Herb Kohler is cruel to golfers. Kohler, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Kohler Co., likes to make golfers suffer. He wants them to sweat, to strain and to think.
Kohler built Whistling Straits, a world class links style golf course along the Lake Michigan shore just north of Sheboygan, to provide a tough test to all golfers, be they amateur or professional.
Whistling Straits hosted the 2004 PGA Championship, and this summer it will host the U.S. Senior Open July 5-8. Kohler wants his golf course, designed by Pete Dye, to provide a major challenge to the professionals who play in those tournaments.
"In 2004, when minus seven was the leading score the first day (of the PGA Championship), I almost had a heart attack," Kohler said.
Vijay Singh ended up winning the tournament at +4. That’s more Herb’s style.
The United States Golf Association (USGA), which runs the U.S. Senior Open, is known for making the courses for its championship events very difficult to play.
"Any time I see a setup by the USGA I get excited because I know it is going to be a tough test of golf," Kohler said. "But they are fair in the way they do it."
Earlier this week at the 2007 U.S. Senior Open media day, a bunch of media hacks got an opportunity to hack up Whistling Straits. As a strong wind blew off the lake during the press conference that morning, Kohler told the reporters what his golf course had in store for them.
"There’s a great whistle out there and you are going to have it for 18 holes," he said.
Yep. For our group, it seemed like the wind was blowing in our face for the first six holes. But eventually the wind is at your back, for at least a few of the holes, on the Straits Course at Whistling Straits.
If you ever play there, remember that it is important to enjoy the spectacular views of Lake Michigan, because you probably are going to want to look at that instead of your scorecard.
It is not an impossible golf course, especially if you play at one of the shorter sets of tees. But if you miss the fairway, you can get into serious trouble. I found that out the hard way.
The rough isn’t very long this time of year, but there are sand traps all over the place.
The landscape off the fairway is rugged and undulated, so if you hit the ball there, get ready to play your next shots from all sorts of awkward positions with the ball above your feet, the ball below your feet or your feet in uneven positions.
On one par three hole, I pulled my drive to the left of the green, and the ball landed at the bottom of a cliff, almost on the Lake Michigan beach. When I got down there, I looked up and saw the cliff was about the height of a three story building. I was going to have to try to hit the ball on the green on top of that "building," as if I was standing on the sidewalk in front of it. Luckily, I hit a nice lob wedge up over the cliff and just onto the fringe of the green.
Then I three putted.
"It’s my ninth senior open," said Allen Doyle, the two-time defending champion of the U.S. Senior Open. "This appears to be the hardest venue we have played. This venue is a pretty incredible place. It’s going to be a tough walking course. The facility is fantastic, and we should have a great week. Isn’t it great where golf can have a friend like this guy (Kohler)?"
Kohler said he would be thrilled if Doyle can pull off a U.S. Senior Open three-peat at Whistling Straits.
"Allen Doyle, I have to tell you, last year at the Open at Prairie Dunes in Kansas, I was fascinated with your play," Kohler said. "You have a swing almost as irregular as mine. But I have never seen a swing as grooved and consistent. I tell you, Mr. Doyle, nothing has given me as much hope in this game as you have."
Doyle’s career is something of a Cinderella story. He did not become a professional golfer until he was 47 years old. Before that, he worked for a textile company and owned a driving range.
"I was in the textile business and worked for a very good company," he said. "But production management wasn’t something I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I’ve gone from a smalltown owner of a driving range. We never had much money. Now I’m almost embarrassed to say I fly in a corporate jet. I’m living the life. It’s all because of golf."
Kohler said Doyle has some of the qualities he likes to see in his employees.
"When we talk to our middle management at Kohler about leadership, I emphasize two critical aspects," Kohler said. "One is candor and one is passion. This man for me exemplifies both."
The USGA has held eight previous championships in Wisconsin, the last one being the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, also owned by the Kohler Co.
Next year, the USGA will bring the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links tournament to Erin Hills, in the Washington County Town of Erin, and the U.S. Mid-Amateur will be played at Milwaukee Country Club in River Hills.
More golf championships are coming to Wisconsin. Whistling Straits will host the 2010 and 2015 PGA Championships and, if more high-quality hotel rooms are built in the area, the 2020 Ryder Cup. Robert Lang, the owner of The Lang Cos. who built Erin Hills, also is trying to land a future U.S. Open.
"I think it’s really wonderful the exposure Wisconsin has gotten and will get because of this game," Kohler said. "The people of the state love the game, and they play at all kinds of courses throughout the state."
Andrew Weiland is the managing editor of Small Business Times.
