The 17th hole of Par-4 swept away the long grass that surrounded it, revealing a new look at Namsan Stadium.
The Southern Hills Country Club, located in the oil-rich northeastern oklahoma, has staged several of the most memorable first-hole kickoffs of the four tournaments. For nearly 90 years, players stood at the top of the pitch and slammed the ball into the skyline of Tulsa in the distance, calculating how to get the kick-off to land safely on the fairway below. As the trees matured and more trees were planted, the fairways became narrower and the players' calculations became more and more difficult. The loss of the tee shot means that the little white ball will be entangled in the long grassy area of Bermuda, which grows thicker and denser as the temperature rises. So the first tee off became the moment with the highest heartbeat index, and the players all competed in the hope that the small white ball would find the fairway smoothly.
In the past seven major tournaments held at The South Hill Stadium, the wooded fairways and lush grassy areas have become unchanged scenery, especially the 2001 U.S. Open and the 2007 PGA Championship. Oaks, planes, elms and poplars surround the tee and greens, hiding long grassy areas that make people retreat. Straight kick-offs and discreet upper green shots became the only way to get a good result.
2022年PGA锦标赛本月23日在南山球场圆满结束，球迷们会发现目标的高尔夫已不再是重点。 Although the 1st-hole kick-off table is still condescending, the fairways have become as wide as they were when they first opened in 1936. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner's 2018 renovation plan faithfully restored Perry Maxwell's original design, removing most of the trees on the course and expanding fairway boundaries to the 1930s pattern. With open fairways, new bunkers and exposed green edges, South Hill is no longer the cramped pattern Tiger Woods had in 2007.
Compared with other stadiums that have held four major competitions many times, the top players have only given Nanshan Stadium a medium rating, which may be related to its origin in the sandstorm period. The course ranks 32nd among the nation's 100 largest courses, except for the par-4 12th hole, which was once occupied by Arnold Palmer and Ban. Ben Hogan was named the best in the nation, and no hole was particularly famous. The South Hill stadium has no spectacular greens like Oakmont, Pinehurst No. 2 or Winged Foot, nor does it lack the high-stakes holes dramatized by Augusta National and Merion, and the terrain and landscape are inferior to Shinnecock Hills or Pebble Beach.
One of the most important renovations of The South Hill Stadium was the restoration of many streams that flowed through the fairways. These streams interfered with the players' attacks and were eventually removed.
Namsan Stadium has produced great winners such as Tommy. Tommy Bolt, Raymond Floyd and Tiger Woods, but never made a great game. Much of the excitement of the game came from negative factors, such as the fact that the racer had to reduce the speed of the greens on the 9th and 18th holes, or stewart Cink and Retief Goosen's double short push error on the 72nd hole in 2001, or Hubert Green's death threat after winning the 1977 US Open. (Police received reports of three men ambushing on the 15th hole preparing to shoot Greene, who was ahead of the time, and Greene decided to complete the game under police protection.) ）
"And the hot weather is also the focus of everyone's discussion, because the competition is always held in June or August," Hans said. "Namsan Stadium has a lot of experience in hosting competitions, but we all focus on correcting our shortcomings and avoiding controversy."
After extensive renovations leading up to the 2001 U.S. Open and the 2007 PGA Championship, The South Hill has long since been built into the ideal grand prix course for golf authorities, and it has lived up to expectations of a well-deserved winner. For generations, pre-tournament stadium diagnostics have become standard operating procedures, with Robert Trent Jones, George Fazio, Rees Jones, Tom Fazio and Pete Dye all known for building grand stadiums. In almost every case, the goal is to increase the difficulty of the course, and common methods include reducing the width of the fairway, tightening the falling area, adjusting the position of the bunker, increasing the difficulty of the long grass area, etc., to meet the specifications of the championship course in the minds of the golf authorities.
The South Hill Stadium has evolved several times into a shallow saucer-shaped bunker that mimics the Augusta Course and a slender hole with big dog legs bent. Perhaps the most drastic change is the extension of the long grass area to the edge of the green. If the green is wrong, the players have only one option to save the ball: dig up the pole from a high lift.
Hans, Wagner and field manager Russ Myers were very different, overturning the established model of a championship course on the one hand and affirming the wisdom of course design in the 1920s and 1930s. Hans believes that the club, the competent authorities and the racing unit have long lacked confidence in the classic design of the stadium, and believe that it is not enough to meet the requirements of high-level competition.
"Jim and I increasingly think that these older players really made the top players of the time suffer, and many of their designs still work to this day," Hans said. "The greens at South Hill In Maxwell or the scuds in Tillinghast and The Country Club don't need our homes to strengthen them at all. We are well aware of that. It may be necessary to increase the length of the tee table and strategically adjust the bunker position to match the function of the original design, but we are confident in the design of these older generations."
Hans' philosophy will be tested at this year's PGA Championship to see if the original design of the classic course is still challenging and can still produce trustworthy results. Over the next decade, Hans and Wagner will be responsible for the construction of three PGA Championship courses in addition to South Hill, including Aranimink, The Olympic Club and Baltusrol Lower Course, as well as four U.S. Open courses (The Country Club, Los Angeles Country Club, Oakmont and Merion). In addition to this, there is the 2027 and 2034 PGA Championship course PGA Frisco. Hans was very different from the architects who had been working on the renovation before, and he had no intention of dominating the way the players played or enhancing the difficulty of the court.
