Kiawah 2012 PGA setting ticket sale records

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

Saturday day tickets are already sold out over 18 months before the event.  Sunday tickets and week-long ticket packages will be sold out soon.  Already set three single-day ticket sale records for the PGA Championship.  Tickets are just flying out of here.  Those looking to come out and see it better get their tickets soon...
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/dec/05/2012-pga-championship-setting-record-ticket-sales/

[Phil McDade]

Mike:

If I buy a ticket, can I be assured of being able to stand in the course's various sand traps...errr.....waste bunkers? Especially if the championship is close on the 18th hole of the final day?

[PCCraig]

Great to see tickets selling so quickly. It's looking like I'll be down there that week. Looking forward to it!

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

Here's a more-detailed release by the PGA --

http://www.pgamediacenter.com/pganews/index.cfm?articleID=2541&linkID=2517

Something tells me the "bunker" rules will be a bit different than what they had at Whistling Straits...

Pete's been here a lot over the past few months making changes to the course, especially on No. 5 and 11.  On 5, he extended the bunker all the way to the back of the left side of the green to make a back left pin placement more challenging.  On No. 11, there is a big, deep collection area to left side of the green where it used to be elevated.  This will make it more inviting to go for the green in two.

He also built new tee boxes for No. 5, No. 14 (way back on top of the hill by the beach club - a 239 yard shot) and on No. 18 (so their tee shots will stay on top of the hill in the fairway giving them approx 200 yards in -- when they could carry over the crest of the hill, they'd have 150 or less in...)

[Matt Kardash]

Hey Mike,
What was the reason behind grassing the faces of the bunkers? Was it because the PGA didn't want those burried balls like in past big events hosted there? Or did Pete just wanna grass the faces because he likes it that way?

[Adam Clayman]

Wait til u see the mow lines. The short driveable par 4 will be the most dramatic.

[Matt Kardash]

I didn't know the ocean course had a driveable par 4. Well I guess any hole can be drivable if the tees are up.

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

The bunker faces grassed in was, in part, due to plugged balls during the Senior PGA.  Also, Pete wanted to get a similar look to the course as it was when he built it.  Many of those bunkers that are so deep weren't that way when he built the course but, over the course of 20+ years of blowing sand got deeper and deeper causing "faces" that weren't intended.  As for those lines, those are just test lines.  Nothing is set on where the fairway lines will be.  There's still talk of getting rid of the rough and making the fairways rock hard.  Kerry Haigh will have the final say on how things will be set up...

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

Just got word that there are only 1,000 Sunday daily tickets and 1,500 week-long "Wanamaker" packs left to sell...