By Dave Shedloski

Edina, Minn. – The merits of Interlachen Country Club as a worthy site and proper test for a major championship aren’t difficult to enumerate given its architectural heritage, but it never hurts to buttress any conversation by throwing around the name of Bob Jones.

Situated on 160 rolling acres about seven miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis, Interlachen dates to a 1909 incorporation and a design by Willie Watson completed in 1911. But its material configuration is the product of the genius of Donald Ross, who reworked the property in 1919. Another master of architecture, Robert Trent Jones, made a few revisions in 1960, but the tree-lined parkland layout is essentially the work of Ross.

That in itself speaks to its quality, but when the 63^rd U.S. Women’s Open begins Thursday at

One issue that players will need to contend with when the championship commences is length. (John Mummert/USGA)

Interlachen, it will be done so under the faded but still significant specter of one of the greatest golfing achievements in history. It was in 1930 at Interlachen that Bob Jones (no relation to Robert Trent) won his fourth U.S. Open and the third leg of the Grand Slam. A month later he completed the deed at Merion Golf Club.

There are quite many American golf clubs that can claim a special parcel in golf lore, but with its tie to Bob Jones and the Grand Slam, Interlachen can assume a position of high historical value that is difficult to match.

This week’s U.S. Women’s Open is the fifth USGA championship to be held at Interlachen, the last being the 1993 Walker Cup. The course also has hosted a couple of Western Opens and the 2002 Solheim Cup.

Naturally, a golf course changes over the ages, and a couple of new teeing grounds give Interlachen another distinction as the longest course in the history of the championship, at 6,789 yards. That point asserted, it is worth noting that there are five par-5 holes and an overall par of 73. The last time a Women’s Open featured as many par 5s, Ronald Reagan was just beginning his U.S. presidency in 1981. La Grange Country Club in La Grange, Ill., was the site.

The effective yardage this year is within the parameters of recent championship tests.

"So for those of you who think the USGA is fixated on switching par 5s to 4s, we've got five par 5s this year," said Mike Davis, USGA senior director of rules and competitions.

"But I don't think length of the course really is going to be the issue this week, because we are playing it at a par 73," Davis pointed out. "When you translate that down to a par 72 or par 71, I really don't think the length of the course is really going to be what we'll be talking about."

Indeed, what will likely decide the outcome of the championship – the second in as many years created by Ross after Pine Needles in 2007 – is how well competitors can avoid the rough and evade the trees that flank the longer grass, and then how they manage shooting at, chipping around and putting on the classic tilted greens. (At least most of them are tilted; Trent Jones has left his mark in a few places, namely the larger and flatter 10^th and 12th.)

The Ross-designed greens are relatively small, averaging 5,000 square feet, with considerable pitch from back to front. Perched on subtle plateaus, they are firm and running at almost 12 on the stimpmeter, meaning only well-struck approaches will remain on the surfaces and club selection will be crucial in keeping the ball below the hole to facilitate decent birdie attempts.

"I am really impressed with it. It's a ball-striker's course in the true USGA context," Christina Kim said. "Everything … the tee boxes, the fairways and all the greens will kill you, so that's about it."

There are several other twists to the championship layout. Most notably, the nines have been flipped so that the 18^th hole where Jones closed out his Open victory in 1930 is the ninth hole this week. That leaves a potentially reachable par-5 of around 530 yards as the home hole. This sets up the possibility of a birdie or even an eagle impacting the outcome, a circumstance similar to the 18^th at Torrey Pines Golf Course two weeks ago during the U.S. Open.

The key to the right-bending dogleg is to favor the right side of the fairway to more easily clear a lake that runs up that side to within 50 yards of the strongly pitched green. Doubtful anyone will try to skip her second shot across the pond as Jones did in registering a birdie during his 1930 title run.

During practice rounds, Michelle Wie reached the green at 18 with a 3-wood off the tee and then a 5-wood. Lorena Ochoa, the No. 1 player in women’s golf, got home with a driver and 3-wood.

"A lot of things are going to happen on 18," Ochoa said. "I mean, anything can happen. You could be losing by two or three and still have a chance. Eighteen could be tough. I think it's always good to have that, you know, because if you have a finish right straight up, par-4 to finish, but on 18 many things can happen, starting with the tee shot, if you're in the rough, without the lake, with the water, which is very narrow on the left side and you have about 220 yards to go over the water. I think a lot of things are going to happen."

Then again, going for the home run might not always be the play.

"Whether you can get to a par 5 or not, the thing about an Open is strategy," said defending champion Cristie Kerr. "You can be aggressive, but you have to know when to do it and when not to do it. The more low-stress situations you have in the Open at the end of the day, that's what it's all about."

But a stress-free tournament wouldn’t truly make it an Open. And it wouldn’t bring the kind of satisfaction and meaning a winner deserves – a winner who can claim a kinship with a barrister and part-time golfer named Robert T. Jones Jr.

Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on www.uswomensopen.com.