Eighty acres of corn and some cows

A golf administrator with an interesting name, a cussed pro and a cellphone salesman are all part of the lore of the course where the last Major of the year will be staged, Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Situated in Chaska, Minnesota, Hazeltine will be the scene of the 91st US PGA Championship.

The course that was pilloried when it staged its first men’s Major, the 1970 US Open won by Tony Jacklin, has since gained in esteem in spite of, or perhaps because of, throwing up a shock winner in Rich Beem when the PGA was staged there in 2002.

The PGA is often derided as the poor cousin on the royal family of Majors, even though it always draws the strongest field, but in a year that has produced an odd trio of Major winners in Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink and none for Tiger Woods there is bound to be enormous interest when the professional golfers stage their championship in the Twin Cities (from August 13 to 16).

The winner of the PGA receives the Wanamaker Trophy, which was donated by industrialist Rodman Wanamaker when he and Walter Hagen combined to stage a tournament exclusively for professionals.

And an equally intriguing name is attached to Hazeltine, that of Totton Heffelfinger, a former president of the United States Golf Association who was instrumental in having the course built along the shores of Lake Hazeltine.

The course, designed by the acclaimed golf course architect Robert Trent Jones, opened for play in 1962 and Heffelfinger’s ultimate goal was to stage major championships.

He got his wish when the US Women’s Open Championship was put on there in 1966 and he then used his influence to have the 1970 US Open awarded to Hazeltine – a decision which blew up a storm of controversy which gave Heffelfinger’s course instant notoriety.

The pros did not like the layout and felt it was not up to the required standard but none were as vociferous in their condemnation as the acerbic Dave Hill.

Known as a straight-talker Hill’s caustic remarks caused the good ‘ole boys of the USGA to choke on their rye whiskies and upset the friendly folk of Minnesota but the upshot was that Hazeltine underwent a series of re-designs – including by Robert Trent Jones’ son Rees so that today it is a superb parkland test with no question marks over its right to stage a Major.

Legend has it that Hill was coerced to chat to the Press after he had consumed a few Vodka-and-somethings and that he may have been playing the stooge but his remarks have nevertheless entered folklore and will be dredged up whenever the USGA take one of their events to the North Star State.

Asked what Hazeltine lacked Hill replied: “Eighty acres of corn and a few cows. They ruined a good farm when they built this course.”

And he was just warming up. “If I had to play this course every day for fun, I’d find me another game. Just because you cut the grass and put up flags doesn’t mean you’ve got a golf course. Mr Jones’ foreman had the blue-prints upside down. I’ve associated with idiots before, but he (Jones) passes himself off as an intelligent man. My two kids could lay out a better golf course than that.”

That was, and still is Dave Hill – a man who once described a putt as “being faster than a fart on a hot skillet,” and who wrote of Gary Player, in his book Teed Off, “he runs and lifts weights and eats health foods. That’s all well and good, but I get tired of hearing him brag about it. So what if he has the most perfect bowel movements on the PGA Tour?”

Hill was a marked man after that at Hazeltine. The crowd took to making “mooing” noises while he was playing and he responded by pretending he was skipping around cow pies.

However, he stuck it out and eventually finished alone in second place, seven strokes behind Tony Jacklin – a victory that to this day stands as the last by a European in the US Open.

In the ensuing years Hazeltine would host two more men’s Majors – the 1991 US Open in which Payne Stewart beat Scott Simpson in an 18-hole play-off after they had tied on a score of six-under 282 and the 2002 PGA in which Rich Beem had his moment in the sun by withstanding a feverish charge by Tiger Woods.

Playing as though he was oblivious to the pressure Beem took a title that even he thought he had no business winning.

The man who just seven years previously was selling car music systems and cellphones hit a 3-wood close to set up an eagle at the 11th and then put the cherry on the cake by holing a long putt at the 16th to thwart a four-birdie charge by Woods who was mounting a compelling bid to become the first player to win the three US Majors in the same year.

Seven years on the focus will still be on Woods – bidding to win at least one Major in 2009. Rich Beem, as a former champion will be in the field, but with little hope of re-kindling the fairytale. He is now No 280 in the world.