Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2009 - 29

Story and Photos by W.P. Ryan
S
cotsman James Braid may have invented the dogleg,
but it was America's own Robert Trent Jones
who took the concept of doglegs and stadium golf,
added some good old-fashioned, corn-fed Midwestern
heft, and created Chaska's Hazeltine National
Golf Club,
which introduced itself to the
world in 1970 when it hosted
the U.S. Open.
Since then, almost all of
Hazeltine's angles have been
straightened, some holes completely
rerouted and all 18
greens totally rebuilt. In fact,
the layout has gone through a
series of re-fi ts such that were
the course a wealthy, middleaged
beauty gone under the
knife,
the nips,
tucks and
stretches probably would have
netted her plastic surgeon an
Hazeltine No. 2
early retirement.
" The goal is to maintain a competitive balance between
the modern player and the golf course, " says Hazeltine's longtime
head pro Mike Schultz. Making necessary modernizing
changes to the layout over
time has allowed the club to
remain true to its mission.
Club founders intended
that the course be able to host
national championships, and
this summer, nearly fi ve decades
after its grand opening,
Hazeltine once again will take
the stage when the world's
strongest fi eld of professional
golfers competes there for
the 91st PGA Championship,
Aug. 13-16.
Now playing to 7,674 yards,
Hazeltine No. 10
the Hazeltine layout-never a
weak test by any measure-is 320 yards longer and even more
muscular than it was in 2002, when the PGA last visited. Its
modernization has been more nuanced than simply adding yardage,
however. Schultz uses concepts like " accuracy, fi nesse, course
management and decision-making " when describing Hazeltine's
method for change. The goal: " to retain the same types of shots,
so that these shots are not greatly impacted by changes in players'
physical stature and their equipment, "
he says.
Take, for example, Hazeltine's
par-4, 352-yard 14th: " In 1991,
and somewhat in 2002, very few
players would go for that green, "
Schultz says. In fact, in 1991,
the fi eld played their tee shots
to a specifi c yardage, leaving
a 120-yard approach. In 2006,
at the U.S. Amateur Championship
at Hazeltine,
Schultz
watched the fi eld play the hole
much more aggressively.
" A reason for the added
length is to bring the bunkers
into the drive zone, " says Jim Nicol, Hazeltine's golf course superintendent.
" Length [alone] is not a big deal to these guys;
[it's] the green surrounds that are the course's biggest defense.
Notable Stretches
No. 12 is already one of the
toughest par 4s in Minnesota,
lengthened from 465 yards to
518 yards. That's a 53-yard
boost on a hole where players
will be attempting long irons
or hybrids for their approach
shots into an elevated and
shallow green.
No. 13 is a brute of a par 3,
yet it was lengthened from 204
yards to 248 yards. Here again,
players will launch hybrids or
3-woods to a challenging green,
guarded
by deeper bunkers
on the left and right sides, and a water hazard on the left. This
hole certainly has potential to derail a Sunday round. Even Tiger
www.mngolf.org
Summer 2009 MINNESOTAGOLFER
27
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2009
