Southern Hills looks south for new superintendent

KD Davis with wife Holly, and four children: Jadyn, Macy, Keaton, and Jordyn

By Ken MacLeod

Very few golf course superintendents successfully grow bent grass greens south of the Red River. Even fewer once you venture south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Kris Davis had beautiful bent grass greens at Cordillera Ranch in Boerne just outside of San Antonio. The greens consisted of the same blend of A-1 and A-4 bent grass used at Southern Hills Country Club.

"We were the only ones in the area who were not using some form of Bermuda greens," Davis said.

It's tough enough to successfully manage bent grass greens here in the heart of the transition zone. That Davis could successfully do so as far south as Boerne is one reason why he begins his new post March 1 as the superintendent at Southern Hills.

Davis, known as KD to his friends, replaces Russ Myers, who left in December to be the new superintendent at Los Angeles Country Club. Myers helped the venerable club earn rave reviews in the 2007 PGA Championship and the 2009 U.S. Amateur Championship and left the course in very good condition.

"I know I've got big shoes to fill," said Davis. "But I know I'll be up for the challenge. I called Russ as soon as I got the job and picked his brain. He had the exact same greens we did and I wanted to know every thing, from what fans to moisture levels to chemical programs."

Southern Hills General Manager Nick Sidorakis interviewed six candidates identified by the search firm of Aspire Golf headed by Tim Moraghan, former chief agronomist for the USGA. Davis stood out.

"For numerous reasons," Sidorakis said. "No 1 being he knows how to manage bent grass greens. He grew bent grass - our blend of bent grass - in the extreme heat of southern Texas and did it successfully. That was a huge factor."

Davis was born and raised in Ohio, growing up in Coshocton where he got hit first job at Hilltop Golf Course. When he was 13, he would be dropped off there to play golf on a daily basis in the summer. The superintendent finally persuaded him to work for him in the mornings and play golf for free after that. A career was born.

Davis attended Ohio State where he graduated with a degree in turf grass science. Perry Maxwell, who designed Southern Hills, also did some work at the Scarlet Course at OSU while working with Dr. Alister MacKenzie.

Davis worked as an assistant at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., an A.W. Tilllinghast design, before going to Australia for a stint at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney. He returned to Columbus to finish his degree and helped at Muirfield Village and then landed a job at the New Albany Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Design just north of Columbus.

That led to a position as superintendent at Cimarron Hills Country Club in Georgetown, Texas, another Nicklaus design, where he oversaw construction and grow-in. The association with the Nicklaus design group continued in 2005 when he took on the Cordillera project, another Nicklaus venture and a club that was ranked the fourth best private club in the state by the Dallas Morning News soon after opening. Davis supervised grow-in from 2005-2007 and has been in charge since.

"It will be hard to leave something that you had such a big hand in creating, and I know I teared up when I handed in my resignation. But I'm really excited to come to Southern Hills," Davis said. "I know about the history and tradition and I want to be at a course that hosts major championships."

Davis will concentrate on grooming the course for member play for the next few seasons, but Southern Hills is definitely on the hunt for more majors. Fingers are crossed that the USGA will award the club its fourth U.S. Open, perhaps in 2021, to go with the Opens held there in 1958, 1977 and 2001. In the interim, there is a strong possibility the course will host another USGA event, perhaps the Senior Open or Women's Open.

"Having the chance to prepare a course for a major championship is definitely part of the reason I wanted to come here," Davis said. "I know we'll be concentrating on member play for the next few years. But I'm eager to see what comes down the road."

Sidorakis said Davis will begin attending U.S. Opens with him and getting to know current USGA agronomist Mike Davis in hopes the two will be working together closely in the future.