I was in the Upper Midwest last week for a class reunion. I had a couple of free days and figured there was no better way to spend that time than on the links. I even had a 100-mile theme to my two rounds of golf. I would play two past United States Open courses. Of course, that is easier said than done since most of the courses used in the 117-year history of the National Open are historically private, requiring nothing less than an Act of Congress to get you to the first tee at such esteemed facilities as Oakmont, Oakland Hills, Winged Foot and the like. Yet I had a plan. I could pony up a bunch of money and play this year’s Open host, Erin Hill Golf Course, some 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee. Then I could return to Chicago and see if my old caddie friend, Patrick McKenna, would take me as his guest to Midlothian Country Club.
The Midlothian angle made sense. I have played the 1914 U.S. Open host course on two different occasions. It is a great, old-style course that has also hosted the Walter Hagen Invitational, the Chicago Victory Open and a pair of Western Opens. As a bonus, several other members of the caddie yard were members there. Patrick made a tee time for four of us for the afternoon of Oct. 13. I just knew it was going to be a lucky day.
Erin Hills was a tougher sell than I thought it would be. I called them in early June, prior to the 2017 U.S. Open. Even so, they were fully booked for Oct. 12. They had previously booked foursomes from sunrise to two hours before sunset. That’s the way it can be when an upscale public course hosts the U.S. Open for the first time. Everyone who is into golf wants a crack at it. Yet after spending close to four months on the waiting list, I got the call from Erin Hills. I was going to get a 12:36 p.m. tee time on Thursday afternoon with three others from the list.
A golf course 35 miles outside of Milwaukee is something similar to what you’d find 35 miles outside of Sacramento (Zamora or Dunnigan). It is a rural area of small towns and dairy farms. While Erin Hills is in the proverbial middle of nowhere, it does sit on a 600-acre site that certainly affords lots of room for corporate tents and parking. And although it is some 35 miles from Lake Michigan as the crow flies, it is a treeless links-style looking course that was formed by the Kettle Moraine glacier. No trees, lots of humps and bumps, and with the light rain and overcast skies, I could have just as easily been in Bandon, Oregon … without the ocean.
Yet if I’m going to make any comparisons, I’d have to say that Erin Hills is Bandon Dunes on steroids. The U.S. Open was contested at 7,800 yards. I played the white tees at 6,400 yards. However, on every hole there was another distant tee beyond the ones used in the Open. Erin Hills could be stretched out to 9,200 yards. How’s that for the future of golf?
The course is a most beautiful display of great golf architecture with many elevation changes. A number of the lightning-fast greens are tucked away on hillsides. If you should end up hitting your approach shot 10 yards short of the green, it will roll back some 30 yards. The one nice thing about Erin Hills in October is that they had just cut the 2-foot high fescue rough down to 4 inches the previous week. Luckily I was playing a U.S. Open course without their U.S. Open rough. I putted well at Erin Hills although my usually solid short game was not on display. On the long par-4, I hit driver, 3-wood, and oftentimes had a full 8-iron or more into the green for my third shot. I hit a lot of full shots and very few chips or short wedges.
The staff at Erin Hills was extremely professional, and the course was extremely well run. I think I was the only person on the course that day who didn’t take a caddie. I looped for myself, carrying my own bag and reading the yardage book to determine distances. Because there is so much room, the walk from the green to the next tee was often some 250 yards or more. When I walked off the 18th green, my pedometer reported that I had walked 7.9 miles. Yet without a doubt, it’s a walk I would willingly take again. Erin Hills deserves its place among America’s top 100 courses. It’s also one of the more unique great courses I have played over the years. Brooks Koepka, the reigning Open champ, most certainly agrees.
Friday the 13th meant I was playing a course that first opened in 1898 and was the site of Walter Hagen’s first of 11 major championships. No, Midlothian can’t be stretched out to 9,200 yards nor could it host a big-time tournament as it is surrounded by houses and Chicago streets on all four sides. It was the site of the National Open when Harry Vardon was the game’s dominant player, Chick Evans was America’s top amateur, and the greats of the day used golf clubs with hickory shafts. With beautiful tree-lined fairways and water hazards, Midlothian is a lot closer to the Olympic Club than to Erin Hills as far as design styles. It’s also a much easier walk with limited elevation changes and short jaunts from the green to the next tee. Midlothian tops out at 6,700 yards although it played to approximately 6,200 yards some 103 years ago.
I was a part of a gathering of former Beverly caddies as I played with two Midlothian members, Pat McKenna and Matt Ulmer, along with Mike Ulmer. Way back when, Mike Ulmer caddied for Gibby Gilbert in the same pairing with my pro, Bob Lunn. It was a most pleasant day for a foursome of old friends, telling stories about Beverly members such as actor Forrest Tucker, Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, and Hall of Famer Ray Schalk, among others.
Yet in the midst of all the banter and the walk down memory lane, it occurred to me that the greens at Midlothian remained nothing short of treacherous. They were fast, it wasn’t all that hard to misread a putt, and for a course that plays about as long as Hidden Valley Lake, it was downright difficult. Whether it was the days of hickory shafts or much later when the game was played with persimmon woods, irons with the sweet spot of a dime, and golf balls made of balata, there was definitely a reason why Midlothian’s past champions include Walter Hagen, Bobby Locke and Billy Casper. Before the game became muscular, it was a true test for major champions and future Hall of Famers.
While it was a super cool experience to play two U.S. Open sites on back-to-back days, it also was a blatant look at how the game has changed over the years. I have no intention of trying to determine which era is the better. I just know it was a most unique two days of great golf that I luckily got to add to my collection of neat golf trips.
