Darren Clarke couldn't believe his eyes. Here he was in the middle of Wisconsin, the dairy capital of the United States, yet he couldn't get over the sense he might as well have been in his native Northern Ireland.
"It's just like home," Clarke said after his first look at Whistling Straits, site of this week's PGA Championship. "It has that look. It has that feel. It's just like a links golf course."
That isn't a coincidence.
This stunning stretch of sculpted sand dunes that runs along the western shore of Lake Michigan, about 110 kms north of Milwaukee, was conceived and designed to be a bit of Ireland transplanted on to North American soil.
Herb Kohler, whose family has turned the wonderful notion of indoor plumbing into a vast fortune, and golf course architect Pete Dye combined their occasionally fractious personalities and talents in creating a 7,500-yard course that will be the host of championships for the next 100 years.
"It's visually intimidating but you have to get beyond that," Canadian Mike Weir said. "You stand on the tee or in the fairway for the first time on some of these holes and the shot looks impossible. Then, when you get up to the green or the landing area and look back, you begin to see what's there and that the shot isn't quite so difficult.
"It's a beautiful layout. It's going to look great on TV. But it's a young course. I'll be able to give a better assessment at the end of the week, but I don't think it's going to play as tough as Augusta or Shinnecock."
There are many opinions to the contrary, including Clarke. He was particularly impressed by the par-4 15th hole. At 518 yards, it is the longest par-4 in major championship history.
"My first impression is that this is as tough a course we've played in a major in years," he said. "I didn't know there was a golf course with this many par-6s on it.
"Most weeks, we have one or two holes where you can take a high number, but this week I think there are about 10 holes where you can make a big number."
Kohler and Dye first collaborated during the 1980s to build Black Wolf Run, just down the road, near the plumbing conglomerate's head office. But it's clear they both have a special affection for what they've accomplished at Whistling Straits, which opened four years ago.
Along the way, they've butted heads, but it only seems to have served to bond this odd couple more tightly.
Like the time when they were building Black Wolf Run. They had one hole to finish, the 17th, but it was stalled because Kohler refused to allow Dye to raze a stand of healthy elm trees. On a day they were scheduled to meet and come to a final decision, Kohler arrived at the course to find the trees reduced to ashes.
When Whistling Straits opened, Kohler imported a flock of sheep to lend an air of old world authenticity, as well as keep the deep fescue from taking over the golf course. One day, Dye's dog was trying to herd the sheep when one made a run for it with the dog in pursuit. The sheep was last seen sinking under the waves of Lake Michigan, about 200 feet offshore.
"We had a conversation after that," Kohler said with a smile, "and we have never had a problem since. Even though (Dye) keeps lying to me all the time."
If Clarke thinks Whistling Straits is quite tough enough, Kohler would like to see his creation with a few more teeth.
"The course as it's set up is not as tough as it could be," he said. "It could be a lot more difficult.
"I'm a guy who likes to see stresses and strains, especially among those players who are the best in the world.
"Week in and week out we don't see these players challenged the way they are in a major. We just want to see the best players tested so we can see how their mental makeup, their emotional makeup and their courage measure up."
INTO THE LAKE
Yesterday, the wind was howling, blowing out across the lake, when Weir, Vijay Singh, Paul Azinger and Scott McCarron came to the 210-yard 17th, a par-3 balanced right on the edge of the water. Singh knocked four consecutive tee shots into Lake Michigan, Azinger followed by hitting two that quickly became moist.
Tough enough for a major?
We're guessing yes.
