golfrewind.com

Apparently the 2010 PGA Championship, originally scheduled to be played at Sahalee in Seattle, has been moved to Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin... the only excuse i found was "due to the Winter Olympics 6 months before in neighbouring Vancouver, BC"...

What effect would this have over a golf tournament??

Think Mr Kohler upped the anty?

They mentioned something like........overkill in people coming into the area. With tens of thousands of people coming in for the the Olympics. The area would not be able to get back to normal and people might not support the PGA after spending their money on the Olympics.

That sounds like it may be a logical explanation. We'll just have to see if the PGA schedules the 2012 Championship for Sahalee CC. I also wonder if Whistling Straits will still be scheduled to host the 2015 PGA

Whistling Straits—host of the 2004 PGA Championship, 2007 U.S. Senior Open, 2010 PGA Championship, 2015 PGA Championship and 2020 Ryder Cup is an extraordinary combination of legendary design by Pete Dye and visionary inspiration of Herbert V. Kohler, Jr. Beginning with a 560-acre parcel of flat land, Dye sculpted a bit of Ireland and a touch of Scotland out of the Wisconsin coastline. If you ask Pete Dye, he’ll tell you that building Whistling Straits was a "once in a lifetime thing"—an impressive claim for one considered the foremost golf course designer of our time.

I'm not questioning the design or the venue, but to be on a 5 year rotation ala St. Andrews for the Open is going a little far IMO. There are many great course in this country and a lot of golf fans outside of Wisconsin that would love to see a major come within 100 miles. Fans and players alike may get a little burnt out on the course, JAT.

The 2012 PGA is scheduled for Kiawah Island's Ocean Course.

Change of venue, too bad for Ryan Moore who is from Sahalee area and will be in his prime in 2010.

Beat me to it.

I'm trying to remember if little ol' South Cackalackie has ever hosted a PGA or US Open

I can't think of one. Only significant golf event, other than a Major, I can think of was the Ryder Cup their in '91..ie "War on the Shore"....thank you Bernhard.

Maybe it was before my time if it did.

Anyone know?

There's not enough tourneys played in the Northwest. there are stacks of great golf courses but i can't remember the PGA going to Oregon or Washington since Craig Parry won the NEC the year it went away from firestone.

Hey, i don't mind the PGA being moved i mean us wisconsinites don't get too much golf our way i mean besides the U.S. Bank and a women's u.s. open at blackwolf run like 10 years ago, so its sounds like a pretty good deal to me

Part of the reason it got so many was because the PGA was competing with the USGA on who would be able to have their major hosted at whistling straits. So they had to offer the best package to win the bid, kohler I think is quoted saying that it was the ryder cup that made the PGA's bid hard to turn down.

I think the PGA pulled the tourney from Sahalee due to location.

I live 5 miles from Sahalee CC and can tell you its not very accessible. Sahalee CC is located on the Sammamish Plateau. There are no major roadways to the CC, and the only road that runs past is a two lane road. Also, the land around Sahalee (Sammamish area) is all residential, which means there is no parking. People would have to park down in Issaquah or Redmond and be bussed in.

My Opinion.

Well, they pulled it off in 1998, so I'm sure they could limit crowds to that size or whatever and do it again. Personally, I just think it was a measure to keep the USGA's greedy little mitts off the new crown jewel of the PGA's rota, Whistling Straits.