Kohler Whistling song for Ireland

Charlie Mulqueen discovers Whistling Straits is not unlike many of Ireland's finest courses.

MAY the roof above us never fall in, And may the friends gathered below never fall out."

This Irish proverb is just one of the many imaginative marketing ploys devised by Herb Kohler Jr, owner of the Whistling Straits course in Wisconsin, to link his amazing development with this country.

Kohler fell in love with Ireland on his many golfing visits here, called the second course at Whistling Straits "The Irish Course" and, despite his surname, never misses an opportunity to declare his "Irishness" to the world as he prepares for next week's 86th US PGA Championship at his remarkable facility on the shores of Lake Michigan.

It is truly an amazing story. We have seen recently how Shinnecock Hills, the venue for the US Open, was constantly referred to as "the nearest the United States can come to a links course" but now Whistling Straits is talking very much the same kind of language.

What was once the table-flat home to a military armoury is now, according to Gary D'Amato, special writer for PGA.com, "an amazing slice of Ireland rising above the shores of Lake Michigan, the result of Pete Dye's imagination, Herbert V Kohler's pocketbook and 170,000 truck loads of quarried sand."

No doubt, you are wondering why there should be such association with Ireland, given that Kohler is of German extraction and Wisconsin is not a state known for its Irish diaspora.

D'Amato says: "You drive through the gates and you leave behind bucolic Wisconsin with its dairy farms and cornfields and enter coastal Ireland. A little fog, a few drops of rain, a wee bit of wind to sting the cheeks complete the illusion. The famous golf course architect Pete Dye was brought to Kohler to see the land for himself and received very definite instructions from the owner."

Dye, the world-renowned architect, picks up the story.

"Mr Kohler showed me the piece of property and said: 'I want to strive for something like Royal Portrush and Ballybunion. Make it as close to that as you can'. He told me that the Irish courses are not carefully chiselled and they're not manicured like we manicure them in America. They're rough hewn and the grasses are very natural."

Of Kohler's affection for Ireland, Gary D'Amato added: "Kohler, an 18 handicapper who plays with great gusto, loved the rugged land [of Ireland], the spartan conditions, the salt spray in his face, the pint in the warmth of the clubhouse after a go-round with the elements. He had fallen in love with the classic Irish links courses during numerous excursions to the Emerald Isle with Dye."

The question, of course, was how to duplicate Portrush/Ballybunion in Wisconsin. He targeted a desolate two-mile stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline about 90 minutes from the state capital Madison. It was once the site of Camp Haven and was sold to the Wisconsin Power company, from whom the Kohler company acquired the land. They got to work on the 36-hole complex and earned early acclaim for its stunning layout.

It was chosen as the venue for next week's PGA despite being in existence for only two years.

It plays from near lake levels to panoramic bluff elevations 50 feet over the fairways, with spectacular vistas of Lake Michigan from all 18 holes, and features fescue fairways and massive sand dune bunkers.

The course layout weaves 14 holes in near-uninterrupted sequence along the lakefront.

The transformation of the land, once flat and featureless and strewn with toxic waste and illegal dumpsites, surely ranks as one of the great accomplishments in modern golf course construction.

They seeded the fairways with fescue, a wiry, hardy grass common in this country.

"It will certainly be different than what the players are used to. But all the great players compete in the British Open, where the grass is similar. So it's not that they won't have played on this type of grass," said Kerry Haigh, managing director of tournaments for the PGA of America.

Because of the fescue influence, the fairways next week will play firm and fast.

Which is just as well, considering that the course measures 7,597 yards the longest in championship history.

Steve Friedlander, the director of golf said: "The length will be a factor. If the wind blows and a guy is not on his game, he could definitely shoot a really high number. And it's rare that we have a day without wind out here."

Dye also sounds a note of warning.

"The wind shifts and the course plays differently. You could play five holes and think it's the most blissful thing you've ever seen and then on the next three, you'll think the world's come to an end. Sometimes, it's so pretty and the sky is so clear and blue. All of a sudden, the wind shifts and the fog comes in and you can't see 10 feet in front of you."

Dye placed all four par 4s along the water's edge. Two run north to south and two south to north.

Gary D'Amato revealed: "In keeping with the Irish theme, Whistling Straits is a walk-only course and players must use caddies, many of whom were imported from Ireland!"

"In all honesty, the thing Whistling Straits is most similar to are the links courses in Ireland," says Kerry Haigh. "Pete Dye and Mr Kohler have done a magnificent job in creating their vision to be just that. Some of the links courses in Ireland have this same look. It's incredible. It's just so different from anything you see in America. It's intimidating. It's beautiful. And it's certainly a dramatic setting for a major championship."

The adjoining "Irish Course" has holes called "Mulligan's Watch," "Tullamore Dew", "Irish Mist" and "Black and Tan" and even has a "blind" par 3, the 13th, which is a remake of the famous "Dell" at Lahinch. The main thoroughfare at the nearby town of Kohler is "Emerald Street".

Seems these people may be more Irish than the Irish themselves!