U.S. Open photo parade pt. 1

Welcome to the U.S. Open and my first of three photo parades. My name is Seth, I'll be your host... let's get started.

On the right is Robert Smith, equipment technician here at Merion. That's his brother Mike on the left, and his dad, uh... Mr. Smith, in the middle. Yep, this journalism thing, I've got it down.

The preferred reading of the Merion maintenance tent is Golfdom. This photo proves it. Take THAT, competition. (Gotta beat that competition, yessir!)

The crew, excited to get back out there on the course, on Tuesday afternoon. Once it was discovered that this photo might make a magazine, I had to take it again, so the young lady in the center could take the photo again sans sunglasses.

"And now, a word from our sponsor..." Merion GC superintendent Arron McCurdy speaking to the crew in front of the sponsors banner. Is it just me, or does that Turf Screen logo really pop?

Walk mowers, along with their mats for turn-arounds on the collars, head out for the afternoon shift.

Rakers. Lots of rakers.

The fairway mowers are all lined up and ready to mow.

There were a lot of golf fans out there today. There were also a few of these fans, too.

Rollin', rollin', rollin' fairways.

You see, there is random stuff in the rough. AND WE LIKE IT THAT WAY! (More on the rough in a future post.)

I haven't seen this before: the fairway mowers mow to the end of the fairway, then, one-by-one, they all stop, throw it in reverse, and back their way out of their.

The fairway mowers mow in a staggered line, like this character:     /       ... so no chevron, or flying 'V.' It's a little less dramatic for photos, in general. Still fun to watch, though.

Matt Shaffer, director of grounds at Merion, and his close friend John Zimmers, superintendent at Oakmont CC, observe the crew at work. (Great, great guys to work with.)

Uh-oh... someone got a little arty with a few photos...

A note about these photos: They're all property of Golfdom magazine. But if you're a benevolent entity (read: not one of our mortal enemies... you know who you are) you can "borrow" these photos if you just give a credit to GOLFDOM and a link back to www.golfdom.com. Thanks much.

US Open crew walks to raise money for Oklahoma

The crew at Merion Golf Club is working even harder this week than normal, in preparation for next week's U.S. Open.

But they're not just working for the golfers and the TV cameras this week... they're also working for the folks hurt by the tornadoes in Oklahoma.

Led by superintendent Arron McCurdy, the crew at Merion is logging all the miles they walk this week. They're calling it "Walk to the US Open," and they're looking for people to donate money for every mile they walk (or a flat donation) that will go to the American Red Cross.

The details are below. Click here to donate to the cause. As of this writing, the crew has raised $310... I'm sure that will grow in the upcoming days. (And nice job, Pat Douglas, putting in 17 miles on Sunday! Wow!)

From the website:

BENEFITING: American Red Cross
EVENT DATE: Jun 02, 2013

THE STORY:
Merion Golf Club’s Green Department is in the final stages of preparations for the U.S. Open taking place June 10th through the 16th.  We are working long hard hours to ensure a successful Championship. Upon the tragedy in Oklahoma, Merion’s staff wanted to find a way to help the communities affected by this terrible event.