Championship Spotlight Returns to Valhalla
John Ballard, CGCS, has a motivated team, new zoysiagrass fairways and ownership committed to showcasing the Bluegrass State at the 2024 PGA Championship. He also has an exciting new BASF chemistry product on the ground to help him manage disease.
By Pat Jones
John Ballard wants to talk about everyone but himself as he approaches a career milestone: hosting the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Course.
John spoke at length about the remarkable ownership team that’s given him tremendous support, including a new agronomy center and the resources necessary to make sweeping improvements to the state’s best-known course. He went on about every member of his team and how important each person is to the success of their operation. He’s a humble guy. That’s why, to start off, we’re going to talk about John.
John Ballard is a homegrown Tennessean who set out to be an architect, changed his mind and then happened to notice a sign that said “Turf” his freshman year on the University of Tennessee campus. “I’d played a lot of junior golf as a kid and thought, ‘This looks cool.’” That glimmer of interest turned into an internship under Frank Turner at Cherokee CC in Knoxville, and he was off to the races.
As he progressed, Louisville became home for John and his wife Christy as he landed first at the venerable Audubon CC. From there, he moved to the University of Louisville’s newly acquired golf club in 2016. Just a few years later, his friend Roger Meier left Valhalla to build the new PGA Frisco courses. The PGA of America reached out about joining the Valhalla team, and he said, “Heck yes.”
Since then, it’s been a whirlwind that’s included building a great staff and culture, helping the new owners “Kentuckyize” the property, switching to zoysiagrass fairways and prepping for the club’s fourth PGA Championship. He clearly loves it, but he hopes to shine a spotlight on his owners, his people and his course. And, thanks in part to his partnership with BASF, that’s exactly what he’ll be doing before, during and after championship week in mid-May.
What made you want to do it forever when you did that first internship?
It was just the environment. Like a lot of guys, being outdoors and in that element was very appealing to me. My first internship was with my (now) good friend Frank Turner, and we laugh about it to this day. It wasn’t what we did as much as the environment we did it in that was appealing.
Did you have a real career plan in mind?
Not at all. I did some extra internships through school. I went out to Colorado and worked at the Club at Cordillera and then went to Pinehurst. Postgrad, I had a lot of opportunities, but I struck up a good relationship with the then-super at Audubon, Steve Barber, and took a leap of faith.
What did you learn from Steve Barber?
He was probably the first guy who instilled in me what it means to have buy-in from your crew. That’s often more important than the agronomic piece of it. He was a younger guy and he also really taught me a lot about how to manage older employees, which can be a tough thing to do.
So what’s the secret?
I’m convinced when you invest in people – old or young – and know who they are and what they’re doing, then the managing becomes sort of secondary. When you get to know them and find out about what their interests are, then maybe you’ll understand more about what motivates them to get things done on the golf course.
How has that basic philosophy evolved over time?
We do a lot of collaboration here and it’s not the John Ballard show, right? It would be easy to just tell everyone what to do. Instead, we talk a lot about things. We walk through stuff, so I feel like our team comes in every day, and they’re well-equipped.
Tell us about your team.
Our staff will be 38, all in, for this year. For us, it all starts with Phil Vineyard, my lead assistant. He’s another Tennessee guy, and he’s had a lot of experience working other events, including three years at TPC Sawgrass and the Players. I lean on him quite a bit.
Next are my two assistants, Justin Wilt and Payton Hobby. Justin was an intern who really knocked it out of the park so he was my first call when we had a position open. Payton worked with Kasey Kauff down at Trinity Forest so he really understands zoysia and how to keep it firm and fast. That collaboration piece helps us out a lot. Also, we have six AITs, four interns and an experienced group of H2B guys.
Last but not least, there’s Jason Newman, our equipment manager, who’s been here 30 years. He’s the most fit, interesting guy you’ll ever meet in your life. He’s been there for all the tournaments, so that’s a real comfort for me. When I start getting worked up about stuff, he reminds me that this too shall pass and calms me down.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE BEAUTY:
PREPARING VALHALLA FOR THE SPOTLIGHT.
What will people notice at Valhalla this year?
The new owners came in and wanted to make an immediate impact. They knew they had a good golf course, but they also wanted Valhalla to be a great club. They really wanted to ‘theme’ the property and give it an authentic Kentucky feel – horses, bourbon, limestone, etc. – so a lot of the changes were around the perimeter of the course instead of in-play.
Agronomically speaking, what are the big factors?
The biggest thing is the PGA invested in regrassing from bentgrass to Zeon zoysia on tees and fairways in 2021. That was a huge commitment. It’s a great surface, and it also tells a very positive story about sustainability. But as good as that zoysia is, we’ve got to get it woke up and online.
You’re getting a chance to try the new Aramax™ Intrinsic® brand fungicide from BASF on a pretty wide scale. Tell us about that.
We have a great relationship with Gary Myers, who’d been an assistant here at Valhalla way back when before he went to BASF. He brought the idea of trying Aramax [Intrinsic brand fungicide] to us and reviewed the chemistry. It’s a new product, but it’s still the same classes of chemistry we’d use for large patch, so we felt very comfortable using it.
We knew it also isn’t only a stand-alone, so we’re making a couple of apps of Aramax [Intrinsic brand fungicide] and a complementary product in the fall and a couple again in the spring. I tend to be pretty careful about stuff, but it became really clear that BASF had really positive intentions and would be there to support us. It was an easy decision.
What’s the trial format?
If you’re dealing with zoysiagrass, you’re tempted to say it’s bulletproof. It can be, but the one thing that can really get you is large patch. Zoysia is notoriously slow for recovery from large patch damage. Staying in front of that is extremely important. So we’re always watching soil temperatures and monitoring to make sure we make our applications in the right format.
When we partnered with BASF and Aramax [Intrinsic brand fungicide] this past fall, we put them at the front end of two applications – so they were the first of two apps about three weeks apart. In the spring, Aramax [Intrinsic brand fungicide] will be the last one to go out before the championship.
So far, the results have been great. We have seen – honestly – little to none in the way of large patch thus far. Springtime can be a little trickier because it’s warmer and muggier. So far, I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen.
It’s early March now. Once soil temps get up just a little more, we’ll make that second app of Aramax [Intrinsic brand fungicide]. But so far, it has done an outstanding job. We are very clean, and when you think about 30 acres of zoysiagrass to cover and having no breakthrough, that says a lot.
How have you tailored your spray program to prep for the championship and the rest of your year?
We’re thinking about this championship – no question – but this is also the beginning of the season. We’ve got to get through the entire season. We’re going spray for take-all patch apps, early season DMIs for fairy ring and probably the number one thing will be PGRs. Regulating growth is going to be paramount to our success. We need recovery, but we don’t want them blowing out of the ground. We’ve been working on a lot of models and sort of working the program backwards from the Sunday before championship week.
What else is in the spray mix for you?
Maxtima is an important part of our DMI rotation. We’ve also used Navicon, Lexicon and Xzemplar. When you choose what’s going in the tank, you’re looking for quality products and a result-driven approach. Also, for me, it’s about the support. Price is important, but I know BASF will stand behind the products that we put out. And if there’s an issue, they will fix it. That right there is enough.
What are your hopes for the championship experience this year?
Anyone who gives a dollar or volunteers their time, I want them to walk away feeling like it was a good experience. Hopefully, they think we run a pretty good ship and take good care of our people. Ultimately, we want to put on a good show, sell a lot of tickets and solidify the return of another major championship for our new owners. We hope the PGA looks favorably on Valhalla in the future.
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
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