[peter_mcknight]

One of my colleagues will holiday in North and South Carolina in the immediate future and asked for my recommendations of courses to play, etc.  He was focused on playing in and around Myrtle Beach because of proximity issues.  Since he hasn't ever been to either Carolina, I told him to completely avoid Myrtle Beach and, instead, obtain a car and visit Pinehurst and Kiawah.

I recommended Pinehurst Nos. 2 (!!!), 4, 7 and 8 (in that order), Southern Pines and Tobacco Road in the Pinehurst area.  I recommended going down to Kiawah to play the Ocean course and at least one of the other four, then hang out in Charleston.

I noticed they posted a brand new yardage guide for the Ocean Course on the website (completely wonderful!).  After looking it over, I began to wonder, how in the world would the PGA of America set it up for the 2012 USPGA Championship.

The 1991 Ryder Cup played it at 7303 yards and the Seniors played it at 7188 earlier this year.  Suffice it to say, it will have to play longer than 7200 and more than the 7356 yards listed on the tournament tees.  As a point of reference, the Atlanta Athletic Club has finally posted information about its courses in its website and the Highlands will play around 7525 yards par 70 the year before Kiawah.  Actually, the venues before Kiawah will play at least as the following:

Oakland Hills:  7445, 70
Hazeltine:  7475 (minimum), 72
Whistling Straits:  7515+, 72
Atlanta A.C.:  7525, 70

If you read the yardage guide, it states the maximum back tee grounds are 7937 yards!  After reviewing it closely, the maximum I found was 7859 (still wow).  It looks like the old 219 tee ground was eliminated on hole 14??

The maximum back tee grounds are as follows (current tournament tees are in paretheses):
395
556 (543)
396
509 (453)
207
517 (455)
564 (527)
197
502 (464)

452 (439)
584 (562)
489 (466)
489 (404)
200
481 (421)
610 (579)
221
490 (439)

7859, 72

The questions I have are as follows:

(a)  What yardage would you choose for the 2012 USPGA?
(b)  What kind of fairway width would you employ?
(c)  What depth of rough would you sanction?
(d)  What kind of firmness would you like to have for the fairways?
(e)  What stimpmeter reading would you have for the greens?
(f)  How challenging is it to keep the grasses alive during mid-August?
(g)  If you chose a yardage around 7500 par 72 and did nothing other than a bit more firmness and 11.5 on the stimp, is that good enough to be quite the challenge?

Frankly, I would have to believe setting up a Dye course for a major tournament would have to be the most challenging aspect--if you don't do enough (see 1st round at Whisting Straits in 2004, some parts of the 2007 US Senior Open), it gets torched; if the wind is up (Sunday at the 1991 Ryder Cup), you can blow people out of the water.  Same thing kind of holds true for the Players Championship.

[Matt MacIver]

Hmmm, this is a ways bit off yet.  By 2012 I suspect square grooves and drivers will be illegal and square balls all the rage.  But I would like to see it WINDY, Hoylake firm and St. Andrews (the original TOC) width and rough.  

[Jfaspen]

I would hope that the setup would vary based on the weather.  A balmy 80 and sunny, no wind day deserves a vastly different setup than a sustained 25mph coastal wind with gusts into the 30's combined with a driving rain.

[Tim Gavrich]

I see 395 and 396 as the two shortest par fours.  Is there a hole on the back nine that could be set up to play from a much shorter tee as an interesting drivable par 4?  If so, that'd be nice to see.

With such tantalizingly long tees on most holes, I'd imagine there'd be the temptation to make the golf course so long that the wily tacticians on Tour (if there are any left by then   ) won't be able to compete with the Tom Bunyans out there.  It'd be good to see the PGA resist this temptation, but if AAC is going to play at 7525 and a par 70 in '11, my guess is that the PGA will have already given in...

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

I think the best way to set it up would be to totally eliminate the rough and have the fairways stimping at 8-9 .  They'd be hitting irons off the tees to keep it in play and hitting long irons into greens that are viturally impossible to stop a ball quickly .  As was already mentioned, length would totally depend on the weather/wind.  PGA Tournament Director, Kerry Haig, was moving tee setups 15 minutes before play began during the 1991 Ryder Cup...

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

If you read the yardage guide, it states the maximum back tee grounds are 7937 yards!  After reviewing it closely, the maximum I found was 7859 (still wow).  It looks like the old 219 tee ground was eliminated on hole 14??

From the back teeing area, its currently 219 to the center of the green.  The yardage book pages on the site mark the par threes to the front of the green (marked by a black dot).  It then gives the distance to the middle of the green in parenthesis.

