Ralph Kepple

Background

About Ralph Kepple

Golf Course Superintendent at East Lake Golf Club since 1992 and Certified Golf Course Superintendent since the year Promoted in February 2018 to Director of Agronomy. While at East Lake, we have prepared the golf course for twenty-two Tour Championships, the season finali for the FedEx Cup Playoff of the PGA Tour. We also prepared the golf course for the 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020,2021 and 2022 East Lake Cup, a made for television college golf event shown on The Golf Channel, the 2001 United States Amateur Championship, the 2002 Southern Amateur, the 1997 Western Junior Amateur and 1998, and 2004 Sectional US Open Championship Qualifier. In 1994 I supervised a complete renovation of the golf course, working with Rees Jones as architect and Landscapes Unlimited as General Contractor. During this project we rebuilt all greens, tees, fairways and bunkers, installed all new storm drainage and new irrigation system, pruned every tree on the property, demucked all ponds and regrassed with 120 acres of sod, including Meyer Zoysiagrass on thirty acres of fairways. In 2008 the club converted the Crenshaw bentgrass greens to MiniVerde bermudagrass, including removal of the top six inches of soil and installation of new greens construction material. Additional work included reconstruction of all greenside bunkers, addition of five bunkers, expansion of three bunkers, relocation of two greens and one fairway, including the fairway bunker complex, and two new tees. This work began on March 3 and was grown-in in time for the 2008 Tour Championship held the third week of September. In the fall of 2023 East Lake Golf Club will undergo a sympathetic restoration under the direction of Golf Course Architect, Andrew Green. Using old aerial photos and additional historical evidence, Green will bring back many long- lost architectural features created by famed golf course architect, Donald Ross. The restoration will include all new tees, fairways, bunkers,drainage, irrigation system and pump station, a much improved practice range with more than double the existing range tee space, shifted hole corridors on several holes to better feature existing topography and more. The golf course is expected to be fully grown in and ready for the 2024 Tour Championship. Specialties: Tournament preparation and renovation work are two area of expertise in my industry. I also have experience growing bentgrass greens and ultradwarf bermudagrass greens in the transition zone, management of a $2.5+ million operating budget and purchasing experience.