Rich Harvest Farms grounds crew lay Solheim Cup foundation
It's Scott Resetich's job to make sure the grass is greener on the other side - all sides really.
It's a job that requires two people each working at least eight hours daily.
Resetich, 49, is the grounds superintendent and horticulturist at Rich Harvest Farms.
Resetich estimates that he and his crew have planted at least 25,000 flowers and shrubs along the golf course in preparation for this week's Solheim Cup. As if that task wasn't daunting enough, Resetich also has his crew hand water most of the grounds.
"All the plant material that are located on the golf course are hand watered so I can control the amount of water that goes on to each flower. There is nothing worse than over watering," Resetich said of the job, which takes up about 16 hours a day.
Rich Harvest Farms had been preparing for the tournament since 2005, including a slight remodel of some holes. Resetich and his crew of 10 have been laying the ground work, so to speak, for the Solheim Cup landscaping projects since February.
Earlier in the month they spent a week creating and planting 10,000 gallon-sized pots of hakone grass, a type of ornamental grass known for its golden shimmer appearance, in the shape of the Solheim Cup logo near the first tee. It was a project that proved particularly tricky because the grounds crew needed to keep tweaking the logo's layout to get it at the correct slope and angle for maximum visibility and impact.
Rich Harvest Farms wanted to go with a patriotic floral theme for the Cup as well, so Resetich and his team installed a red, white and blue floral arrangement at the front of the course in the shape of the golf course logo using red and white begonias and blue maynight salvia flowers.
For about a month after the flowers are installed a groundskeeper must keep a close eye on them and remove any weeds that appear so that the flowers are able to take to the soil and flourish.
Resetich, who has spent the past 20 years working at Rich Harvest Farms, lives on-site. He works up to 15 hours a day on the course tweaking things and making adjustments, trying to keep up with the "fast and furious" pace of what's needed for the Solheim Cup preparations (and ongoing upkeep).
"You have to be a real perfectionist to do this. It really takes a perfectionist's touch, which makes it tough when you're out there looking at the grounds every day. ... You're never satisfied and always hoping to accomplish more," Resetich said.