We did move a couple of back tees on No. 15 and 16 so it's no longer 7,937 from the middle of the back tees -- it's now only 7,873 yards.

[John Shimp]

Peter,
Is your friend set on playing Pinehurst resort courses mostly?  I'd certainly substitute Pine Needles and MidPines for 4, 7, or 8.

[Mike Hoak]

The tee setup would have to completely depend on the wind .  The nummerous tee options on every hole should give the PGA plenty of flexibility to make it a fair setup.  As for the fairways, the thing I was most suprised by when playing Kiawah was the generous width of the fairways.  They are much wider than I expected.  However, the challenge lies in hitting the portion of the fairway that leaves you with the most advantageous angle to the green.  For that reason, I say leave the fairway width as is.  

Based on my playing impressions, the length of the rough is not as big of a deal at Kiawah as it would be at other courses because most of the "rough" is sand dunes and wetlands.

As for conditioning in August, I played on August 13th and the course was in fantastic condition.  It was my first experience on paspalum greens and I was surpised at how smooth and fast the putting surfaces played.  I should note that they were also very firm--pretty much impossible to get long irons to stop quick (particularly given my skill set).

[Jerry Kluger]

Peter: Let me start off by suggesting that you should not blow off Myrtle Beach so quickly.  Caledonia and True Blue are solid Strantz courses and there are others that are also worthwhile.  If your friend can get access, Bulls Bay is between Myrtle and Charleston and well worth it.  

The OC is a great coastline venue where wind is the most significant factor in determining how to set up the course.  Many of the holes do allow the ground game to be used so most of the greens can be very firm and still not be unfair.  To me, length is a barometer that is too often used in determining how difficult a course will play.  The fairways are fairly generous at the OC and the top players can negotiate waste areas rather easily so length will not intimidate them.  The driving factors in course setup will have to be wind and green firmness.

The 14th is one of the best par 3s I have played.  Granted, the 17th gets the publicity but the 14th is my favorite.  Standing on the tee you look at a green with the ocean and the horizon as a background.  The green is perched up high with a pretty severe slope around most of it with a bunker left.  With the wind blow it is quite a challenge to land the ball on the table top and if unsuccessful, blasting up there from the bunker left or chipping up there from one of the other locations, can be quite difficult.

[Mike Hoak]

To illustrate Jerry's point, here is a picture I took of the 14th last month.  This is from the Ocean tees, which were playing about 175 that day.

[Brent Hutto]

I think the best way to set it up would be to totally eliminate the rough and have the fairways stimping at 8-9 .  They'd be hitting irons off the tees to keep it in play and hitting long irons into greens that are viturally impossible to stop a ball quickly .  

Now we're talking! I'm not sure it's all that ridiculous a goal, either.

Those fairways seem to have very healthy turf that could stand being cut down for a couple weeks. And with many of the fairways then running off into sandy waste areas, given the skill of the pros that's by no means an "unfair" outcome for a "good drive" that bounces or runs into trouble.

It could be sort of like Hoylake with plateau greens. And sunshine. And short sleeves. And sandy waste areas instead of OB. But otherwise like Hoylake...

[Brent Hutto]

The 14th is one of the best par 3s I have played.  Granted, the 17th gets the publicity but the 14th is my favorite.  Standing on the tee you look at a green with the ocean and the horizon as a background.  The green is perched up high with a pretty severe slope around most of it with a bunker left.  With the wind blow it is quite a challenge to land the ball on the table top and if unsuccessful, blasting up there from the bunker left or chipping up there from one of the other locations, can be quite difficult.

Riddle me this, Ocean Course experts. Why isn't the very front of the green the safest place to play on the fourteenth hole?

Both of my rounds there I came up short, once in the front fringe inches off the putting surface and the other time it rolled back down onto the flat at the base of the rise leading to the green. Now admittedly that's a long way and a lot of contour to be navigated to get the ball from there to the back of the green but there's absolutely no way you're making worse than bogey from there in almost any conditions, right?

[Jerry Kluger]

Brent: You're thinking far too conservatively - bogey might be good for you or me but when top players put a ball on a tee and have an iron in their hand they have far greater expectations. 17 might be a different story as to score but design wise give me 14.

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

Romero would happily have take that bogey during the Senior PGA.  He was headhunting a pin tucked in the back left of the green and he missed it just a little bit, causing it to plug in the bunker.  He took an unplayable, pitched out and two putted for a double.  Denis Watson nailed his tee shot to 12 feet and sank the put for a three-shot swing and the tournament...

[Jerry Kluger]

That photo doesn't really show how high up that pin is from the lowest point at the base of the hill.  If the hill is cut close and shots roll down to the bottom I don't think you could see a pin on the other side of the green.

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

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