for more aerifying and again in the fall
for ten days to verticut wall-to-wall and overseed. We close the courses
one at a time.”
When the
courses are closed in June, all areas are aerified, but it is the TifEagle
greens (and tees on Seaside) that receive the most attention. Sometimes
verticutting is the cultural practice of choice, other times aerifying,
and occasionally, a combination of the two.
“The
TifEagle, the newer ultradwarf bermuda, tends to get a little top-heavy
with thatch,” Collett said. “So during those ten days in June
we really concentrate on removing as much thatch as possible. This year
we aerified the greens on all three courses with 5/8-inch tines and then
topdressed. Two days later we came back again with 5/8-inch tines. The
plugs were removed so we could get as much of the organic material out
as possible and get as much sand in as we could. We also roll and fertilize
at this time.”
Outstanding
maintenance and mowing heights of under a tenth of an inch combine to
provide golfers the outstanding putting surfaces they expect when playing
the Sea Island courses.
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Native
grasses are a dominant feature on the Seaside course.
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During the
course closings in the fall, Collett’s superintendents and their
crews work long hours and dedicate themselves to verticutting and overseeding.
Greens, tees, fairways and roughs are overseeded on all four courses.
In all, about 350,000 pounds of seed are used to establish the winter
turf.
Collett purchases
seed, as well as fertilizers and an assortment of control products, from
LESCO Sales Representative Mike Evans, a fellow North Carolina State grad.
His choice for fairways is LESCO Overseeding Eagle Blend containing three
varieties of improved perennial ryegrass. For greens and tees, Collett
uses a mixture of Seaside bentgrass and Poa trivialis.
“We’re
pretty much overseeded nine months out of the year,” Collett said.
“We’re playing on LESCO Overseeding Eagle Blend most of the
time.”
Rich history
Long an elegant retreat for the wealthy and well known, Sea Island Resort
has counted golf as one of its amenities since it first began welcoming
guests in the late 1920s. The Plantation, designed by Walter Travis, was
the first nine-hole course built on the property.
As time passed,
three additional nines were added – one in 1929, another in the early
1960s and the third in 1973. For the next 25 years, golfers selected two
of the four nines to create their 18-hole outing. The Island Club, an
18-hole course, was also available for play.
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Golf
has been one of the amenities offered at Sea Island Resort since
the sophisticated vacation destination began welcoming guests in
the late 1920s.
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Upon the
successful completion of Ocean Forest in 1995, Sea Island Chairman of
the Board and CEO Bill Jones III, the grandson of the resort’s founder,
made the decision to merge the four nine-hole layouts into two 18-hole
courses. He hired Rees Jones and Tom Fazio to do the work, which they
did in fine style.
Utilizing
many of the existing design elements and adding just as many of his own,
Jones went first and created the new Plantation Course. A year later,
Fazio worked his magic and did a complete rebuild of the Seaside course,
complete with 35 acres of dunes. When their work was done, Davis Love
III, the resident pro at Sea Island, was hired to redesign the Island
Club course. He cleared nearly 40 acres and added 300 yards of length
to give the course – now known as the Retreat – a personality
all its own.
The golf
courses continue to evolve and change at Sea Island Resort. But there
is also much that remains the same. For 75 years, this elegant retreat
has managed to preserve the sophistication and dedication to quality on
which it was founded. You won’t find bathing suits in the lobby or
tee shirts on the golf course. But you will find a resort dedicated to
being known as the finest in the world. Berry Collett believes it’s
a good place to be.
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From
its upscale resort accommodations to its golf courses, Sea Island
is all about sophistication and dedication to quality. The resort
has always been operated by the Jones family and is now under the
direction of Chairman of the Board and CEO Bill Jones III who is the
grandson of the resort’s founder. |
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