TOWN OF ERIN, Wis. -- David B. Fay, former executive director of the United States Golf Association, was so impressed when he first toured the raw land that would become Erin Hills Golf Course that upon his return to Far Hills, N.J., he fired off a letter to course architect Dana Fry.
"I still have the letter in my office in Naples, Fla.," Fry said. "It's handwritten, on USGA stationery. David called it 'the greatest tournament venue site ever.' He underlined 'ever' three times and put three exclamation marks after it. The golf course wasn't even here. It was just the setting.
"I mean, look at it."
We were standing on the elevated 15th tee box, looking east back toward Holy Hill, as Erin Hills and the USGA hosted a tour of the course this week. The breathtaking course unfolded in all directions, with emerald fairways snaking hither and yon between acres of wispy golden fescue rough.
Erin Hills was practically pre-ordained to become a U.S. Open venue. It was love at first sight for the USGA, which encouraged original owner Bob Lang to follow his dream and has built a strong relationship with current owner Andy Ziegler.
Now, the 2017 U.S. Open is less than 10 months away. It will be the first U.S. Open held in Wisconsin and the first held on a course owned by one man.
What kind of venue will it be? Well, unless a meteorite lands on the 18th green between now and June 12, Erin Hills will provide a phenomenal stage for our national championship. No one in the USGA will say it just yet, but the wind-blown, nearly treeless course in the Kettle Moraine is a strong contender to move into the unofficial U.S. Open "rotation."
"I don't think it's going to be a one-time shot," said Fry, who teamed with Michael Hurdzan and Ron Whitten to design the course. "I think [the USGA] likes too much about it."
Primarily, the USGA loves the flexibility that Erin Hills provides with its multiple tee boxes and its huge bentgrass greens. The options for setting up the course are almost endless.
"It's probably the most flexible venue I can think of with respect to the choices with hole locations and matching them up with tees," said Jeff Hall, the organization's managing director of rules and Open championships. "Chambers Bay certainly had some similar aspects of flexibility [in 2015] but, boy, this is really special in that regard. It provides us with so many options.
"Really, it gives us the flexibility to handle any kind of weather we encounter -- wind directions, velocities, wet, firm. And the strategic decisions that we want to try to make with respect to hole locations, it's just fantastic in that regard."
Officially, Erin Hills will measure 7,693 yards for the U.S. Open, but that's an arbitrary number. It won't play that long for any of the championship rounds, and it's also the first par-72 Open venue since 1992.
Another factor working in the course's favor is the sheer size of the 652-acre property, which can easily accommodate the necessary infrastructure -- corporate hospitality, grandstands that will seat 15,000, spectator amenities and the like.
Last but not least is the USGA's relationship with Ziegler, who has gone above and beyond -- and has spent millions he probably will not recoup -- in making sure Erin Hills is flawless from top to bottom. The course will close Oct. 3 and won't reopen until after the U.S. Open -- a first in championship history.
The one thing the USGA can't control, obviously, is the weather. Erin Hills was designed to play fast and firm, and a 2-inch rainfall the day before the first round of the U.S. Open would be "unfortunate," Hall said.
But if the course is dry and the wind blows, Erin Hills will provide as complete an examination of a golfer's game as any championship venue in America.
"I've played here a lot and it is an unbelievable test of golf," Fry said. "If the wind kicks up, it will be fun to watch."
Sports on 09/02/2016