Superintendent has Olympic Club Ready for U.S. Amateur

There's a new look at one of the nation's oldest and most revered golf venues as the 2007 U.S. Amateur approaches August 20-26. Since the USGA last held championships at San Francisco's Olympic Club (2004 U.S. Junior Amateur, 1998 U.S. Open), a significant amount of brush and trees have been removed, opening up the famed golf course and allowing golfers an improved view of the varied topography.

Superintendent Pat Finlen, director of golf course maintenance operations, has added tee extensions to four holes on the Lake Course and native grasses to the Ocean Course, toughening up The Olympic Club.

The U.S. Amateur consists of two qualifying rounds of stroke play, played over two days on both courses and narrowing the field of participants to 64, who play a single-elimination match play tournament over five days on the Lake Course. Each round consists of 18 holes until the 36-hole final. Finlen will rely heavily on seasoned staff members Brian Koffler, GCSAA superintendent at the Lake Course, and Zach Ohsann, GCSAA superintendent at the Ocean Course.

A 23-year GCSAA member, Finlen has been at the Olympic Club since 2002. Previously, he served as director of golf course maintenance at Bayonet Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside, Calif., golf course and grounds manager at Quivira Lake Country Club in Lake Quivira, Kan., and superintendent at Cypress Point Country Club in Virginia Beach, Va. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Mo.

The Olympic Club is the nation's oldest athletic club (est. 1860). Located in southwest San Francisco, its 45 holes of championship golf on 365 acres of rolling hills between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean have hosted multiple USGA championships, including four U.S. Opens and two other U.S. Amateurs, plus numerous PGA Tour events. Finlen and The Olympic Club will host the U.S. Open again in 2012.

The Lake Course will play at par 70, 6,929 yards for this U.S. Amateur and the Ocean Course will play at par 70, 6,786 yards. The Olympic Club is a sand-based course with push-up greens constructed of native sand. It features excellent drainage, a bentgrass/ryegrass/Poa annua mixture on the tees and fairways, a bluegrass/ryegrass mixture in the rough and Poa annua greens that measure 11.6 on the Stimpmeter.