Golf Special Report: Whistling Straits, venue for the 2010 PGA Championship
Whistling Straits is the venue for the 92nd PGA championship, which is taking place in Kohler, Wisconsin, USA from the 12th August – 15th August, 2010.
The course is a spectacular creation of Pete Dye, situated on the West Coast of the state of Michigan in an Irish-style. The site is simple and beautiful. It is stretched on 2 miles straight strip of Lake Michigan shoreline. For a second, the picture which is formed because of the description drawn, seems to make a relationship between the course and the pebbles beach, however, this is not the case. As the ocean at the back of the pebbles beach acts as a major threat, whereas here it is merely a threat. Rather it adds to the beauty.
The course is divided into two layers. The first one is a 30 vertical feet above the water, whereas the second half is an inland layers about 60 feet up. The result is a lakeside view from almost all the holes. Between the two tiers is the club house. Technically the inwards nine are at the top with all the par 3s and all the front nine are in the south of the clubhouse.
As far as the hazards are concerned, there are 1000 bunkers in the course, out of which 320 waste bunkers are shown on the scorecard hole maps. Moreover, the sizes of the bunkers vary from small to fairly large, creating a balance between beauty and architecture, after all; the essence of all these features is to create a challenge for the player.
The course is designed with wide fairways and big greens, which leaves room for the players to try different strategies. However, there is a penalty for missing the fairways and that might be 2 or 3 strokes to get back on the greens. The best solution offered to the players is to carry one’s own caddie for constant advice and to make it better, practice over and over again in different conditions. Generally, the approach to reach the greens on link courses is to roll the ball up the green but here a player will have to fly the ball to get it into a specific position.
Moreover, the fescue fairways are also shabby, hard and fast with plenty of rolls. At least some thing is not perfect here. Lots of bad bounces are expected on fairways like these however, at the same time few good shots are expected from the players with expertise on putting. Moving forward, the roughs are too delicate and scanty to accommodate huge number of spectators although with time they will grow thicker and resilient.
The overall yardage in which the course is stretched is 7,514 yards. It has 220-yard par 3s, 500-yard par 4s and a 600-yard par-5. To hole a par 4 green, a player needs a driver and long iron to make a shot of 500-yards uphill and into the wind.
The tees are even extreme with 7600 yards with most of them facing the cliff side and what is expected is a blind tee shot above the head level. According to the media reports, this is the hardest course in USA; however, if there are no winds then the same course can result into a good number of birdies.
While most of the course is manageable, there are few holes that are really tough. The first one is the 5th hole which is a Z-shaped double dogleg par 5.The critical factor here is the length, then the water hazard which is situated on both sides of the fairway.
The second hole which needs special attention is the 6th of par 3. As soon as the player steps on the tee, the first thing that catches the eyes is a flat 200 yard wide field full of tree stumps. The approach to reach the green is, use a mid iron and aim a straight shot.
It is a spectacular golf course with some of the most scenic views of Lake Michigan one will ever see. Customer service is five star and the facilities are world class.
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