ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — It was hot and humid Tuesday morning, before the rain set in. Those conditions are likely to return before the weekend.
At Norwood Hills Country Club, site of the Ascension Charity Golf Tournament, next month, crews are at work building the grandstand.
Austin Gray is a crew foreman for Inproduction Televised Platforms.
“You’re sweating,” said Gray, taking off his hat and sunglasses. “Obviously I got sweat rolling down my neck and it’s pretty hot.”
Gray outlined the work crews have remaining before the tournament begins, Sept. 9.
“We’re setting up all the skyboxes and seating for the tournament,” said Gray. “So, we got the bathrooms and concessions on the back, the accesses, everything. Our biggest holes are on 17 and 18 and we probably have six platforms up there.”
While picturesque, the Norwood Hills fairways provide little relief from the heat and humidity.
“Everybody takes their breaks, as needed,” said Gray. “You don’t want anybody having heat stroke or overheating, because once you do that, you lose all energy.”
Along Interstate 70 near Lucas & Hunt, MoDOT subcontractors are busy on trash detail.
“It’s a lot of bending over," Dawson Pastorel said. "There’s a lot of garbage out here. It’s bad. It’s bad.”
Pastorel discussed the effect of the heat on his work.
“It makes our job a lot harder, especially down here in St. Louis with the humidity. It just rained, too, so the humidity here is crazy right now. There’s a lot of hills out here along the interstates. It makes you work.”
Back at Norwood Hills, crews have a lot of hot work ahead of them. Gray said they will be at work every day right up until the tournament.
“We’re probably here 25 more days,” said Gray, “and it’s 7 a.m to 5 p.m.”
Norwood Hills Director of Agronomy Mike Null said all the work for the Ascension Classic tournament is done according to PGA standards.