Late last month I had the opportunity to spend 30 minutes with NBC analyst and anchor Mark Rolfing. Mark will be covering the US Open at SentryWorld this weekend, and he’s allowed me to pick all about golf with a focus on where the USGA Championship is and the general state of the game, especially here in my home state of Wisconsin where incredible daily fee courses like SentryWorld dominate the landscape.
My goals for this conversation were twofold:
- He discussed his initial run at SentryWorld and what he thinks is a tournament venue, how he expects to be attacked and what spectators can expect from it as a major tournament venue for the US Open which kicks off this morning.
- Talk about one of our favorite things: golf! In particular, golf here in the Albanian state and how it fits into the national picture
Originally from DeKalb, Illinois, many of Mark’s golf trips as a younger player have been to Michigan, from the southwestern part of the state as far as Arcadia.
Courses like SentryWorld, which originally opened in 1992, have yet to hit the Wisconsin golf scene, though he makes regular visits to Lawsonia which he keeps as one of his favorite golf tours in the state.
Note: Mark’s replies and comments are highlighted in light grey
This Gilded Age masterpiece that has undergone a highly successful restoration should be on every Wisconsin golfer’s bucket list. One of the best public golf deals in the state, Lawsonia…
“We always went to Michigan, and now Wisconsin is probably the number one golf destination in America. Period. There’s a lot of great golf in Michigan, but what turns out in Wisconsin is incredible, and I give Herb Koehler a lot of credit. It’s the diversity of these places — If you go to the desert, for example, like Phoenix, Scottsdale, etc., they are all the same.Here, Sand Valley can’t be different from SentryWorld, which can’t be different from Erin Hills, Blackwolf Run, Whistling Straits… Wisconsin offers a great variety of golf experiences.”
Mark’s had a front row seat to most of the development here in Wisconsin, including as one of the original investors/members of Sand Hills, Nebraska along with Mike Keizer of Dream Golf (Mike and his family developed the course Bandon Dunes, Cabot, Sand Valley and are currently working on Rodeo Dunes in Colorado).
“When Mike told me they were going to develop Sand Hills in Wisconsin I was like what are you talking about? There’s no place like this in Wisconsin. My wife is from Oshkosh and I’ve never seen land like this here. But boy was he right!”
The original Sand Valley Course is my favorite in a world class Wisconsin golf resort that has made quite an impact on golf in the state in the space of 5 short years…
Personally I think Erin Hills got a raw deal at the 2017 US Open (they widened the fairways thinking it was going to be too rough, then tons of rain fell which softened the course and somehow the wind was almost nonexistent – it was the perfect storm to lead into unusual recording circumstances), and was curious about Mark’s ideas after he worked on them as an analyst and on screen for the “Live From” telecast. Does he think they’ll get another shot?
“I really liked [the US Open at Erin Hills]I enjoyed it as I camped out that there would be another US Open there. The US Open needs the Midwest. It could go to Pebble, Shinnecock, Pinehurst, Oakmont, etc., but it needs the Midwest to get it together. It’s been to the Chicago area 13 times, but they don’t have the right location anymore. Our national championship needs to move across the country. You can’t just drop it in four locations. It’s for the best of our country, including the Midwest.”
SentryWorld and the 2023 US Open
To begin with, Mark was really surprised by his initial tour of the SentryWorld property and was incredibly complimentary of the golf experience on the property:
“I wasn’t quite expecting this kind of tournament experience. It’s a lot like a place in the US Open – it’s going to take a lot of discipline, and it’s right up Steve Stricker’s alley. If you drive the ball in a rough place, you can’t get to Any of these greens.”
Have you ever seen another golf course/club that is not open until the tournament?
“Never. Nothing like it.”
What would you expect the hardest hole(s) to be equivalent to the US Open?
Fifth, ninth, thirteenth, and seventeenth. [SentryWorld Director of Golf] Danny Rainbow has nearly identical swing speed, launch angle and overall swing dynamics as Steve Stricker and I had him play all these holes from different positions.
Those four shots on the tee all went the same way, and it was up a westerly wind, so you try it truly Repeat it to get over the lake on the thirteenth, for example, and if you lay down for a five, you lay down on the next shot as well.
On the ninth o’clock, driving to that top left of the fairway – I hope they don’t move the tees too far back or it will force some players to play on the right side of the river and give nil opportunity to go to that little green. This green is designed to receive wedges and short irons, not long irons and mediums, and if players go in hard on the nine they will likely end up in those backstops facing a very hard shot towards the creek. There will likely be some dropped balls after these recovery attempts.”
Does SentryWorld favor any particular style of play?
“No. Not long players (even at about 7,200 yards), not left-to-right or right-to-left players, not players who have great short games… He must squeeze every bit of a player’s game and reveal any and all Weaknesses. It’s a very complete golf course.”
How does the difficulty of the greens compare to other venues at the recent US Open?
