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Erin Hills Golf Course, Erin, Wis.
June 16-21
www.uswapl.org

Yardage: 6,178 yards
Par: 36-37—73
Defending champion: Mina Harigae
Opened: 2006
Designer: Ron Whitten, Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry

USGA championships: This will be the first USGA championship for the golf course, which just opened last year. In fact, the USGA awarded Erin Hills with the Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship before it even opened. In February, the USGA awarded Erin Hills with the 2011 U.S. Amateur.

Special property: The course is situated on a 652-acre site 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee. Enthusiasts and critics have said that Erin Hills lies on one of the best natural sites for a golf course in the U.S. Inspired by classic Irish and Scottish courses that were once constructed by horse-drawn plows Erin Hills is environmentally friendly with minimal land development outside of the golf course itself. In January of 2007, Golf magazine rated it as its "best new course of the year."

Natural site: Formed by glaciers tens of thousands of years ago, the land that has now been adapted for golf remains virtually intact and almost exactly how owner Robert Lang first discovered it. When making plans for the course, Lang instructed architects Hurdzon, Fry and Whitten to preserve the landscape as much as possible in shaping and routing the course. Whitten called Erin Hills "one of the five best properties I’ve ever seen."

How about 19: The architects actually built 19 holes at Erin Hills, leaving an extra hole as a way for players to settle ties without ever having to go back to the first tee. That extra hole will be used for the WAPL as the USGA decided to not play the par-3 seventh hole, which features a blind tee shot. The seventh was designed after the Dell hole at Lahinch (No. 6) in southwest Ireland and features a large dune that protects the green. At Lahinch, a rock is placed at the top of the dune to show where the flagstick resides. The architects also designed a Biarritz green at the par-5 10th. The finishing hole, a 631-yard par 5 (it will play shorter for the WAPL), is a double-dogleg that ends with a tiny green guarded by six bunkers, a 30-foot drop-off back left and a view of Holy Hill Monastery’s spires through a gap in the ridges.

Welcome back: Wisconsin is an appropriate place to conduct the WAPL since the inaugural championship in 1977 was held at Yahara Hills in Madison. This is the third time the WAPL will have been played in Wisconsin. Sentry World Golf Course in Stevens Point also had the event in 1986.

Open quality: After playing the course for the first time, PGA Tour pro Steve Stricker, a Wisconsin native, said the layout reminded him of Shinnecock Hills. "Some holes have that U.S. Open look," said Stricker. "It’s like nothing I have ever seen in our state."

 

 
Championship Facts

Women's Amateur Public Links

PAR AND YARDAGE – Erin Hills Golf Course will play at 6,178 yards and a par of 36-37—73.

COURSE SET-UP – The championship setup will result in a USGA Course Rating® of 75.8 and a Slope Rating® of 130.

Teeing ground – Height of grass – .45 of an inch
Fairways and approaches – Height of grass – ½ inch
Putting green collars – Height of grass – one mower width at .45 of an inch
Putting greens – The greens will have a speed of 10.5 feet on the USGA Stimpmeter
Intermediate rough – Height of grass – 1 ½ inches
Primary rough – Height of grass – The graduated rough (fescue) will feature 2½-3 inches for the first cut and 3½-4 inches for the second cut.

SCHEDULE OF PLAY –

Monday and Tuesday, June 16-17 – Qualifying, 18 holes, stroke play (field of 156 reduced to the lowest 64 players, who advance to match play).
Wednesday, June 18 – First round, 18 holes, match play.
Thursday, June 19 – Second and third round, 18 holes, match play.
Friday, June 20 – Quarterfinals and semifinals, 18 holes, match play.
Saturday, June 21 – Final, 36 holes, match play. Award ceremony following play.

ADMISSION – Admission is free. Tickets are not needed for this USGA championship, and spectators are encouraged to attend.

ARCHITECTS – Ron Whitten, Michael Hurdzon and Dana Fry collaborated to design Erin Hills Golf Course, which opened in 2006.

ABOUT ERIN HILLS – Robert Lang purchased the property in 1999 and a year later, he invited Whitten, Hurdzon and Fry out to look at the landscape with the hope of building a golf course. The natural setting proved to be perfect for a championship layout. Construction began in September 2004 and completed in 2006. The course had such potential that the USGA awarded the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship before it opened to the public. This past February, the USGA awarded Erin Hills a second championship, the 2011 U.S. Amateur.

 

 
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