Making of a golf course: Death and intrigue shadow Erin Hills

The man who first imagined the grassy Wisconsin cattle farm as a potential piece of the US Open’s hallowed history will see that vision come to life this week.

Steve Trattner will be watching on TV from his prison cell, 40 miles away from Erin Hills.

Trattner, 55, is the one-time software programmer whose passion for golf led him to call a Milwaukee-area millionaire businessman, Bob Lang.