The United States Golf Association will hold the 62nd U.S. Women's Open Championship June 26-29 at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn., where Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Class A superintendent Matt Rostal has prepared a tough, but fair, test.

While Rostal and staff have been preparing Interlachen for this event for years, the greatest changes to the golf course have come within the last two weeks, as warm weather finally reached the Land of 10,000 Lakes, causing an explosion in grass growth. Below average temperatures this spring followed a long winter, placing the rough heights ordered by the USGA behind schedule. Rostal, with an assist from Mother Nature, had Interlachen caught up by the end of May, as the first cut (11 feet wide) of bentgrass/bluegrass/ryegrass rough is 3½- to 4-inches tall, with up to 5-inch rough beyond that.

"We finally got some warm weather these last few weeks," said Rostal. "It's just been an unusually cool spring this year and things just weren't growing. With some rain and some warmer temperatures these last few weeks though, the rough really sprang to life. The graduated rough is right where the USGA wants it. The greens are in fantastic shape. We dodged some bullets with the recent storms lately, just missing some hail and a tornado last month."

Rostal is a 12-year GCSAA member and has been at Interlachen for 18 years. He was an intern from the University of Minnesota during the setup for the Walker Cup matches at the club in 1993, became the head superintendent in 2001 and a year later prepped for the 2002 Solheim Cup.

Rostal has worked with the USGA to narrow most of the fairways, complete a full bunker renovation, including some new bunker locations, and lengthened No. 17, a par-4 dogleg that is probably the hardest hole on the course, to 445 yards. The U.S. Women's Open competitors who played Interlachen during the Solheim Cup matches will see a longer and tougher layout this time around. In all, the course will be the longest in U.S. Women's Open history, just under 6,800 yards.

For more on Rostal's preparations, read GCM Senior Staff Writer Terry Ostmeyer's U.S. Women's Open preview "Interlachen shakes off long winter," published in the June 2008 edition of GCSAA’s monthly magazine.

Interlachen Country Club was originally designed and built by William Watson in 1911, redesigned by Donald Ross in 1919 and touched up by Robert Trent Jones in the early ’60s. It has had a storied past, hosting the 1930 U.S. Open, won by Bobby Jones en route to his historic grand slam that year, and the 1935 Women's National Amateur, which introduced Interlachen’s own, Patty Berg, to national golf, as the 17-year-old redhead took second place. Interlachen also was scheduled to host the 1942 U.S. Open, but it was canceled because of World War II. Built on three farms outside of Minneapolis along the streetcar line from downtown, Interlachen has also played host to the 2002 Solheim Cup, 1993 Walker Cup, 1986 Senior Amateur, 1916 Trans-Mississippi and the 1914 Western Open.

GCSAA is a leading golf organization and has as its focus golf course management. Since 1926, GCSAA has been the top professional association for the men and women who manage golf courses in the United States and worldwide. From its headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., the association provides education, information and representation to more than 21,000 members in more than 72 countries. GCSAA’s mission is to serve its members, advance their profession and enhance the enjoyment, growth and vitality of the game of golf. The association’s philanthropic organization, The Environmental Institute for Golf, works to strengthen the compatibility of golf with the natural environment through research grants, support for education programs and outreach efforts. Visit GCSAA at www.gcsaa.org.

For more information contact:
Matt Rostal, GCSAA Class A superintendent, Interlachen Country Club, at 952-924-7420 or mrostal@interlachencc.org
Bill Newton, GCSAA media relations manager, at 800-472-7878 ext. 3688, 785-550-3938 (mobile) or bnewton@gcsaa.org