Pumpkin Ridge Has Potential To Be Longest Ever Women's
Open Course
By Jennifer Gardner
NORTH PLAINS, Ore. -- Kendra Graham, director of Rules and Competition
for the U.S. Golf Association, began to run down a list for how the
Witch Hollow course at Pumpkin Ridge will be set up for the 2003 U.S.
Women's Open July 3-6.
"The fairways will be cut to 3/8 of an inch," said Graham to a group
of media recently. "The same for the collars and tees. The intermediate
rough will be cut to 1 1/4 inches.
"The primary rough will be 3 inches. At 3 inches, it will be tough;
it will be thick; it will be U.S. Open rough."
"Could we make that 2 1/2 inches?" joked defending champion Juli Inkster,
seated next to Graham.
 |
| The 14th
hole, a 394-yard, par 4, features a green that invites trouble with
water, wetlands and a bunker guarding it. (USGA Photo Archives) |
While Graham and Pumpkin Ridge course superintendent Bill Webster plan
to have some penalizing rough, an area Inkster will have to avoid should
she repeat as champion, the course is set to be a fair test for a national
championship.
"This will be the longest U.S. Women's Open championship course, and
at par 71, that really says something," said Graham. "While it's going
to be long, it will be very fair.
"For instance, the fourth hole was lengthened to 531 yards, but it
had to be because of how fast that fairway was (in 1997). Alison (Nicholas)
knocked it in the hole for eagle on the last day. With bent grass, the
fairways can get very fast."
Graham said that No. 4 added more length than any other hole, but holes
No. 9, No. 10, No. 17 and No. 18 will see some extra yards, too. The
course will play to 6,509 yards or 6,550 yards, depending on where the
tees are placed on the par-3 10th hole. If it does play 6,550 yards,
it would surpass The Merit Club, Gurnee, Ill., in 2000 as the longest
Women's Open course.
The greens of Witch Hollow, while not overly large, feature undulations
that require precise placement to have a chance at birdie. Graham said
the greens will be between 10 and 11 on the Stimpmeter for the week
of the championship.
"We can have some interesting hole locations at that speed," she said.
Look for the par-3 holes to dominate the championship. Numbering five,
which is less common on championship courses, the short holes offer
variety on the hole locations.
"Flint Hills, which hosted the Women's Amateur a few years ago, is
the only other course that comes to mind with five," said Graham.
No. 2, the first par 3, is shorter with a fairly easy shot into the
green. Since the players will just be starting their rounds, Graham
said, "We can't go too crazy there."
The fifth hole, which also plays relatively short, offers a chance
to get creative with the hole location. Water guards the front, bunkers
make going long a poor choice, and the right area of the green is very
shallow. A hole location on the right side of that green will provide
the biggest challenge to the field.
The 10th hole, where yardages will vary between 156 and 197, can play
tough at that longer yardage, with par being a decent score. No. 12
can be harsh in the wind, and the 15th has some tricky breaks on the
green.
"Fifteen was a pivotal hole for Nancy Lopez in '97," said Graham. "She
had a poor tee shot there and made bogey, and that hurt her coming down
the stretch."
The closing hole, a 502-yard par 5, made the '97 contest especially
dramatic. Lopez missed a 15-footer for birdie there to miss a playoff
for the only major title she does not own. The hole plays long and Inkster
admitted to "having nightmares" about playing it.
"I look forward to getting out there and taming the 18th hole better"
in 2003, said Inkster.
Jennifer Gardner is a free-lance writer from the Golf Press Association whose work has appeared previously on www.uswomensopen.com.
