Steve Johnson knows that when it comes to setting up a course to challenge the world's best golfers, you're only as good as the company you keep.

So the superintendent of the Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda decided to keep some quality company at the just-concluded 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Along with two of his assistants, Melvin Smith and Hudson Carter, Johnson recently spent four days at Hazeltine with Kerry Haigh, the managing director of tournaments for the PGA of America, learning the ropes on course setup from one of the acknowledged masters when it comes to setting up a course for the highest levels of competition.

Johnson relished the opportunity to learn from Haigh, and he'll put those lessons to good use at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which is October 20-21 from Johnson's Port Royal Golf Course.

The 2009 edition of the hardest tournament in the world to qualify for features Masters Champion Angel Cabrera (the 2007 PGA Grand Slam of Golf Champion), US Open Champion Lucas Glover, British Open Champion Stewart Cink and newly crowned PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang.

"The experience of working with Kerry has been very good. It's very reassuring to work with someone like a Kerry Haigh, who knows so much about setting up courses that will challenge the world's best players," Johnson said.

"I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity."

Along with his lieutenants, Smith and Carter, Johnson cut his major championship teeth two years ago at Southern Hills, for the 2007 PGA Championship.

Another one of Johnson's assistants, Anthony Burchall, worked on the US Open at Bethpage Black.

But before that, the Port Royal crew had never been exposed to tournament-level golf on a practical basis.

"I've always been involved in course maintenance, but now I got to see how the PGA wants the course to be played," Johnson said.

"That is quite beneficial to me in understanding how to set up our course for the PGA Grand Slam of Golf."

On Friday of PGA week, Johnson got an early morning crash course from Haigh.

He followed the veteran course maestro around the front nine at Hazeltine, listening to Haigh describe the hows and whys of setting up a major championship course.

Johnson spent the entire time asking Haigh questions on everything from hole location to rough maintenance to television tower locations to setting up a media center.

"It was quite beneficial to pick Kerry's brain," Johnson said.

"There were two things I took from it: that the overall size of the press facility and what goes into making this a tournament-caliber facility.

"We sort of forgot how big an endeavor this is and what goes into making this a quality product.

"And number two, you don't realize how far the best golfers in the world hit a golf ball and what they can do with a golf ball.

"There's a 484-yard par-4 here (at Hazeltine) and they're hitting 3-woods (off the tee).

"We're not a very long course; only 6,842 yards, because we're a public course.

"So we'll have the rough set up around two-and-a-half inches, keep the greens somewhat moderate (speed-wise), because if the wind blows and our greens are too fast, they're unplayable.

"We'll leave some of that (the course's defence) to Mother Nature."