Since I grew up about 45 minutes from Erin Hills and am familiar with the dramatic terrain in that area of the Kettle Moraine, I have been eagerly anticipating the opening of Erin Hills. Thanks to Peter Balistrieri who lives near Erin Hills we now have a hole by hole description of the course. Peter has observed the construction and grow-in and has been lucky enough to play a few holes. He sent me the following description by email earlier today. John Foley agreed I could add hole numbers to his aerial. Thanks Peter and John.
The hole numbering is based on Peter's description. Hopefully I have it right.
Here is Peter's Hole by Hole description.
1 - Dog leg left par 5 hole reaches a bottle neck just before the bend and the bottle neck is sandwiched by a tree to the left and a trap to the right. uphill blind second shot through this bottle neck but it's wide open over the trap. Down hill approach to a bunker-less green. [hole plays due south]
2 - par 4 drive must start over a large hill on the left in order to see the green on the second shot. safe drives to the right must deal with a blind second shot due to another hill on the right. tiny turtle back green with all errant shots rolling away. single pot bunker on the right. [west]
3 - par 4 elevated tee shot beautiful vista, tamarack forest on the left. uphill second shot to a green that is pitched from back to front and left to right. [continues west]
4 - par 4 narrow landing area punch bowl green framed on left by rugged forest [not in play. [north]
5 - very long par 4 second shot is blind only because the undulation is so severe. bunker short left and amphitheater surround to the green. [east]
6 - par 3 false front green [deep green] straight away, modest bunkering [continues east]
7 - par 3 dell hole, green angles front left to deep right. Whitten rock will note the pin placement on each day. This hole will likely be skipped for any USGA events. [west]
8 - par 4 up hill approach to green framed by some trees in the back [continues west]
9 - long long par 4 could be par 5 if 14 is made a par 4 - dog leg left massive undulation is carried off the tee. elevated green protected by bunkering on the left 20 yds short of green. This WAS 18 before it was switched with the current 18 [they run parallel to each other before the dog leg] so the bye hole follows 9 but the 10th can be accessed by passing by the bye hole to be played after the round. This may clear up some confusion as to why the bye hole is located after the 9th green. It was originally located after the 18th.
[starts east and turns north]
bye hole - down hill par 3 raised green and is surrounded by rugged bunkering [turns south] will likely be number 9 for the open if the dell hole isn't used. which will be perfect routing since the 10th tee is located just after the this green.
10 - super long uphill par 5. only view of water is the irrigation pond on the right that is not at all in play. biarritz [sp?] green 60 yards front to back. [north]
11 - par 4 down hill drive. undulation feeds drives left. only green on course [besides the bye and maybe 15] that needs to carry bunkers to get to green. all other greens allow for a run up. [south]
12 - par 4 slight dog leg right down hill approach to a green that is guarded by a large tree on the right. green feeds away from the tree. [west]
13 - par 3 large green elevated tee [slight] [back east north east]
14 - par 5 [par 4?] up hill zig zag hole with elevated green that has a false front on the right side that feeds down into a 15 foot drop off. green framed in back by trees
[west]
15 - par 4 drive-able raised green that drops off to the right. slight bend in hole from right to left. irons off tee to the right because of large tree on left. leaves uphill wedge to raised green protected by bunkers. [west]
16 - par 3 - remember little about this hole unfortunately. Raised tee [east]
17 - par 4 dog leg left hole slight bend left. green is only in view after tee shots. large undulations short and left of green. don't remember any bunkers around the green. [east]
18 - par 5 finish. drives may find single pot bunker in center of fairway. second shots play to the right for a 3rd shot that can be run up on the right of the green or need to carry a severe bunker on the left of the green. [east]