Erin Hills will be the site of the 2017 U.S. Open, the first time a course in Wisconsin has held that honor.
Transcript
[Announcer] The 18 holes at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee, were actually created in the Ice Age, it just took 10,000 years for them to be unearthed. This unique plot of land was discovered by the design team of Dr. Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry, and Golf Digest Architecture Editor, Ron Whitten, back in the early 2000s. Once the design trio began their work of turning the former cornfield into a golf course, they took great pains to mow out natural fairways and greens:36 from the existing topography. Except for when they were digging bunkers, they only moved earth on a total of four holes. That’s how naturally shaped this course is. The designers worked hard to make each hole look unique. When Erin Hills opened in 2006, it was widely acclaimed right away. With its rumpled blanket landscape, roller coaster fairways of dry fescue, flawless greens of bent grass, and tall native roughs that swayed in the ever-present breeze, Erin Hills was immediately pronounced one of the most natural courses in America. The United States Golf Association took note:14 even before it opened. The USGA held the 2008 Women’s Public Links Championship here, and then in 2011, Kelly Kraft won the US Amateur Championship at Erin Hills. The USGA liked the layout so much, Erin Hills is where the greatest players in the world will play the 2017 US Open next June.:36 It will be the first time Wisconsin has hosted a US Open, and only the sixth time a public golf course has been given the honor. More bunkers have been added in preparation for the toughest test in golf, and a few greens have been relocated and others rebuilt, but the theme of the original design remains unchanged. Erin Hills is golf dictated by Mother Nature, rustic and rumbling, quirky in spots, with holes that look a lot harder than they actually play.
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An Overview of Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin | US Open | Golf Digest
