Q&A: TPC Sawgrass course superintendent Fred Klauk

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Fred Klauk, course superintendent at TPC Sawgrass, has been affiliated with THE PLAYERS Championship since coming to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in 1986 from the same position at TPC Eagle Trace in Coral Springs, Fla.

Condon/PGA TOUR

Fred Klauk

This year will mark his 23rd and final PLAYERS leading those who prepare the course for the world's best golfers. Klauk is set to retire after more than 35 years in golf course maintenance. He will work several days per week as the project manager for a planned renovation of Pete Dye's Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass and will assist in the preparation of THE PLAYERS Stadium Course for the 2009 and 2010 PLAYERS.

Klauk will be succeeded by Tom Vlach, a former assistant to Klauk at TPC Sawgrass in the early 1990s who comes to TPC Sawgrass from Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Ala. Vlach is on site this year to assist.

Klauk sat down in early April to answer a few questions about his tenure as superintendent and his experiences:

First job interview?
I was 24 years old in 1975 and interviewing to become head superintendent at Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach, Fla. Sam Snead was on the committee that was interviewing me. He sat directly across the dinner table from me and grilled me about maintaining a course. They liked the interview and invited me back two weeks later to play golf with Sam. I was shaking like a leaf on the 10th tee and duck-hooked it right in the water. But I did hit it by him on 18. And I got the job.

Most difficult circumstances?
The winter of 1989 and THE PLAYERS of 1990. That winter it snowed in Jacksonville, Fla., and closed the entire city down. We had ice on the greens for several days. Then we had a warm spring and a lot of play. The year after that we worked with [former PGA TOUR] Commissioner Deane Beman to slow play down going into the championship. We came up with a one-week closure that allowed us to get the course pristine in 1991 and beyond.

Most pleasant experience?
The year Fred Funk won (2005). Fred was very gracious and played golf with my sons in some tournaments. That was a highlight for me.

Thing you'll miss the most?
The tournament itself, the competition, helping to make the decisions to set up the course for the tournament.

Thing you'll miss the least?
Aerifying the greens and dealing with the intensity of the course maintenance.

Biggest difference between the regular course and PLAYERS setup?
How fast the greens are. Just before the tournament, when you play the course you are seeing the same conditions with the tees, fairways and rough as the tournament. But the greens don't get to tournament speed until the week of the event. They're 20-30 percent faster during THE PLAYERS.

Biggest change in superintendent profession during your time?
Irrigation and equipment technology. Irrigation is now all computerized. In my first job, it was all manual and you had to have a night waterman. Now you can operate the irrigation heads to the second electronically. The equipment is so much more superior. We can maintain the tees at green heights, the fairways at tee heights and the greens like billiard tables.

Most humorous PLAYERS experience?
I was right there at 17 green in 1998 when Brad Fabel lost a ball to the seagull. The bird swooped down on the green, picked up his ball, flew off and dropped it in the water. The only reason I was watching Brad is my son Jeff cut Brad's yard at that time.

Biggest alligator?
I hooked one on a fishing line about 10 years ago. We got a permit to get one out of the lake on 18. The gator was in the middle of the pond, and we couldn't get him to eat the bait we set out. So I cast a line out, snagged him and fought him for 45 minutes. He weighed 440 pounds and was 10 or 11 feet long. Our rule for gators on site is if I drive right up in my cart and the gator doesn't move or jump in the water, he is probably too used to the vehicles or people. There's one in 17 pond now, but he's only 6 or 7 feet long -- not very big.

Most difficult hole to maintain?
Probably No. 8. It has the most bunkers around the green.

What do you do when you retire?

The first thing is to take four weeks vacation in Key West and fish and unwind. I could possibly caddie for (son) Jeff on the Nationwide Tour in the summer. Do some traveling. Just relax some.