The Rochester, N.Y. club, which last hosted the PGA Championship in 2013, will play host to this year’s event May 18-21. Hundreds of trees have been removed; state-of-the-art drainage was installed under every green; most of the bunkers have been recontoured and filled with new sand; and several new tees have been built which stretches the layout to nearly 7,400 yards. Major work done to three holes, including the elimination of one altogether, as well.
Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. will host the 2023 PGA Championship May 18-21, but golfers who participated in the event in 2013, may barely recognize the East Course layout, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported. An extensive renovation has been ongoing for several years and the goal of golf course architect Andrew Green was to restore the East Course as close as possible to the original design Donald Ross created nearly a century ago.
All of which has Kerry Haigh, the PGA of America’s Chief Championship Officer, eager to see how the best players in the world will go about tackling the challenge of the historic tract, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
“I can’t wait for the championship to start and the best players in the world to come and be challenged by sort of the new Oak Hill. It’s gonna be great,” Haigh said during a visit to see how the course came through the mild winter.
Club + Resort Business reported in September 2015 that the 2023 PGA Championship would be contested at the club.
Haigh has been setting up courses for the PGA of America’s premier events for nearly three decades, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. He first came to Oak Hill in 1995 for the Ryder Cup, so he’s seen the East Course in just about every situation imaginable — in May during two Senior PGAs, in August for two PGAs, and in September for the Ryder Cup.
And this iteration may be his favorite of all, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. “Oak Hill has always been a great golf course and continues to be an even better golf course,” Haigh said.
What’s different on Oak Hill’s East Course? First and foremost, hundreds upon hundreds of trees have been removed, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. Not only has that given the place a vastly different look aesthetically, but their absence will change some of the shot values in every aspect—off the tee, on approaches, and even chipping around the greens.
“The removal of some of the trees is going to give the players a lot more options than they used to have, which in my mind will hopefully turn into more excitement and potentially more birdies,” Haigh said. “Players going for shots that previously, because there were so many trees, they were literally forced to chip out into the fairway. Whereas now there’s an opportunity, potentially, to hit shots towards the green. I think the players will actually enjoy it more.”
State-of-the-art drainage was installed under every green, a godsend for when heavy amounts of rain fall, and all of the putting surfaces were re-planted a couple years ago with a new strain of grass, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. The shape of several have been altered, which will create a wider variety of pin placement locations. And many of the areas in front of the greens have been shaved down almost to the length of the greens which will warrant more short-game creativity.
Most of the bunkers have been recontoured and filled with new sand and several new tees have been built which stretches the layout to nearly 7,400 yards, which is quite lengthy for a par-70, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
Lastly, there was major work done to three holes, including the elimination of one altogether, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. The old par-3 sixth hole—site of the four aces during the second round of the 1989 U.S. Open—is gone, replaced by a shorter par-3 that now slots in as the fifth hole. The old fifth is now No. 6 and has been lengthened to a demanding 504-yard par-4. And the par-3 15th has an entirely different green that has been repositioned and no longer has the menacing pond guarding its right side.
The other major difference for the players who were here in 2013 when Jason Dufner set the new Oak Hill 72-hole scoring record with a 10-under total of 270 is the calendar, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. The PGA Championship is no longer played in the hot, muggy days of mid-August. It has been moved to the third week in May which, in Rochester, could present all kinds of weather-related problems.
There have been two major tournaments played at Oak Hill in May—the 2008 and 2019 Senior PGA Championships—and each of them faced undeniable challenges, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. The morning rounds often started with temperatures in the frosty 40s and if the wind was up, windchill became a factor. “Pretty chilly, if you remember,” Haigh said.
Also, Rochester’s notoriously wet spring weather thickened the rough to the point where it was almost unplayable at times, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. True, that was the 50-and-over crowd, but even younger players will be challenged if they miss the narrow fairways and the rough is as lush as it was in those two Senior events.
“There’s always been a premium on driving accuracy here at Oak Hill, and that hasn’t gone away,” Haigh said when he was asked if the removal of so many trees has weakened the course’s defenses. “Now if they hit it in the rough, they may have a shot [without a tree in the way], but it’s still going to be an extremely difficult shot because, as we know, the rough here at Oak Hill in May is likely to be pretty tough.”
Monitoring the thickness of the rough will be one of the most important jobs Haigh and Oak Hill superintendent Jeff Corcoran have in the weeks leading up to the tournament as they decide what lengths to mow the rough, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
“I think there’s a balance there where you want to make it tough, but you don’t want to make it impossible so the players, all they’re doing is chipping out,” Haigh said. “Otherwise, that sort of defeats the purpose of all the changes that have been done here at the club [to foster more shot-making options].”
We are less than two months away from the start of the tournament, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
“I couldn’t be more excited every time I walk around here,” Haigh said.
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