John Gosselin, Aronimink's course wizard

It's the rare person who awakens with a smile at 4:30 in the morning, eager to head off to a job that will consume at least 14 hours of the day.

John Gosselin is one of them.

"I'm extremely lucky," Gosselin said.

The result of Gosselin's labor was sprawled out in a picturesque tableau behind him as he sat at a table on a veranda at Aronimink Golf Club, which will host the AT&T National this week.

Gosselin, 47, is in his fifth year as the club's superintendent, but the last two years on the job have been particularly consuming, as he's worked to bring the par-70, 7,200-yard course nestled in Newtown Square up to snuff for a PGA Tour event that will feature Tiger Woods.

Gosselin made it clear he's loved every moment of it.

"You always think about coming to a place like this as superintendent," said Gosselin, who is from Audubon, Montgomery County. "This is the kind of club I wanted to be at. It's a great membership, great resources, and a great golf course, a classically designed golf course. It's the whole package, and it's easier to get results when you have great resources.

"It's hard not to do a good job here."

Gosselin fell in love with Aronimink in 1987, when he was an assistant in training the same year he graduated from Penn State with a degree in Turf Science. Back then, he couldn't imagine a much better place to work, but it wasn't until 2005 when the opportunity came his way.

Gosselin, who was Facilities and Sports Manager at DuPont Country Club at the time, got a call from his brother, Tom Gosselin, the superintendent at Overbrook Golf Club in Bryn Mawr. Tom told John a member at Aronimink had asked a member at Overbrook if it was all right for Aronimink to contact him.

Before his job with DuPont, John had been superintendent at Rolling Green in Springfield.

"I really missed being a superintendent," John said. "I started peeking around to get back into the golf business. I thought Tom was kidding me. One thing led to another, and I was lucky enough to get it. It's one of the better moves I've made in my life."

When Gosselin arrived at Aronimink, the greens were not in the best condition. But under the supervision of Gosselin, the greens, and the entire course, which was designed by Donald Ross in 1926 and which opened in 1928, are apparently in as good a shape as ever.

"That year [2005], there was a combination of high heat and humidity and rain, and we did have some difficulties with our greens," club president Dave Boucher said. "Now, the greens are spectacular. I've been here 30 years, and I don't think I've ever seen the course in better shape than it is right now."

There was much work to be done at Aronimink when PGA officials selected it as the site for the AT&T National.

"We've been working toward this for almost two years," Gosselin said.

Two of the holes, No. 2 and No. 9, had to be lengthened. The ninth hole was extended 50 yards to a par-5 605 yards. Three tees had to be upgraded, and all 75 bunkers had to be refurbished.

"Clearing out the old and putting in the new," Gosselin said of the bunkers. "That alone was a four-month project."

Gosselin also needed help from Mother Nature, who gave him the dry spring he'd hoped for. Hosting a PGA Tour event requires plenty of heavy equipment to transport the grandstands, hospitality tents, vendors stands, and whatnot.

"If we'd had a wet couple months, all this infrastructure you see out here would have really torn up the golf course before the tournament even got here," Gosselin said. "We don't have cart paths like a typical club. This is a caddie club. So we'd have had a big mess right now. I'm happy for the dry weather."

Gosselin, who is president of the Philadelphia Area Golf Course Superintendents Association, typically supervises a staff of 28 maintenance employees at Aronimink. He said the staff will triple for the AT&T National, and that there will be about 80 tourney volunteers. He makes it a point to credit his staff for the condition of the course.

"We're a team," said Gosselin, a pretty fair golfer with a 3.8 handicap. "Our assistant superintendents have made a lot of sacrifices. We're the first on the property and the last to leave."

In devoting so much time to his job, Gosselin said he's fortunate to have such an understanding family.

"I've missed a lot of softball games," said Gosselin, who has a wife of 23 years, Lisa, and three children - R.C., a senior at Temple; Jennifer, a sophomore at Penn State; and Kelly, who attends middle school.

In golf parlance, Gosselin is called a greenskeeper. But Boucher considers him much, much more.

"He's more of an artist, I think," Boucher said. "Balancing how all the grasses work, the mowing, making sure we maintain the integrity of the bentgrass on our greens. It all takes a lot of time and attention. I think one of the main things that John has brought to us is a harder, firmer, faster golf course, which is what Donald Ross intended."

Aronimink superintendent John Gosselin said working at the course was his "dream job." Here are some facts and figures about the man in charge of the layout in Newtown Square.

Education: Turf Science, Penn State

Years as a golf superintendent: 22

Years at Aronimink: 41/2

Number of maintenance employees: 28

Number of tournament volunteers: 80

Previous positions: 1988-95, 2000-05, facilities and sports manager, DuPont Country Club, Wilmington, Del.;

1996-2000, golf course superintendent, Rolling Green Golf Club, Springfield, Pa.

Previous tournament preparation: 1988-95, 2000-03 LPGA Championship, DuPont Country Club,Wilmington, Del.

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Here are some facts and figures for Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, host of the AT&T PGA Tour event this week.

Average tee size:

1,500 square feet.

Tournament Stimpmeter: 11-12 feet (measures speed of the greens).

Average green size: 6,300 square feet.

Soil condition: Clay/loam.

Rounds per year: 17,000

Acres of fairway: 32

Source of water:

Pond, well, city water.

Acres of rough: 88

Sand bunkers: 75

Water hazards: 5

Wildlife on the course: Blue heron; bobcat; deer; fish; fox; groundhog; hawk; mole; muskrat; pheasant; quail; rabbit; raccoon; red fox; snakes;

squirrel; turtle; woodpecker; different species of birds.

Primary grasses height of cut: Tees, bentgrass

0.25 inches; Fairways, bentgrass 0.35 inches; Greens, bentgrass

0.08 inches; Rough, bentgrass; fescue

3.5 inches.

Architect/date: Donald Ross, opened 1928

Most recent redesign/renovation:

Ron Prichard, 2000.

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