Whistling Straits tests world’s best golfers Aug. 9 – 15

The 86th annual PGA Golf Tournament stops this year in Wisconsin Aug. 9 – 15 at Whistling Straits, just north of Kohler on the wind-swept shore of Lake Michigan.

Activity begins Aug. 9 when the acclaimed Pete Dye-designed course will be open from 6:30 a.m.- 8 p.m. for practice rounds played from 7 a.m.-7:30 p.m. The same schedule is planned for Aug. 10, with a Champions’ Clinic scheduled for 4-5 p.m. on the Practice Range.

Wednesday, Aug. 11, will provide another opportunity for spectators to witness the world’s best golfers get in a final day of practice. Again, the gates will be open from 6:30 a.m.-8 p.m. for practice rounds from 7 a.m.-7:15 p.m.

Tournament play begins Thursday, Aug. 12, and concludes with the presentation of the winner’s trophy Sunday, Aug. 15, on the 18th green. Following is the schedule for the four days of the tournament:

Thursday, Aug. 12, and Friday, Aug., 13: Gates open
6:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; first tee time 7 a.m.; last tee time
2:15 p.m; play complete 7:15 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 14: Gates open 6:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; first tee time 6:55 a.m.; last tee time 1:45 p.m.; play complete, 6 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 15: Gates open 6:30 a.m.- 8 p.m.; first tee time 6:55 a.m.; last tee time 1:45 p.m.; play complete 6 p.m.; Presentation Ceremony, 6:15 p.m. on the 18th green.

Sarazen won state’s other PGA Championship

By JERRY SLASKE
Contributing Golf Writer

HERE'S SOMETHING to think about while you're traversing the almost 7,600 yards of the wind-swept Whistling Straits, watching the world's best golfers take a licking by the Lake in the 86th PGA Championship.

The only other time the PGA Championship was held in Wisconsin was in 1933 at Milwaukee's Blue Mound Country Club, which was opened in 1924. Then match play (hole-by-hole) was the game and Gene Sarazen, one of only five players ever to win all four of golf's Grand Slam titles, beat Willie Goggin, 5 & 4. Prior to the tournament, Tommy Armour said that Sarazen -- at the ripe, old age of 31 -- "was all washed up as a Championship contender." But Sarazen had the last word. With the Wanamaker Trophy in hand, he proclaimed, "Pretty good for a washed up golfer."

Sarazen took home $1,000 from a purse of $7,200. Oh yeah . . . Blue Mound played to roughly 6,450 yards, a mere 1,140 yards shorter than Whistling Straits. But it was par 70. The Straits is par 72.

There's yet another, less well known, Milwaukee connection to the PGA Championship. The 1935 tournament, which was held at the Twin Hills Country Club in Oklahoma City, was won by a 24-year-old Milwaukeean named Johnny Revolta. What a great last name! In the first round, he beat the legendary Walter Hagen, who during his career won the Wanamaker a record five times. Revolta then went on to defeat Tommy Armour for the trophy by one-putting 13 greens. Then the purse was an eye-popping $7,820. And if you think Revolta was just a flash-in-the-pan, consider this. He went on to 17 other PGA victories, tying Greg Norman and Julius Boros on the all-time list.

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