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JULY/AUGUST 2008
When the combatants for the 107th Wisconsin State Amateur Championship, presented by Tiziani Golf Car Corp., arrive at Old Hickory GC in Beaver Dam the third week in July, it won’t take them long to identify the venerable old course’s major challenge and its primary defense.
They’re visible from a mile away, and, despite the old golfer’s axiom, they never seem to be more air than wood.
They are trees, of course. And just like the course’s name implies, these are mature specimens of the hickory and oak variety. They line most of the fairways, pinch tight the corners of doglegs and generally influence play all over the golf course.
The 107th Wisconsin State Amateur Championship is scheduled for July 21-24 at Old Hickory GC, and when discussing this particular golf course, the conversation never strays far from the edge of the forest – a place, by the way, which is to be avoided at all costs.
“Out there you have to hit it straight,” said reigning Old Hickory club champion Craig Haltom of Marshall. “There are a lot of tree-lined holes, and I would suggest that anybody playing in the (State Amateur) get out and play some practice rounds. The course gets a little wider after you’ve played it a few times.”
The other primary consideration at Old Hickory is its slick and deceptively-contoured putting surfaces, which tend to be speedy for everyday players even in damp conditions. And, like most tournament golf courses, the speed will be ramped up to challenge the state’s top players.
“We try to keep them fairly quick,” said Mike Lyons, in his 14th season as the golf course superintendent at Old Hickory. “I’m hoping they will be up around 11 (on the Stimpmeter). We usually try to keep them around 10.”
Lyons said his crew will mow and roll the greens to get them running as fast as possible, weather permitting, as always. He hopes for dry, fast conditions leading up to the tournament, which will produce the green speed he wants but might result in somewhat thinner rough.
Among the players contemplating all of the above is Austin Ehlenfeldt of Beaver Dam, a member of the UW-Madison golf team and a product of the Old Hickory junior program. Ehlenfeldt, 20, has been a member at the club since he was 8 years old, and also recently became an Old Hickory employee.
“I think the biggest thing about Old Hickory is the greens,” Ehlenfeldt said recently when asked to identify the course’s unique challenges. “There’s a couple greens with pretty decent-sized slopes, but most of it is these little tiny, subtle breaks that might look like a straight putt.”
Old Hickory opened as a nine-hole layout in 1920. The first nine was designed by Tom Bendelow, who designed more than a dozen Wisconsin golf courses through the early 1920s.
The second nine at Old Hickory was designed by Billy Sixty Jr., son of the well-known Milwaukee Journal golf writer, and Robert Greaves. The new holes opened for play in 1969.
“They did a nice job of fitting it in,” said Lyons. “It’s pretty hard to tell which are the new and which are the old.”
Today, the par-72 course plays 6,727 yards from the back (Blue) tees – all of which will likely be used during the State Amateur – and has a course rating of 72.9. It offers a nice selection of interesting par-5s, challenging par-3s and long and short par-4s.
Among the latter is the par-4 eighth hole at 316 yards from the back tee. Some of the longest and strongest in the State Amateur field will likely take a poke at driving this green, which isn’t fully visible from the tee thanks to a row of trees. The front edge of the green is also guarded by a pond and three bunkers, so anyone going for the green off the tee had better make it there.
One of the quirkiest holes on the course is the par-4 14th hole, a 90-degree dogleg left which plays out of a chute formed by trees around the tee. The first part of the dogleg – from tee to landing area – is actually shorter than the second section, which is guarded all the way down the right side by water. The full hole measures a lusty 419 yards.
“That’s a different kind of hole than you normally see,” Haltom said. “The tee shot is a little awkward, and you can hit it through the fairway there. Any way you look at it, you’re going to be left with a long second shot, and it’s very easy to put it in the water there.”
Haltom said most players hit iron off the 14th tee, but he knows some who hit driver over the corner of the trees. Ehlenfeldt said he usually goes with his 19-degree hybrid club. Depending on the strategy off the tee, players can have anywhere from 140 to 210 yards into the green.
