Gena Tabery, On the Fly: Ground Operations

The 2011 Pre-World Competition in Uvalde helped to make ground operations as efficient as those at any WGC. Ground Operations Chief David Coggins, who ran operations last summer, spent three weekends with his crew in Houston making 113 ropes. Said Mr. Coggins, “We knew that according to rules, we knew we’d need a maximum of 120. We had 99 planes in the competition, so we ended up with a few extra, which have come in handy.” Coggins also made seven tow bars for rope retrieval, and a special bar attached to the back of his Suburban for dragging the ropes straight during retrieval and for laying them out in the morning.