10th at Whistling?

[Dean Stokes]

Just watching Nobilo show the hole...and the tour pros who try and drive it. I have never been there....how good is that hole? Is the risk reward worth it? Should the guys hit 4 iron wedge? Rolfing said the odds are you will make more birdies hitting an iron off the tee. Please enlighten me before the tournament begins.

[Phil McDade]

Dean:


One of my favorite holes at WS, and Pete Dye is on record saying it's his favorite hole on the course. When I watched it extensively at the first PGA held there, it truly did seem like a risk-reward hole; I've long thought Singh won the championship on that hole because he aggressively went after it with his tee shot, leaving a little chip (50 yards?) that he placed quite near the hole for a pretty easy birdie, and a stroke advantage over Leonard and DiMarco, who played more conservatively off the tee. To me, it has one of the best uses of a Principal's Nose bunker concept I've seen on a major championship course.


Played conservatively, with an iron off the tee, the hole no doubt will yield many birdie opportunities with good wedge play. But it's also a tricky little pitch with trouble surrounding the green, so birdie isn't assured. Driving the green could potentially yield a run at eagle, but that's a pretty risky proposition, it seems (although no doubt folks like Bubba will try...). A controlled drive -- perhaps with a 3-wood -- left of the Principal's Nose bunker, to a small shelf left and beyond that huge bunker, results in a pretty easy chip and a birdie putt that should be no more than 10-12 feet.


Two other factors of note: it's a deceptively uphill drive -- not egregiously so, but carrying that center-line bunker is a bit more of a chore than one might think on the tee. Also, wind can be a real factor there. WStraits is something of an out-and-back course, once you hit the portions of the front and back nines that run alongside the lake. The 10th plays at an angle toward the lake -- a fresh breeze off the lake, or a strong following wind out of the west, can play havoc with tee shots there.

[Joe Zucker]

I was just there yesterday and I watched about 8-10 players go through the 10th hole.  Probably 75% of them were hitting 3 wood off the tee to carry the first bunker, which leaves them on the shelf.  I like this approach because it is somewhat safe and conservative, but leaves a decent angle into the green without having to cover as much of the front bunker, depending on where the pin is located.  In my one playing of the course, this is how I attacked it.

However, as Phil said, the wedge shot in is not easy.  It is slightly uphill,  the bottom of the flag can be hidden making it tough to judge the distance.  Getting closer to the green with a driver would make the second shot much easier, so I can easily see the value of being aggressive here if you have the length.  I didn't get to see any of the real long hitters give it a go, it will be interesting to see their strategy. 

[Terry Lavin]

It's a neat dogleg with way too much eye candy, but what do you expect when a course has nearly 1000 bunkers...

[Jason Thurman]

Dean, I think 10 is one of the best holes on the course, and also one of the most misunderstood holes on the course among people who haven't played it.


I find it compelling because it's a type of hole that has largely been phased out of competitive golf. It seems like most well-regarded tournament par 4s are either long brutes or driveable holes of manufactured drama. 10 at Whistling Straits is certainly not long, but it's also not realistically driveable. From the tees used in the PGA Championship, reaching the front edge will require a 330 yard substantially uphill carry. It's not impossible, but the over/under on how many tee shots finish on the green this week can't be higher than 2, and I'd take the under.


So it's not really driveable, which should just mean it's a simple 4 iron > wedge hole, as you suggest. The big centerline bunker thwarts that idea though. It takes a solid 260 yards to carry that bunker, and with the lack of fairway short means that you need to hit a reasonably long tee ball just to get into position to score. This is not a typical 360 yard hole that can be played with two conservative shots. It demands at least an aggressive 3 wood, even for the pros, to get into position.


With a good tee shot, the second is just a wedge of some sort. It's not a straightforward shot though, as there's a lot of elevation change and generally quite a bit of wind, as the green is one of the higher points on the property and can be hard to hold in firm conditions, especially coming in with less than a full swing. These guys are professionals, and this isn't a hole that will eat them alive. But it's also not a defenseless short 4 that's really more of a long 3. It's a legitimately tricky hole with a lot of angles and elevation change in play and that demands an unusual blend of power and finesse, and it holds its end of the bargain as part of the unrelenting test that Whistling Straits presents.

[Phil McDade]

This is not a typical 360 yard hole that can be played with two conservative shots. It demands at least an aggressive 3 wood, even for the pros, to get into position.

Jason:


While I think we agree on the hole's merits, I wonder about your view that it demands an aggressive 3-wood off the tee. Admittedly it was a decade ago, but I saw lots of folks at the 2004 PGA simply take an iron off the tee and aim right of that bunker -- Dye did leave some room over there for a bailout of sorts. That leaves a longer pitch into the green, but I can't imagine it's anything more than 8-iron for any of the players in the field this week. I'm guessing plenty of players this week -- not sure of their driver, or simply not wanting to take on the risk-reward of the center bunker -- will play safely, as opposed to aggressively, off the tee and hope they can score with wedge/9/8-iron into the green.


I would also argue that -- of this type of hole (the short but unwise-to-try-to-drive-it short par 4) -- it's a better version than the 15th at Erin Hills. I believe you and I have some history on that one.

[Josh Tarble]

Phil,
I don't believe he's saying it requires a 3 wood, it can certainly be played with a long iron, but more that it takes at least a 3 wood to get into ideal position. 


Playing right is fine, but it leaves a pretty blind shot into the green.  By playing a 3 wood or driver over the bunker, you can almost get onto the same level as the green, leaving a much easier look into it.




I think this is one type of hole that Dye has a really good grasp of how to design, a short but not drive-able par 4.  There has been one on each course of his I've played.  On the tee you're thinking 3 based on yardage.  Then wondering how you made a 5 once you're done.

[Howard Riefs]

If you take the line of carrying the centerline bunker, there's also the challenge of there being little room between it and the first cut or rough.  That's where I found my drive back in May ... though I did play from the green tees.


There's a good tour of the hole on the Journal Sentinel's website:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/golf/2015-pga-championship-at-whistling-straits-314972791.html