Played out there over the weekend and thought I would point out a few changes that have been made to the golf course since the 2002 PGA.
There's been improvement in the bunkers and new irrigation has been installed.
Four holes on the back nine have also been lengthened or tweaked.
No. 13: Played as a 204-yard par 3 in 2002. A new tee has been added and it is now a full 247 yards from the back.
No. 14: There isn't any room to lengthen the short 352 yard hole, but the bunker in the right landing area has been expanded and a new bunker has been added about 50 yards short of the green on the left. The new bunker may give players a second thought about hitting driver here.
No. 15: A new tee has been added just to the left (west) of the No. 14 green, making the hole more of a dogleg. The hole is stretched out to 642 yards. The new tee brings the fairway bunkers back into play on the drive and makes the player decide what to do with the bunkers right and left about 100ish short of the green.
No. 18: The previous back tee was taken out and a new tee was built down and left of the old tee. The thing is actually down by the ninth tee. Like on No. 15, this box brings the fairway bunkers back into play. In addition to lengthening the hole from 457 to 474 yards, it also plays more uphill than in the past.
The changes now stretch an already long course out to 7,473 from the back tees (needless to say I didn't play it that long). It will be interesting to see how the top amateurs fare here. When Hazeltine hosted the '99 NCAA, Luke Donald was the winner with a 4-under total for 54 holes.