Whistling Straits facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Whistling Straits

Clubhouse during 2010 PGA Championship
Club information
Location	Town of Mosel, at Haven, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin
Established	1998, 27 years ago
Type	Public
Owned by	Kohler Company
Operated by	The American Club
Total holes	36
Tournaments hosted	PGA Championship (2004, 2010, 2015) U.S. Senior Open (2007), Ryder Cup (2021)
Website	Whistling Straits
Straits Course
Designed by	Pete and Alice Dye
Par	72
Length	7,790 yards (7,123 m)
Course rating	77.2
Slope rating	152
Irish Course
Designed by	Pete and Alice Dye
Par	72
Length	7,201 yards (6,585 m)
Course rating	75.6
Slope rating	146

Map of Wisconsin showing Sheboygan County.

The 11th Fairway on the Straits Course.

Whistling Straits is a very famous golf course in Wisconsin, USA. It is known for its unique "links-style" design. This means it looks like the old golf courses found along the coast in places like the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Whistling Straits is part of a big golf resort called Destination Kohler. The resort is owned by the Kohler Company. It has two 18-hole courses, making a total of 36 holes. These courses are called the Straits Course and the Irish Course. Both were designed by the famous golf course architects Pete and Alice Dye.

The Straits Course

The Straits Course is the most well-known course at Whistling Straits. It is a very long course, measuring 7,790 yards (7,123 m). Golfers aim to complete it in 72 shots, which is called "par."

This course has hosted many major golf tournaments. These include the PGA Championship three times (in 2004, 2010, and 2015). It also hosted the U.S. Senior Open in 2007. In 2021, the exciting Ryder Cup was played here, where the United States team won.

The Straits Course is special because it looks like ancient seaside courses. It runs along two miles (3 km) of the Lake Michigan shoreline. Eight of its holes are right next to the lake. You might even see a flock of Scottish Blackface sheep roaming around! The course also has three stone bridges and hills that are about 80 feet (24 m) high.

It features large, wavy greens and deep "pot bunkers." These are small, round sand traps that are very hard to get out of. There are also grass-covered dunes. Strong winds often blow in from the lake, making the game even more challenging. Because it's a links-style course, there are not many large trees. This means it's very open to the wind and weather.

Before it became a golf course, the land had a different history. It was once an old airfield called Camp Haven. Later, a company tried to build a nuclear power plant there. But local people did not want the plant, so it was never built. In the early 1990s, the Kohler Company bought the land.

The CEO of Kohler Company, Herbert Kohler, hired Pete and Alice Dye to design the golf course. To create the course's unique look, workers moved a huge amount of dirt and sand. They used about 800,000 cubic yards (610,000 m³) of material.

The lowest score ever shot on the Straits Course is 63. This record was set by Hiroshi Iwata during the 2015 PGA Championship.

The Irish Course

The second course at Whistling Straits is called the Irish Course. It is located more inland, away from the direct shoreline. This course also has a par of 72. It measures 7,201 yards (6,585 m) from the longest tees.

The Irish Course opened in the year 2000. It was also designed by Pete Dye. It features rolling grass and dunes, giving it a different feel from the Straits Course.

The course record for the Irish Course is 67. Mike Frechette first set this record in 2007. Garret Buckley then matched it in 2014.

View of Lake Michigan from the Irish Course.

A Par 5 hole along Lake Michigan.

Major Tournaments Hosted

Whistling Straits has been chosen to host several important golf tournaments. Here is a list of some of them:

Year	Tournament	Winner	Score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)
2004	PGA Championship	Vijay Singh	280 (−8)	Playoff	Justin Leonard Chris DiMarco	1,125,000
2007	U.S. Senior Open	Brad Bryant	282 (−6)	3 strokes	Ben Crenshaw	470,000
2010	PGA Championship	Martin Kaymer	277 (−11)	Playoff	Bubba Watson	1,350,000
2015	PGA Championship	Jason Day	268 (−20)	3 strokes	Jordan Spieth	1,800,000
2021	Ryder Cup	United States	19−9		Europe	n/a

Course Layout

This section shows the layout of each hole on the golf courses. It includes the hole number, its name, how long it is in yards, and its par (the number of shots a good golfer should take).

Straits Course Layout

Previous course lengths for major championships:

• 7,514 yards (6,871 m) – par 72, 2010 PGA Championship
• 7,514 yards (6,871 m) – par 72, 2004 PGA Championship

Irish Course Layout