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By Rick Pledl
Bristlecone Pines is a golf club that has refused to rest on its laurels. Opened in 1996 on high ground in Hartland on the site of a former dairy farm, the original layout was well received, but it lasted all of two years before developer and course owner John Malec decided to make a few alterations. Then, with the 106th Wisconsin State Amateur Championship scheduled to arrive this summer, Bristlecone Pines made some new investments in greenkeeping equipment which currently has the club’s putting surfaces running faster than ever. Combine those slick greens with the club’s firm fairways and ever-thickening rough, and it’s fair to say that Bristlecone Pines is rounding into top tournament condition just in time for Wisconsin’s most important amateur tournament. The 2007 Wisconsin State Amateur is scheduled to be played July 16-19 at Bristlecone Pines, situated in the Lake Country of Waukesha County. The semiprivate club is the centerpiece of a large residential development, and many of the families living on the property are also club members. When the 180 State Amateur participants arrive, including defending champion Daniel Woltman of Beaver Dam, they will be greeted by a long, up-to-date golf course with challenges galore and the likelihood that they’ll have to use every weapon in their arsenal. Start with the length/par dynamic. Bristlecone Pines director of golf Paul LoCicero said he expects the tournament layout for the first two rounds to be a mixture of the Gold tees, which stretch to 7,005 yards, and the Black tees, at 6,493. After the 36-hole cut, the remaining players can expect to play the Golds all the way around the final two days, and they offer a stiff challenge with a par of 71. That yardage plays over and around myriad hazards, including sand bunkers, some truly giant waste areas and water features of every description. LoCicero expects the rough to be about double its normal length by tournament time, and the growing hay is already making things, shall we say, exciting for Bristlecone Pines members. And the big variable in the tournament likely will be the wind, which makes its presence known often at Bristlecone Pines thanks to the course’s somewhat elevated location. “If the wind blows, it makes it an extremely difficult golf course,” LoCicero said. Many of the greatest challenges at Bristlecone Pines are found on its five par-3 holes, playing to an average of 194 yards from the back tees. The toughest might be the 230-yard 12th. With a two-tiered green guarded by water on the right side and in back and more of that nasty rough influencing what might be termed a bailout area on the left, this hole may result in some high scores, even for the state’s finest amateurs. The shortest of the par-3s, the 146-yard 17th hole, is another beauty, situated in a quiet, wooded hollow. It plays over a large wetland with an environmentally sensitive area right of the green and several bunkers guarding the other side of the putting surface, which has another prominent ridge running down the middle. Many of the par-4s and par-5s at Bristlecone Pines are typified by wide fairways which narrow as players approach the greens. That requires some risk-reward decisions to be made on the tee. “There are a lot of (holes) where if you can drive it straight, you can get it up far and have short clubs in,” LoCicero said. “If you’re not a straight driver of the ball, you’re going to lay back, and you’ll have longer clubs in.” For the above reasons, and because of that bluegrass rough, both LoCicero and reigning Bristlecone Pines club champ Jeff Tschurwald identified ball-striking as perhaps the key to winning the 2007 State Amateur. “Our fairways look really large and wide, but somehow we never seem to find them very often,” Tschurwald said. Tschurwald blames the wind for some of that, because it can blow hard and because it is variable. The final holes at Bristlecone Pines are absolutely swimming in water features. All the holes from No. 14 on offer ponds, creeks or wetlands that are very much in play. No. 16 is a risk-reward par-5 measuring 488 yards and featuring a long pond extending all the way down the left side of the fairway. The pond eventually narrows into a creek flowing right in front of the putting surface, but in the original 1996 Scott Miller design the creek meandered in back of the green. It’s one of the changes made by Malec, who originally developed the property in the mid-1990s and is still sole owner of the golf club. “(Malec) has made some really great changes to the facility since the original design,” LoCicero said. “He’s not a (professional) designer, but he knows golf.” Clearly, Malec’s best work is found on Bristlecone Pines’ 402-yard, par-4 18th hole, and the final hole will surely play an important role in the tournament. When first created, No. 18 featured a fairly short, mostly straight configuration with a flat approach to the green. So Malec moved the green back about 50 yards and elevated it slightly. He also widened a creek running through the area to create No. 18’s current layout, with the water hard against the right side of the green. A small lobe of the green – essentially a mini-peninsula poking into the water – was also created, and State Amateur competitors should expect a final-round hole location in that area, according to WSGA director of rules and competitions Bill Linnemann. Any player needing a birdie on the 72nd hole to stay alive in the tournament will have to hit an exceptional approach shot on 18 if he expects to have a short birdie putt. This is Bristlecone Pines’ first opportunity to host the Wisconsin State Amateur, but the club has held more than its share of important statewide events in its short history. In 2004, Madison PGA professional Larry Tiziani won his second career WPGA Club Pro Championship title at Bristlecone Pines in a playoff thanks to his mastery of the 18th. Tiziani’s game plan centered on staying away from the front of the green and the water on the right and instead going long if need be. “That’s were my out was,” Tiziani said right after his victory in 2004. “I figured that if I wasn’t on the green, I would be back there somewhere either putting it or chipping it. So I had practiced that shot.” Tiziani faced that situation in round one when his approach on 18 went over the green. But his practice paid off when he chipped in for birdie. On the first sudden-death hole, Tiziani went long again, chipped to 4 feet and made an important par to keep the playoff going. Bristlecone Pines also hosted the 1998 WSGA Governor’s Cup Championship (won by Alex Antonio); the 2000 WSGA Bestball Championship (won by Jerry Strege and Jason Witczak); and the 2004 WSGA Match Play Championship (won by Charlie Delsman). Tschurwald, who also sits on the Bristlecone Pines Golf Committee, said he likes the way the course is shaping up in advance of the tournament, nasty rough and all. “Everyone is ecstatic about the State Am being held at our course,” he said. “The course is in great shape, and the membership is definitely noticing that the greens are faster and the rough is getting thicker and longer.” For complete Wisconsin State Amateur information, including tee times, stats and real-time scoring during tournament week, go to www.wsga.org.
State Am Facts
What: The 106th Wisconsin State Amateur Championship.
When: July 16-19.
Who: A field of 180 of Wisconsin’s finest amateur players, many of whom qualified for the event through nine qualifying events held around the state in late June. Others, including past champions and the top 25 finishers last year, are exempt from qualifying.
Where: Bristlecone Pines in Hartland (par-71; 7,005 yards from the back tees).
Format: 72 holes of stroke play. The field will be cut to the low 70 scorers and ties after 36 holes.
Following the Action: Spectators are encouraged to attend, and there is no admission fee. Real-time scoring may be accessed at www.wsga.org.
Last Year: Beaver Dam native Daniel Woltman, 19, won his first Wisconsin State Amateur title at Mascoutin GC in Berlin in a playoff over Charlie Delsman of Hartland. Woltman shot rounds of 67-75-72-70–284.
For More Info: Visit www.wsga.org.
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