Whistling Straits: Straits - some pics from two weeks ago

[Ivan Lipko]

I have recently had the pleasure to play the Straits Course at Whistling Straits and I have to say it is phenomenal.

I don't really have enough experience when it comes to the top-notch golf courses (I have only played the following courses out of the TOP100: Valderrama, Stadium Course at Sawgrass, Bethpage Black, Pine Barrens (not sure if this is ranked) but the Straits seem to be the strongest when it comes to the wow-factor.

As I stood on the first tee right past the putting green I realized just how immense the course was. It is huge, ginormous, looks rugged and wildly beautiful. I believe for the sheer golfing beauty this is the greatest course I have ever played although I still rank the Bethpage Black higher.

The Straits while being a great collection of positives still has a few drawbacks.

My main gripes about the course are:

1. The course isn't firm and fast and thus the ground game doesn't exist. I don't know if they can make it any better by the time of the PGA Championship but now it just plays like a standart american course, just treeless.
2. Water on hole No.5. A great golfing hole (double dog-legged par 5) but I don't want to see any water on a links course. Sorry.
3. A HUGE amount of cosmetic bunkers which just don't come into play. Lots of fescue grass up there in the dunes would be much better from any point of view. All those strange bunkers just make the course look artificial and it actually is.
4. Lake Michigan being as beautiful as it is is not a sea. It doesn't smell the way the salt water does but it stinks a little bit. That is not all that bad as you might think but it is not good either.

A few pictures:

A view frome the 16th green:



18th green, 18th fairway and 10th fairway as seen from the 9th green:



What a view to finish the first nine:



A tricky approach on 6th:





A beautiful par 4 8th from the tips:



All in all, I ENJOY the course and believe it is worth the huge grenn fee.

That's all I can say on the topic, sorry for not being able to give in-depth hole by hole analysis.

[Ivan Lipko]

BTW, take a closer look at the green on No.6.





This bunker almost splits it in two parts. Now imagine the pin is on the right and you land your ball onto the left part of the green. This will actually make a three-putt a must.

[Richard Choi]

Isn't an authentic looking links course that does not play fast and firm a lot like dating a girl with silicone enhancements? Sure, they look nice, but it isn't the real deal...

[Philippe Binette]

richard: now that's a great line !!!

[Ivan Lipko]

I think you're right and that is the main reason I believe the WS are not as good as the high ranking suggests.

Still, it was a great pleaseure to play there.

[Rob Rigg]

All those little bunkers, umm, look kind of ridiculous and totally superfluous.

That course, from the photos only - I have never been there, looks really fake - spot on call by Mr Brush Tee.

No bid to visit.

[Tim Gavrich]

I'm curious as to why the golf course can't seem to get into firm and fast playing conditions.  I would imagine the wind blows a good bit out there...is it a bit of overwatering or something else?

[Anthony Gray]

    I think the 2nd shot on 9 may be the most difficult on the course. The green falls off on every side and there is trouble all around it.

  AG

[Jeff_Brauer]

I remember seeing Whistling Straights, who are the least popular bar band in San Francisco........

I also remember playing Whistling Straits. Other than the fifth hole, which I don't think fit in and may have been changed a bit, and the green at the 18th hole, I thought the course presented fine.  I enjoyed it a lot.  It was a beat down, though.  I usually play Pete Dye courses better than you would expect, and was in the 30's on the front nine, but recall my troubles starting when I took too much of a short cut on the 10th tee shot, and ended up in the mid 80's for the round after a nice start.

[PCCraig]

Richard:

Silicone or not, they're still big, look nice, and with modern technology feel just like the real thing

WS is not a perfect golf course by any means (#5 and #18 for example are not very good), but there are some very strong holes out there. #4, #6, #8 #10, & #13 are great, and #10 is probably my favorite hole out there as I think it's a really fun short par-4.

Interesting to see the pictures of the 6th green. When I was last there in the fall the bottom of the ditch was all sand...while now it looks like they took half the sand out and replaced it with grass? Maybe I'm in the minority on this one but I actually think it's a better hole with that gash/bunker in the middle of the green.

Thanks for the pictures! 

[Steve Kline]

I don't get the appreal of this course. The course looks even worse than I remember it in the pictures. All those little bunkers everywhere are ridiculous and must be a maintenance nightmare because they looked groom. Not a single hole stands out from my round there. Plus, it was in absolutely horrible condition when I played it. I've never heard anyone say it was in great shape when they played it. The other courses seem to be better maintained and I enjoyed playing them more than WS.

[Phil McDade]

Re. the 5th hole:

Not to defend or criticize it, but its existence is tied very much to the development of the course. When Kohler and Dye sought the permitting for the course from, among others, the state DNR (which oversees wetlands and other natural resources), the DNR objected to the loss of some wetlands on the lakeshore that was to be converted into one of the lake-hugging holes. The deal Kohler and Dye made with the DNR (this was done during Bush I, and his "no-net-loss-of-wetlands" standard for conservation practices) was to essentially replace the lost wetlands with some wetlands somewhere else on the course. Dye came up with the idea of the 5th hole -- located on the edge of the course (as part of Dye's Figure 8 routing for WS) -- with its double-dogleg bordering two newly created ponds -- as the solution to the wetlands issue.

[Garland Bayley]

All those little bunkers, umm, look kind of ridiculous and totally superfluous.