The completed Namsan Stadium symbolizes the advent of a new era in the configuration of the four major courses (hole 4).
"We will restore Maxwell's design to give the stadium its proper function, and also give it to the chief executive of the PGA, Kerry. Kerry Haigh has more options, and that's exactly what Maxwell designed," Hans said. "He can set the course configuration and give the world's top players the toughest challenge."
In the past, the South Mountain Fairway was around 27 or 28 yards, and the hideous Bermuda Long Grass Area was the main fortification. "At the PGA Championship in August 2007, it was like hitting the ball on a vegetable guabu," said Miles, who left South Hill in 2010 to work as field manager at the Los Angeles Country Club and returned to Tulsa in 2016 to work on the renovation. Tiger Woods and many other runners used no. 1 poles less than five times a week to avoid the long grass area. Now that most of the fairways have been widened to 40 yards, the PGA Tournament will be held in May in cooler weather conditions, and the power of the long grass area will be greatly reduced. "Compared to August, the long grass area has a much lower impact on the game," Miles said.
Nanshan no longer needs overly dense grassy areas. "The restored design won't rely on long grass areas as much as it did before," Miles said. Since most of the holes at the edge of the green have been restored, which greatly increases the difficulty of getting on the green, even the shallow grass area will make it necessary for players to pay special attention to rotation and distance control.
The previous bunker structure was higher than the surface of the green, and the wrong shot from the upper green was not easy to roll into the bunker. After restoring Maxwell's original design, the edge of the bunker was significantly lowered, allowing the wrong shot on the upper green to roll into the obstacle or set area. Since the hole position at the edge of the attacking green must be precise, players will make more use of the No. 1 wooden club to attack the green with shorter clubs. Distance increased by 425 yards to 7,556 yards, par 70, including two par 5 holes over 630 yards. With the 13th hole of par 5 nearly 100 yards added and the narrow green hiding behind two juxtaposed ponds, whether or not to attack the green with two strokes would be the most important decision on the back nine holes.
Only if the Bent Grass green is as hard as stone and the par is a good result, attacking the center of the green and pushing the ball into the hole will be the winning strategy. Since 2000, the average winning percentage of the PGA Championship is almost 11 strokes below par, so this is unlikely to happen. In addition to this, most of the terrain of Nanshan is undulating around the surface of the green.
Players must decide whether to take the plunge on the 3rd hole of par-4.
"Because the greens are small and undulating, attacking flagpoles can be a daunting task," Miles said. "You hit every green and then you pushed two holes and shot 70, but it didn't feel like it was a taste because you thought it should be a 64."
"Maxwell's undulating green design made the players complain," Hans said. "Not to mention that the edge of the South Mountain green is mostly inclined outwards, and the players must be extra careful about the edge of the green, because close to the edge will inevitably roll out of the green."
Miles said the green speed would be set at around 11 to 12 levels, below the standard for a class. "We're not going to set the speed of level 13 or 14," he said. "Because we lose a lot of great hole positions as a result. I'm not sure what Kerry would want us to do, but the green speed is almost set."
Holes 7 and 10 change the most during the recovery process. The Par-4 7th hole green was significantly shifted to the right in the 1960s to improve ventilation. Members at the time complained that the green had lost its original character, and the 384-yard hole had been the most harmless hole in previous tournaments. The new green moved further to the right, leaning against the back of a small stream, increasing the difficulty to 489 yards.
The Par-4 10th hole descended all the way down from the tee and then climbed up the blind green on the other side of the hill, guarded by a bunker in front of it, and a small stream flowed 90 yards in front of the green. This green is the most difficult in the entire course, sloping towards another creek to the left.
"I'm curious if the players can overcome the jamming of that creek and hit the green with shorter clubs," Hans said. Miles believed the downhill par-3 on the 11th hole was a bit more difficult, as an upper green error could easily roll into the creek on the left. The 17th hole is another key hole, a stream cuts across the beautiful short par 4 holes in front of it, and the tee set will lure players to kick off straight to the green.
South Hill is now a real second-pass course, and the 2022 PGA Championship will be similar to the 2014 U.S. Open at Pineurst No. 2. The south mountain rises and falls violently, creating a variety of difficult ball positions, coupled with the evil hole position, which increases the batting variable.
Hans advised Hagrid and others responsible for the configuration of the future four major competitions to learn to respect the original design of the stadium. He and Wagner did not change Maxwell's original design, but only expanded it, and reserved many stadiums for flexibility, which was rare in the previous four major competitions. Hans's renovation of the South Hill Stadium may prove that the classic design of the great stadium is still challenging today, simply adjusting the length to withstand the attacks of the world's top players.
"Our restoration project may be a major turning point for the Four Championships, and I hope that will become the norm," Hans said. "So that the four major stadiums will not look like a mold print, so the South Hill in May and The Country Club in June will be completely different and distinctive."