“The greens have more of a slope than undulation. There aren’t a lot of humps and bumps, but the greens are quartered/cut due to their steepness. That wouldn’t be the biggest problem. It would be a good course for good putters, among them Stricker and Padraig Harrington who is one of the best in the world – I see Harrington seriously competing in the US Open. You will be driving the problem. We have never seen a path that requires such direct leadership.”
Which of the three values do you think has the best chance of punching a hole in one?
“Sixteen would be a completely different hole depending on the location of the pin. They were actually planting flowers today—what a process! With a hole about a third of the way on the green, left of center, there is a high chance of a hole in one. Possibly a hole location One day left rear, one back right. That front third pin (shown above) is probably Saturday, and Saturday could be day one.”
I can personally attest to this because I had an easy birdie that was perfectly aligned with that hole position on Media Day last year.
How about a short four strategy?
“On the 11th hole, I’d like to see them come up as a tee off the back and see what these guys got after the green off the jersey.”
If you could choose one hole to camp in as a spectator, which would it be and why?
“Five traps in the drive-in – you can watch all the tee shots come in, hear the players plan strategies with their caddies before the next shots about whether to lie down or go two-handed.”
What would the strategy look like when nine as four alike? Will some players still play it as a three-shot hole?
“I’m a little nervous about them playing this hole so far! The first couple of days you’ll have pros and club qualifiers, and you don’t want to see any advantage created because of length. I’d be surprised if they did anything extreme to make any holes too long, including 9. This hole will not need to be very long because it will require a lot of precision.
Setup is really important here, and I’m rooting for the tee to stand up as much as possible – again this green is designed for a short iron shot so play won’t support it as a five / not receptive enough to shoot a long iron shot, especially if it’s The wind is coming from the west and in the faces of the players. There would have been a lot of guys who would have had to lie on the water on the right during my first outing, for example.”
How will players approach the midfield dugout in the 13th hour off the tee?
On a day like yesterday, it just won’t be for those guys – they’ll be below them.
Will a large runoff slope on the 15th green lead to high numbers?
“For these guys, if they get the ball in the fairway they won’t have a serious problem with any of these holes. SentryWorld isn’t really very long, but the greens are rough and the fairways are harder to get to than most championship courses. The rough will be very tough. If you pay The ball is so far off the fairway, there’s nothing you can do to get to the green in two cuts. This course is going to take an enormous amount of discipline to play it well and be competitive.”
What is the optimal play off the tee at seventeen? How would you approach the pin back there?
“Yeah, I can see some footage going on at seventeen.”
Concluding thoughts
Some final thoughts from Mark on this US Open weekend at SentryWorld:
“Champions Tour players don’t have a lot of shot analytics — there’s no ShotLink on that tour, for example, so it’s not like the PGA Tour guys. It’s hard to predict shot behavior on the Champions Tour. There are more sprinting distances off the tee for Championship youth Champions Tour too.
Are there any players, like the PGA Championship’s Michael Block, who might have a chance to make a serious run at the US Open major?
Firstly, I am totally against the PGA Championship and I hope they never go through with that because the PGA Championship is intended to be a tournament of people who work in the profession all year round. In terms of block-like players, there is probably no chance of more than 72 holes. It would be almost impossible for a professional/qualified player to compete for this tournament. What Block did at Oak Hill was serendipitous, even though he’s a great player. I was talking to Paul Guidos who played a lot of golf with Block in Southern California, and he said Block hit him like a drum every day. It was still an odd set of circumstances for Block to do what he did and get this far in the PGA Championship, though, and I can’t see that happening at SentryWorld.”
What are you most looking forward to about the US Open Senior Championship?
I’m looking forward to seeing the fans! People walk around Stevens Point, people enjoy this thing! This will be the most friendly Grand Slam experience you can find. Parking would be amazing – very easy to park and get to the facility across from most majors.
The tees and greens are close together as well so the walk will be easy for the sightseers. There are some really interesting shots where you can stop yourself. I’d go out to number five and stand behind the bunkers in the fairway there, listen to what the players say and try to figure it out, who’s going to lay down and this and that… There are three or four places like that on the course that would have to be perfect.
And I’m a golf fan first, so I’ll try to get around and enjoy the event as a fan any chance I get.”
And finally, what you’ve all been waiting for: How does Mark Rolfing rank his top five Wisconsin courses?
- Which one do I play next is!
- Sapphire Strait
- Lawsonia
- Blackwolf Run – “Straits got all the attention, but I remember a day when Blackwolf was at the top of the wish list!”
- Milwaukee, Blue Mound, and Brown Deer Park all have amazing shooting values
How do Mark’s top five compare to your peers? How do you compare to me?
I would like to send a huge thank you to Mark for his time and openness in speaking with me. He couldn’t have been more gracious and kind, and I look forward to seeing his broadcast next weekend. Thank you Mark!
Want more on SentryWorld and what to expect at the US Open? Check out Brian’s recent article, linked here:
Having experienced SentryWorld first-hand at the first Open Media Day in the US this spring, it’s clear that the first-rate public venue has its sights set on being one of the best…