PGA Cleanup Underway

Monday, August 13th 2007, 9:05 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa spent years preparing for the PGA Championship. Now, it will all be cleaned up in a matter of weeks. The News On 6â€™s Chris Wright reports packing up the tournament is almost as overwhelming as setting it up, but those responsible for the cleanup wasted no time getting to work.

Only a few hours after Tiger Woods put down the Wanamaker Trophy, the cleanup got underway at Southern Hills. The club, transformed to handle the needs of a major championship, will now be transformed again, back into its old self.

"Everyone's trying to get done and trying to get their equipment out of here with a minimal amount of damage. It comes down really fast,â€ said design consultant Fred Kellams.

Kellams is responsible for removing all the plants he placed outside of the merchandise tent. Some were loaded up to be re-sold. Most will be allowed to wilt in the excessive heat. Kellams does this for a living, but says the day after a major is always depressing.

"There's quite a bit of an emotional letdown. You're kind of operating on adrenaline, and everyone is working 14, 16 hours a day,â€ Kellams said.

There will be some more long days ahead. The grandstands, home to over-heated fans during the championship, need to be torn down. The leaderboard also needs to be removed.

Over in the merchandise tent, a lot of work has to be done extremely quickly. What took an entire three weeks to set up has to be broken down and removed in three days.

"Nineteen tractor trailers are parked outside, ready to take all these fixtures down, much like tinker toys, and put them away,â€ said Susan Hickman of PGA of America.

Hickman says the cleanup needs to be done as quickly as possible because the 37,000-square foot tent will be without air conditioning by Wednesday.

In fact, the only people who seemed to be enjoying the day after the PGA were Southern Hills' members, who finally had their golf course back to themselves.

As for all that left over merchandise, some of it will be on sale Tuesday starting at 9 a.m. The PGA will set up shop on the corner of 61st and Lewis.

To learn more about the 89th PGA Championship, click here.