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The PGA Championship returns to Whistling Straits on Thursday for the final Major Championship on the golfing calendar. The 97th edition of the event returns to the man-made links of Wisconsin for a third time, bringing with it the highest quality field of any Major this year.
Owned by American billionaire and Wisconsin native Herb Kohler, this stunning golf course has had quite the transformation since its days as a US Army antiaircraft training facility. The land was once flatter than a computer screen; so flat, in fact, it was home to a lengthy runway to help facilitate the influx of planes coming and going.
It took the vision of the aforementioned Kohler, as well as chief designer Pete Dye, to put together one of Americas most beautiful and unique golf courses. Replacing the flat landscape is a golf course full of bunkers – over 500 in total – that vary in width and depth. Each of them offers a different challenge: some are 10 feet below the fairway and require great thought just to reach the green; many are above the green and require the deftest of touches to get up and down. They’re as much a part of the landscape as cheese is on a cheap pizza, dotted about everywhere without covering up the entire surface of the course.
It goes without saying that much of the inspiration for the course comes from British & Irish links courses. Kohler is clearly smitten with many of their design features and personality; he’s admitted several times that his vision was to get back to the roots of the game, the very essence of where golf came from.
In contrast to the Irish-inspired course is the most American of landmarks: the vast and beautiful Lake Michigan. Eight of the holes run alongside the lake, helping to make it one of the most visually arresting golf courses you’re likely to find. These holes can and will provide extra intimidation for the players, knowing that one bad swing will result in your ball spending the rest of its days getting confused looks from some of Lake Michigan’s wildlife can be unnerving.
One thing you can be sure of is Whistling Straits providing some late drama - in the two previous PGA Championships hosted here both were won via play-off. The 2004 PGA edition was contested by eventual winner Vijay Singh and American’s Chris DiMarco & Justin Leonard. Then, six years later, Martin Kaymer pipped Bubba Watson in another tense play-off. That was also a tournament shrouded in controversy – Dustin Johnson played himself in to what he thought would be a three man play-off only to be penalised two shots for grounding his club in a bunker. Exciting times should lie ahead in 2015!
That drama comes from the course being such a hard yet fair test, attracting both low scoring and complete disaster in equal measure. In 2010 the average score per 18 holes was 72.94, just under a stroke over the par score of 72. Compare this to the most recent US Open at Chambers Bay, which many believe overstepped the boundary between fair and punitive, and you see a clear difference: Chambers Bay’s par was 70 and the average score was 72.77, almost 3 full shots over. These figures clearly illustrate that if players play well then the opportunity for scoring is going to be there, if they don’t they’ll be punished.
Every player will aim to be in a relatively commanding position coming down the final four holes on Sunday. If they’re not and they need to go through that stretch level-par or better then it’ll be a real struggle. In 2010 the average score for the 15th, 17th and 18th were all over par, the 18th being the toughest hole on the entire course. As is so often the case, the majority of the scoring was done on the par 5’s, of which there are 4. Failure to come through those without some decent scoring will greatly inhibit a players ability to go low.
Harrison Ryle
harrison.ryle@foremostgolf.com
