LIV Golf Course Superintendent Claps Back At Haters Roasting Terrible Conditions

LIV Golf began its three-day event at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow, Okla., on Friday. It drew the largest crowd in LIV Golf history Saturday.

While the amount of spectators in attendance was one thing, the physic course itself was another. Its condition was... questionable...

Cedar Ridge, located just outside of Tulsa, is managed by Eddie Roach Jr., the GCSAA Certified Golf Course Superintendent at the club. He was dealt a bad hand and had to make the most of a rough (pun intended) situation, and did his best, but his best was simply not enough to overcome the conditions.

Much of the course, in the right lighting and at the right angle, looked pretty good.

However, that was not the case throughout all 18. Parts of the course were in terrible shape.

One particular fairway looked downright awful Saturday.

The first hole tee box looked abysmal Sunday.

Regardless of the effort that went into getting the field ready, and the backstory of why the course was the way that it looked, it wasn't pretty. It didn't look the way that one would expect from a professional golf event.

As could be expected, people had a field day with the conditions online. Here are just a few (of many) examples:

Although parts of Cedar Ridge looked horrendous, it was no fault of those in charge— like Roach Jr. And LIV Golf warned patrons and viewers of the conditions beforehand.

While some areas of the par-70 layout – particularly the recently replaced collars around the greens – may not be aesthetically pleasing, LIV Golf consulting agronomist Matt Cielen remains confident the 48 players in the field will receive a fair and proper test, starting with Friday’s opening round.

An early arctic blast, which was followed by longer-than-usual spring conditions, led to a poor situation for golf courses in the region. Cedar Ridge was not alone.

"Winterkill" is a blanket term that describes all winter injury to turfgrass, and applies here. Golf courses in the Tulsa area were hit hard by Winterkill, and golf in early May in Oklahoma can already be questionable to begin with. To make matters worse, the region saw quite a bit of rain both in the week leading up to the event and during the event itself.

Roach Jr. offered some explanation for the terrible conditions.

He also clapped back at the people who had a laugh at the conditions.

Roach says that he and the Cedar Ridge crew did the best that it could.

The efforts of Roach and his team are commendable. No blame should be placed on the folks at Cedar Ridge.

And to be fair, the course at the PGA Tour's Byron Nelson tournament was not perfect either.

MCKINNEY, TEXAS - MAY 13: A scenic view of the 17th hole during the third round of the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch on May 13, 2023 in McKinney, Texas. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)

Still, though, conditions at the LIV Golf's tournament in Broken Arrow were pretty brutal...