How Wisconsin's Erin Hills golf course landed the U.S. Open
ERIN, Wis. - It's an amazing story, it really is.
Erin Hill, the suburban Milwaukee course that will host the U.S. Open this week, isn't like the usual venues used for America's national championship. Usually the U.S. Golf Association takes the U.S. Open to tried-and-true courses like Oakmont in Pennsylvania, Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines in California, Baltusrol in New Jersey or Winged Foot and Shinnecock Hills in New York.
Erin Hills isn't like any of those courses.
Its location sets Erin Hills apart from other U.S. Open venues. The USGA has stayed away from the Midwest for too long. The last time the Open was played in the Midwest was in 2003 at Olympia Fields, and this week marks the first time the tourney has been played in Wisconsin.
If a Midwesterner wants to see a U.S. Open without taking on significant travel, this is the year. The Open has assigned sites through 2025 and not one is in the Midwest.
Every once in a while, though, USGA officials decide to inject a refreshing twist to its biggest championship. That's why Chambers Bay, the Washington state course that hosted the Open in 2015, and Erin Hills got their chance. There'll be inevitable comparisons this week between the two courses.
Chambers Bay, on a beautiful site off Puget Sound, played to lukewarm reviews. As one who has played both courses, I don't think that will be the case after the last putt drops at Erin Hills.
Erin Hills won't be embraced by everyone. A U.S. Open course never is. They need to be set up tough, because the USGA believes that is the best way to determine a champion. Provide a course that requires a wide variety of shot-making, mental toughness and physical endurance, and then a true champion will be identified.
This week's course is the first par-72 used for the U.S. Open since Pebble Beach was set up with four par-5s in 1992. Erin Hills' par-5s all go in different directions and the one that will get the most attention is also the longest. No. 18 is listed at 637 yards for the Open, but can play as long as 663. Tournament yardage for the course is 7,692 yards, but USGA executive director Mike Davis doubts it'll be set up that long in any round of the tournament.
Erin Hills has no out of bounds, no water hazards, no forced carries and only five trees. Some will consider it as a links course, but it's not - according to Michael Hurdzan, one of the three architects who created it.
"We have purposely avoided using the word 'links,' '' said Hurdzan, whose design partners were Dana Fry and Ron Whitten. "It's a heartland course. We want to make sure that distinction is made. A heartland course is in between a parkland course and a links."
Most U.S. Open courses have been of the parkland variety. Chambers Bay was more on the links side.
Forget about that, though. What sets Erin Hills apart is how it got a tourney of this magnitude. The original plan was to build a $50-a-round course. That was before the trio of architects invited Davis to view the 650-acre site.
He came in August of 2004 along with agronomist Tim Moraghan around the time the PGA Championship was being played at another young Wisconsin course, Whistling Straits in Kohler. After his first look, Davis declared the property "as good a land as you could find for a U.S. Open golf course."
So, even before the course was opened for play in 2006, the USGA awarded it a national championship - the 2008 Women's Amateur Public Links. The course held up for that event, which is no longer held, and the 2011 U.S. Amateur followed. That's the extent of Erin Hills' USGA tournament history, though it has been used for Wisconsin pro and amateur events and college tournaments.
"Erin Hills doesn't have its history yet," said Davis, "but everyone's got to start somewhere. There's a strong belief by the USGA that it will provide the ultimate test of golf. We're incredibly excited to introduce Erin Hills and expect this (Open) will be the first of many."
The course provides plenty of space for spectators, and that's not easy to find at many of the older, more traditional venues. While there are a few semi-blind shots, the biggest challenge at Erin Hills is the bunkers. They are nasty, and some players who struggle will call them unfair.
The best spectator hole is No. 9, a par-3 where the bunkers are most demanding.
Once the USGA was convinced Erin Hills had a bright future as a tournament site, the course was made available for occasional media visits. In my five visits (almost annual), the course seemed to undergo constant tweaking. There were times when I wondered if it would be ready for a week like this.
Now that week has arrived.
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