The following is a new and very positive article on Erin Hills from today's Chicago Tribune.
A couple interesting points here - this was the first time I'd seen a response from Ron Whitten regarding Brad Klein's article on Erin and also that the USGA is not thrilled with what is available in Chicago for a US Open.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-0705040280may04,1,3181073.story----------------
An infant classic
Unveiled late last year, Wisconsin's Erin Hills already generating buzz as a future U.S. Open site
By Ed Sherman
Tribune golf reporter
Published May 4, 2007
ERIN, Wis. -- Bob Lang once fielded two small but poignant questions that sum up the essence of Erin Hills.
A man asked Lang why the locker room didn't have any combs floating around in that blue water like you see at country clubs. Someone else inquired why the sign at the entrance was so small, making it easy to miss from the road.
"You will never see combs in the bathroom, and you won't see a bigger sign," Lang said emphatically.
What you might see is a course that could be a future site of a U.S. Open.
Erin Hills, 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee, is a no-frills homage to the great Scottish and Irish courses. It takes the less-is-more approach, with the entrance sign setting the tone for the understated feel.
"Minimalist" is the term Lang uses to describe a course he developed in which little or no dirt was moved on 14 of the 18 links-style holes.
Yet the outcome is hardly minimal. Erin Hills, in the Kettle Moraine region, weaves through natural wetlands, fescue grasses and pine trees, gliding along hills and swales formed by a glacier millions of years ago. Much like Whistling Straits, which magnificently hugs the shoreline of Lake Michigan down the road, Erin Hills is another of those courses that appear impossible on the mostly dull flatlands of the Midwest.
Unveiled as a public course late last year, Erin Hills continues to be the most talked-about new facility in golf. Golf Magazine recently voted it its best new course for 2007. The course already has taken tee times from golfers in 16 states willing to pay the $150 greens fee. Lang is counting on plenty of Illinois golfers making the trek because Erin Hills is less than two hours from downtown Chicago.
The hype already was considerable before the first flag was put into the ground. Representatives from the U.S. Golf Association were so excited about Erin Hills' raw potential that they awarded it the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links tournament. The timing of the event is telling: It is in June, not so coincidentally the same month as the U.S. Open.
If Erin Hills passes the test, a U.S. Amateur likely will follow, serving as a precursor to an Open late in the next decade. The USGA desperately wants to bring its big tournament back into the area. However, with Whistling Straits committed to PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup and with the association not thrilled by what is available in Chicago, Erin Hills could be a viable alternative.
USGA Executive Director David Fay said the land "blew me away" during a visit before construction began.
While saying Erin Hills had many hurdles to overcome to become an Open course, Mike Davis, the USGA's senior director of rules and competition, can't stop gushing over its potential.
"When I first saw it [before construction], I was astounded," Davis said. "What an incredible piece of property. Logistically, it might be the best site we've ever seen for an Open. Obviously, we have to give it more time, but this could be a home run site."
All the attention is overwhelming for Lang, a highly unlikely candidate to oversee an Open-caliber course. He learned the game while working as a caddie in his hometown of Danville. However, he's hardly an avid golfer, shooting in the low 50s for nine holes.
While making his money in the greeting card and calendar business, Lang initially sought to build a cozy nine-hole course.
"I just loved the atmosphere of being around a course," Lang said. "It gave me a good feeling."
Lang didn't realize what he had when he purchased this 652-acre parcel. But others were staggered when they saw the raw land, convincing Lang he had a gem just waiting to be sculpted.
"It is one of the great pieces of property I've ever seen," said Ron Whitten, the architecture critic for Golf Digest.
Whitten was so excited about the possibilities that he changed roles and joined designers Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry on the project. Much like the ancient architects who built courses without the benefit of earth movers, the trio laid out holes based on what the land gave them.
A case in point is the incredibly tiny 1,800-square-foot green on the par-4 second hole. The land dictated the size and location, Whitten said.
"We tried to disturb the land as little as possible," Whitten said. "Some people believe nature is the best architect. This is a very natural course. It also is a very quirky course because of that."
The par-3 seventh hole requires a blind shot to the green, inspired by Lahinch, the legendary links course in Ireland. Golfers are told to aim at the white rock. The fifth hole has a 62-foot elevation change. The 10th hole has a 78-yard-long green with a huge valley in the middle.
While most of the reviews have celebrated the quirks, one harsh critique stood out. Under the headline "Errant Hills Award," Bradley Klein of Golfweek called the routing a mess and accused the designers, particularly Whitten, of taking "trendy minimalism to its absurd extreme." Klein concluded, "They should have thought 'inside the bun' on this one."
Whitten, who said he is friends with Klein, suspected he was getting payback for a Connecticut course he criticized in which Klein had a hand designing.
"It's just one opinion," Whitten said. "I always said the course isn't for everybody. It is a very right-brain course. If you don't like blind shots and quirky bounces, it isn't the course for you."
But Lang did try to make the course playable for everyone, insisting on four sets of tees, ranging from 5,434 to 7,824 yards. Erin Hills hardly is a pushover, but with a slope of 128 from the 6,544-yard green tees, you won't walk away feeling you've been in a fight.
Lang's goal is to provide customers with a pure golf experience. Toward that end, he bought three houses adjacent to Erin Hills with the intent of demolishing them. He didn't want anything to get in the way of the views.
"We want to offer an escape," he said. "If somebody thinks they can get away from civilization in a natural environment, that's what is satisfying to me."
Erin Hills is new, which means golfers will encounter some rough patches. But once it grows in, Lang's course could be on track to the ultimate prize: a U.S. Open.
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esherman@tribune.com