The hype continues. Gary D'Amato writes again in today's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on the USGA's interest in a public midwest venue and a possible US Am in 2011. Some interesting quotes from Mike Davis:
Excitement hits Erin Hills over shot at Open in 2017
Posted: June 19, 2007
Golf Beat
Gary D'Amato
It's so early in the game, the outcome is impossible to predict with any measure of certainty. To put it in baseball terms, there's one out in the top of the first inning.
Given tantalizing bits of information and reading between the lines, however, it appears the United States Golf Association is strongly considering Erin Hills as a future site for the U.S. Open.
How strongly? Let's just say you might want to keep Father's Day in 2017 open on your calendar.
The course in the Town of Erin, just west of Holy Hill, hasn't even celebrated its one-year anniversary yet, but USGA officials already have made several reconnaissance missions. Mike Davis, senior director of rules and competitions, plans to stop in again after the U.S. Senior Open at Whistling Straits.
"I was there before it was even a golf course," Davis said last week at the U.S. Open. "I looked at it and said, 'You don't have to do much to make this a great, great golf course.' "
The USGA awarded the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links to Erin Hills before the course opened. If all goes well that week, it probably wouldn't be long before Erin Hills was awarded the 2011 U.S. Amateur.
It's instructive to note the USGA has used the U.S. Amateur to gauge whether a course would be a suitable U.S. Open site.
Merion, for example, last played host to the Open in 1971 and then was declared too short for the championship. But the 2005 U.S. Amateur proved that the course, with modifications, still was capable of testing the best players in the world. Guess what? The Open is going to Merion in 2013.
Bob Lang, the owner of Erin Hills, understandably doesn't want to speculate about future USGA championships. Right now, he's more concerned about growing grass and finishing the clubhouse.
But Lang has cultivated relationships with top USGA officials, has sought their advice and has listened carefully to their recommendations. When he learned what was required for U.S. Open infrastructure, he bought more land surrounding Erin Hills and now owns 600 acres, more than enough for the Open's massive corporate village and television compound.
"Erin Hills is most fortunate to have been awarded the 2008 Women's Amateur Public Links," Lang said. "If we are never awarded another tournament, I am appreciative of this honor.
"However, I do know that Erin Hills is being considered by the USGA for a possible future U.S. Amateur. In addition, the USGA is taking the U.S. Amateur only to where they can also award the U.S. Open. I'm appreciative that Erin Hills is even being considered."
The 18-hole public course, designed by Mike Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Ron Whitten, can be stretched to more than 8,200 yards if necessary. Dirt was moved on only four holes during construction.
The green complexes are tremendous, with as much movement as the putting surfaces at Augusta National or Oakmont Country Club. The fearsome, shaggy-edged bunkers have "U.S. Open" written all over them.
There's a desolate, one-with-nature feel about the course, with no housing developments, roads or power lines in sight.
"It's a great layout," Davis said. "It's a great piece of property. It has all the land in the world to possibly do something."
The USGA wants to bring the U.S. Open to the Midwest. It would take the championship to golf-crazy Chicago in a heartbeat . . . if it could find a suitable course. Medinah is aligned with the PGA of America. Olympia Fields was a one-and-done in 2003. Cog Hill is being renovated, but USGA officials have been less than enthusiastic in their public comments.
Whistling Straits would be attractive because the course is tremendous and the Kohler Co. has a great track record in running championships. But the PGA is coming to the Straits in 2010 and 2015 and the Ryder Cup will visit in 2020, leaving no room for a U.S. Open.
"It's no secret we want to get back to the Midwest a little bit more," Davis said. "We need something west of Pittsburgh and east of California."
Therein lies Erin Hills.
"It's certainly got the land and it's built on a sandy, gritty soil, which is huge for us because when it rains, it drains," Davis said. "And it's close enough to a metropolitan area.
"But it really is so premature it would be unfair to comment other than to say they have the infrastructure there to do it."
The USGA announced last week that Pinehurst No. 2 was getting the 2014 U.S. Open, so the next available date for Erin Hills probably would be 2017. With the PGA at Whistling Straits in 2015, that year and the next would be off-limits for the Open because of concerns about corporate support.
A lot could happen between now and 2017. But it seems the USGA has a rooting interest in the course and that's half the battle. Time will tell about the other half.