“There’s a hole,” Haltom said of No. 14, “at the end of the tournament, someone could make a big number. You can make anything there.”
The 14th hole is the first installment in a challenging finish which may well decide the tournament.
The par-4 15th is a short, straight hole (334 yards) which surrenders its share of birdies. The challenge there is hitting an approach shot close to the flagstick on one of the most severely contoured greens on the course. Ehlenfeldt also pointed out that the approach shot on 15 is a short one, so players will have to guard against imparting too much spin.
“If you land it on the back of the green, it could spin all the way off the front,” he said.
The par-5 16th at 540 yards will be reachable in two for most in the State Amateur field, so the hole will give up some birdies and eagles. Ehlenfeldt predicted that 16 would surrender the most birdies come tournament week.
The par-3 17th is the shortest hole on the golf course at 169 yards from the back tee, but it’s extremely difficult thanks to its sliver of a putting surface. The green is not only exceedingly narrow, it is also angled differently than the tee, so it can be difficult to keep shots from rolling into the fringe. And the delicate chip back onto the putting surface is no bargain either.
No. 18 at Old Hickory is one of Wisconsin’s most fascinating finishing holes. At 577 yards from the tips and playing over roller-coaster terrain, the final hole doesn’t seem vulnerable to being overpowered. But Lyons said he has seen a few players over the years – in firm, dry conditions – hit drives which reach the big valley about halfway between tee and green. To reach that valley requires a tee shot of about 325 yards from the back tee. From there, Lyons said, it is possible to reach the green with a fairway wood.
But there are other things to worry about on 18, including the fact that the fairway is exceptionally narrow, and also slants from left to right, so many players unwittingly end up in the right rough. And, finally, the green can be a deceptive target because it’s not always fully visible from the fairway. Looking uphill, the flag can be seen from the fairway, but the actual green often cannot.
Among the players to watch at the 107th Wisconsin State Amateur is the defending champion, Travis Meyer of River Falls GC. Meyer, who recently ended his college career at UW-Green Bay, won his first State Amateur title last summer at Bristlecone Pines GC in Hartland by two strokes.
“I’m really excited,” Meyer said about his upcoming defense. “My game wasn’t very sharp this spring. But I will definitely be ready to do everything I can to defend the title.”
But Old Hickory also seems like the kind of course where someone other than a college-age player could score well. Mark Bemowski, Pat Boyle and Bob Gregorski – three veterans who own 10 State Amateur titles among them – could feel right at home on a course where hitting fairways and greens and dropping putts are the keys to victory. In that way, Old Hickory is rather similar to recent State Amateur courses like Mascoutin GC in Berlin (2006) and Brown County GC in Oneida (2005).
When asked to venture a guess on the winning score, Lyons wouldn’t get too specific.
“Under par,” Lyons predicted. “The course record is 63. Do I see someone doing that? I don’t know. There are some very, very good players.”
Ehlenfeldt, meanwhile, offered his own prediction of sorts.
“It’s going to be pretty demanding,” he said. “I think a lot of players think the course is going to play easier than it will.”
For complete information on the 2008 Wisconsin State Amateur Champion-ship, including real-time scoring during the tournament, visit www.wsga.org.
State Amateur Facts
What: What: 107th Wisconsin State Amateur Championship.
When: July 21-24.
Where: Old Hickory GC in Beaver Dam (6,727 yards; par 72).
Who: The field consists of 180 of Wisconsin’s best amateur players. Most make the field through nine qualifying events held around the state in late June and early July, but past champions, players who finished in the top 25 last year and other top amateurs are exempt from qualifying.
Format: 72 holes of stroke play. The field will be cut to the low 70 and ties after the second round.
Following the Action: Spectators are encouraged to attend, and there is no admission fee. Real-time scoring will be provided at www.wsga.org.
Last Year: UW-Green Bay player Travis Meyer of River Falls shot 67-70-71-75–283 at Bristlecone Pines GC in Hartland to earn a two-stroke victory over UW-Madison teammates Dan Woltman and Jeff Kaiser.
For More Info: Visit www.wsga.org
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