Aronimink's superintendent says he's ready for anything

The second time around is usually more user-friendly, just because. It's especially relevant if you're the superintendent at a course that's hosting a PGA Tour event.

For this week's AT & T National at Newtown Square's Aronimink Golf Club, John Gosselin happens to be that fellow.

So far he's already ahead of the game. On the Thursday before last year's event, a bad storm blew through the area and left the place a mess. It took 3 days to clean things up.

"It just threw out all our plans and everything," Gosselin recalled. "A lot of meetings and stuff got canceled. We just went into full-blown emergency mode, putting everything back together. It was a lot worse than most people really knew. If it had happened even a few days later, I'm not sure what we would have done.

"There were trees down all over. Some homes around here didn't have power for 4 days. [Nearby] White Manor [Country Club] was out, too. There were tents laying around. It was bad.

"But it was a good learning experience. Just in case something happened again, we didn't wait to do some stuff. Now we really understand that you never know. But we're looking forward to doing it the [normal] way this year."

The 2010 playing conditions drew glowing reviews, which is all most folks ultimately remember. That was the first time Aronimink had a chance to showcase itself outside this area. You know what they say about first impressions, particularly for a place that would very much like to host a major championship at some point.

In that respect, Gosselin is like a good referee. If his name doesn't come up, he's done his job.

"All the players I spoke to were extremely positive," Gosselin said. "The members were thrilled that Aronimink came off so well on TV. And [CBS analyst] Nick Faldo made a lot of positive comments throughout the telecast. So that's always a big thing . . . You just never heard anything negative.

"It's exciting to hear someone like Nick Faldo, who's seeing the course for the first time or maybe the first time in 10 or 15 years, be so impressed with it. That's gratifying. It's big for us. It means so much."

And now, all they have to do is get it perfect again.

"I think it's easier, because you've been there," Gosselin noted. "You're more organized, you know what to expect. It just comes from having done it once."

In other words, he can tell you the extended 10-day weather forecast almost down to the hour. It comes with the territory.

"It's supposed to be hot and steamy Thursday and Friday," he said. "Then that blows out and the weekend should be low-to-mid-80s. The biggest chance for rain I see right now is 50 percent for Thursday. But I don't see any all-day rain, which is good.

"But you can't control Mother Nature."

Gosselin, as you might expect, basically puts his life on hold until this thing's over. He's living in a camper on the course. His staff consists of extra help from as far away as California and Florida.

"They're already thinking about Sunday afternoon a little bit," he admitted. "After that last ball drops, they'll finally be able to get a break."

Then the course returns to the membership, which begins playing it once more at 7 a.m. Monday.

"They're just happy to get it back," Gosselin said. "They understand the fact that it's going to take a week or so to get this place somewhat cleaned up for them. But we're leaving the same pins [as the pros played on Sunday] in. They're pretty excited about that."

Just as Gosselin will no doubt be pumped to wake up in his own bed. And not necessarily at the crack of dawn. *