Whistling Straits

Whistling Straits
Clubhouse during 2010 PGA Championship
Club information
Location Town of Mosel, at Haven,
Sheboygan County, Wisconsin
Established 1998, 20 years ago
Type Public
Owned by Kohler Company
Operated by The American Club
Total holes 36
Tournaments hosted PGA Championship
(2004, 2010, 2015)
U.S. Senior Open (2007),
Ryder Cup (2020)
Website Whistling Straits
Straits Course
Designed by Pete and Alice Dye
Par 72
Length 7,790 yards (7,123 m)
Course rating 77.2
Slope rating 152[1]
Irish Course
Designed by Pete and Alice Dye
Par 72
Length 7,201 yards (6,585 m)
Course rating 75.6
Slope rating 146
11 Fairway on the Straits Course
Aerial view

Whistling Straits is one of two 36-hole links-style golf courses associated with The American Club, a luxury golf resort located near Kohler, Wisconsin, and owned by a subsidiary of the Kohler Company. The other is Blackwolf Run, west of the city of Sheboygan. The Whistling Straits complex is located north of Sheboygan, in the unincorporated community of Haven in the Town of Mosel in Sheboygan County. Although the Whistling Straits courses are located in Haven, the promotional and postal address is Kohler, site of The American Club.

The courses at Whistling Straits (and Blackwolf Run) were designed by Pete and Alice Dye.

Straits Course

The Straits Course is the flagship course at Whistling Straits. As of 2012, it had a length of 7,790 yards (7,123 m) and a par of 72. It hosted the 2004 PGA Championship won by Vijay Singh in a playoff over Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard, the 2007 U.S. Senior Open won by Brad Bryant, and the 2010 PGA Championship won by Martin Kaymer in a playoff over Bubba Watson. The course hosted the PGA Championship for a third time in 2015 with Jason Day winning three shots better than Jordan Spieth. In 2020 the Ryder Cup will be held on the course.

The Straits Course replicates the ancient seaside links courses of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Nestled along a two-mile (3 km) stretch of Lake Michigan, the course has eight holes hugging the lake, a flock of Scottish Blackface sheep, elevation changes of approximately 80 feet (24 m), and three stone bridges. It has vast rolling greens, deep pot bunkers, grass-topped dunes and winds that sweep in off the lake. Being a coastal links-style course, there are few large trees or woods on the course. The course is open and exposed to the wind and elements.

Before the course was built, the property was an abandoned airfield called Camp Haven (1949–1959),[2] with a stream running through the middle. Kohler Company CEO Herbert Kohler hired Dye to be the course architect. During construction, the original landscape of the Straits Course was covered with about 800,000 cubic yards (610,000 m3) of dirt and sand.[3]

Hiroshi Iwata holds the course record for the Straits Course with a 63 in the second round of the 2015 PGA Championship.

Irish Course

The second course at Whistling Straits is the Irish Course, an inland grass-and-dune layout. It is a par-72 course that features 7,201 yards (6,585 m) of golf from the longest tees, with a course rating of 75.6 and a slope rating of 146. Also designed by Pete Dye, it opened for play in 2000.[4] The course record of 67 was shot by Mike Frechette in 2007 and then matched by Garret Buckley at the 2014 Whistling Straits Intercollegiate.

View of Lake Michigan from the Irish Course

Major tournaments hosted

YearTournamentWinnerScoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-upWinner's
share ($)
2004PGA ChampionshipFiji Vijay Singh280 (−8)PlayoffUnited States Justin Leonard
United States Chris DiMarco		1,125,000
2007U.S. Senior OpenUnited States Brad Bryant282 (−6)3 strokesUnited States Ben Crenshaw470,000
2010PGA ChampionshipGermany Martin Kaymer277 (−11)PlayoffUnited States Bubba Watson1,350,000
2015PGA ChampionshipAustralia Jason Day268 (−20)3 strokesUnited States Jordan Spieth1,800,000

Course layout

Straits Course

HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar
1Outward Bound408410Voyageur3614
2Cross Country593511Sand Box5635
3O' Man181312Pop Up1433
4Glory489413Cliff Hanger4044
5Snake603514Widow's Watch3974
6Gremlin's Ear355415Grand Strand5184
7Shipwreck221316Endless Bite5695
8On the Rocks507417Pinched Nerve2233
9Down and Dirty446418Dyeabolical5204
Out3,80336In3,69836
Source:[5][6][7]Total7,50172

Previous course lengths for major championships:

Irish Course

HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar
1High Ground400410Shepherd's Post3984
2Giants Leap372411Lamp Chop2083
3Sleeper147312Highland Trek4134
4Sandbanks489413Blind Man's Bluff1833
5Devil's Elbow570514Tullamore Dew5645
6Mulligan's Watch160315Frog Water4794
7Troll372416Deep Dye4744
8Garden Creek555517Irish Mist3754
9Last Gaspe484418Black and Tan5585
Out3,54936In3,65236
Source:[5][6][8]Total7,20172

References

  1. ↑ "Course Rating and Slope Database: Whistling Straits: Straits Course". USGA. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  2. ↑ Mead Library Information on Camp Haven
  3. ↑ History of Camp Haven, accessed August 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/188489-whistling-straits-irish-course-haven-wi/
  5. 1 2 "PGA Championship: course tour". PGA of America. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "The Straits, hole-by-hole". Whistling Straits. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  7. ↑ "US PGA Championship 2015: Interactive guide to Whistling Straits - all you need to know for the year's final major". The Daily Mail. August 11, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  8. ↑ "US PGA Championship 2015: Interactive guide to Whistling Straits - all you need to know for the year's final major". The Daily Mail. August 11, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.

Coordinates: 43°51′04″N 87°44′06″W / 43.851°N 87.735°W / 43.851; -87.735

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