...

My thoughts exactly! Spot on!

As for worth the money. Not a chance given that you can plunk down $65 and play Black Mesa, etc.

[Garland Bayley]

I'm curious as to why the golf course can't seem to get into firm and fast playing conditions.  I would imagine the wind blows a good bit out there...is it a bit of overwatering or something else?

Mr. Doak has reported that Pete specifically planted a different grass type to keep you from hitting run up shots to the greens.

[Anthony Gray]

  It's a fun course to play. Nice views and challenging golf. Playable and unique. Isolated and creative greens. I don't see why all the complaints.

  Anthony

[Matt Kardash]

I'm curious as to why the golf course can't seem to get into firm and fast playing conditions.  I would imagine the wind blows a good bit out there...is it a bit of overwatering or something else?

Mr. Doak has reported that Pete specifically planted a different grass type to keep you from hitting run up shots to the greens.

I dontknow about that. That doesnt seem to be Pete"s philosophy at all. Why would Pete go through all the effort to make a links looking course and then demand soley an aerial game?
I remember Dye saying the bent was put in becasue of concerns of heavy foot traffic would be harmful to the fescue in the approaches

[Garland Bayley]

I'm curious as to why the golf course can't seem to get into firm and fast playing conditions.  I would imagine the wind blows a good bit out there...is it a bit of overwatering or something else?

Mr. Doak has reported that Pete specifically planted a different grass type to keep you from hitting run up shots to the greens.

I dontknow about that. That doesnt seem to be Pete"s philosophy at all. Why would Pete go through all the effort to make a links looking course and then demand soley an aerial game?
I remember Dye saying the bent was put in becasue of concerns of heavy foot traffic would be harmful to the fescue in the approaches

I probably wrote that wrong. Instead of "to keep you" substitute "that would keep you".

[Richard Choi]

If I remember correctly from the coverage of the last major there, the run up area and the greens are all bent. And with all the water required to keep that lush, bump and run is not really in play.

[Mike Hendren]

Whistling Straits is easy pickins for the critical cognoscenti on this site - understandably so.  Its shortcomings have already been mentioned.  I played it once when the fee was $140 including caddy so that's been a while.  I absolutely loved it, warts and all.  That's not to say I support its relatively lofty rankings.  

(As an editorial comment I'm amused by those who criticize the absence of firm and fast there.  I've played with a lot of you guys and I'd have to hold a gun to your head to make you play that way.  Frankly, you don't need to.   What you're really saying is if you underclub or mishit, you'd like the ground to be firm enough to bail you out of either poor planing or poor execution.)

I do think that, not unlike Fazio's Wild Dunes in the previous decade we fail to appreciate the course's place in the modern architectural revival those of us who love golf courses are so fortunate to be experiencing.  While I think there are many good holes there, it is the course's ruggedness (unfortunately most of that is on the periphery and yes it's artificial in places and hyperbolic at times), it's vast vista uninterupted by trees, its feelilng of remoteness and above all it's grandeur perched above the seemingly endless body of water that are so important to the modern architectural evolution.  There were already two good courses there but the images of Whistling Straits captured the fancy of the American golfer like no other course in some time.  

Wild Dunes did much the same.  Fazio and the owners brought golf course design back to the sea after a long dry spell.  Moreover, the highly  underrated stretch of 10 through 12 reminded us that unique, fun and challenging golf holes can be draped over dramatic dunes with the result being exhilerating golf that touches the spirit and stirs the soul.  

I can't help but wonder, would Bandon Dunes exist without Whistling Straits?  Without Wild Dunes?  Probably so, but the pioneer is a much braver man than the genius and each deserves his due.

Mike

[Garland Bayley]

...
I can't help but wonder, would Bandon Dunes exist without Whistling Straits? ...

I can put that one to rest. Mr. Keiser did not get his inspiration from Whistling Striats, but rather from Pine Valley, NGLA, and the links of the isles.

[Mike Hendren]

Garland, pardon me as I was unaware you were a close personal friend of Mr. Kaiser's.

Architectural inspiration - correct.

Enterprise inspiration?  Dunno.

Mike

[Richard Choi]

Bogey, there is a very good book on how the Bandon Resort came about: "Dream Golf: The Making of Bandon Dunes ". There is absolutely no reference to Kohler or Whistling Straits in that book as far as I remember. Garland is correct about what inspired Mr. Kaiser. Kohler took a decisevely different tack than what Kaiser did (inland/costal links, near metro center/remote, famous designer/unknown designer, upscale resort/no frills lodging), I see no influences from Kohler to Kaiser.

[Garland Bayley]

Garland, pardon me as I was unaware you were a close personal friend of Mr. Kaiser's.

Architectural inspiration - correct.

Enterprise inspiration?  Dunno.

Mike

I for one at least know how to spell his name.

Double Bogey

Come to think of it, Bandon enterprise would from my viewpoint seem to be antithesis of Kohler.

[Mike Hendren]

Richard, I read the book the week before I went to Bandon a few years ago.

Also, I don't believe I said Whistling Straits inspired anybody.   Perhaps it laid some groundwork, perhaps not.

I do believe golf course architecture evolves though perhaps there is the occasional quantum leap.

Triple Bogey.

[Jud_T]

Ivan,

Glad you enjoyed your round at the Straight.  Now go book your trip to Bandon....