New Look and Feel For 2010 PGA

JUST UP THE ROAD from the unincorporated community of Haven in Sheboygan County and along the windswept shore of Lake Michigan lies one of golf's toughest tests: Whistling Straits.

During the week of August 9, 2010, the quiet rural area will once again become a haven for golfers and golf fans from around the world when the 92nd PGA Championship is held at the Straits. In 2004 when the tournament was held at the course, more than 300,000 people - an attendance record for the event that still stands - saw Vijay Singh put his name on the Wanamaker Trophy, after defeating Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard in a playoff.

This time around, according to Championship Director Barry Deach, the tournament will have a "different look and feel."

The PGA Village will become the PGA Town Center and include multiple food and merchandising exhibits, a PGA Learning Center, the Mercedes Drive Experience, and many additional interactive exhibits. The corporate hospitality area will be moved near the clubhouse with viewing suites for corporate patrons throughout the course. And all corporate suites will be "inclusive of food," he says. Also new will be reserved grandstands at the 18th green.

Other changes include moving the Wanamaker Club to the Town Center and renaming it the Wanamaker Restaurant. Anyone purchasing the Wanamaker Experience in 2010 will receive VIP parking and access to all lower-level viewing suites throughout the course. The upper levels will be for corporate patrons only.

Perhaps best of all, a ticket to the tournament won't be needed to visit the Town Center.

Parking, which Deach says wasn't a problem during the 2004 PGA, will get better with the addition of several internal roadways and shuttles.

While it's too early to tell how the course will be set up, the 6th and 18th holes already have undergone several changes. Deach says the 18th fairway has been extended on the left side to give players the option of taking that route off the tee. On #6, he says the greenside bunkering has been altered to give an "island effect on the right side."

"This truly will truly be an innovative, quality experience, featuring the best field of any of the major tournaments," says Deach.

So far, he says ticket sales for the event have been good despite the economy. In fact, the premium corporate locations on the right side of the 9th fairway are sold out.

Plan your next summer vacation around the 2010 PGA Championship and take in all of the other attractions southeastern Wisconsin has to offer. For tickets and event information about the 2010 PGA Championship, call 1-800-PGA-GOLF, 920-565-4300, or visit www.pga2010.com. From Milwaukee, Whistling Straits is an easy ride 60 miles north on I-43.

To take an online tour of the course, go to http://www.destinationkohler.com/golf/ws/straits_detail.html.

In the past 12 years, Whistling Straits has hosted three major golf events. And there's no end in sight. It will welcome the PGA Championship again in 2015 and the Ryder Cup in 2020.

When it comes to golf's biggest events, Wisconsin is definitely in the major league with only a handful of other states.