Hazeltine Prepares For Ryder Cup Glory
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The golf world will turn its attention to a Twin Cities course this fall.
Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska is hosting the 2016 Ryder Cup. The biennial men's golf tournament consists of 12-member teams from the United States and Europe.
It is a sporting event that attracts TV viewership totals of a half billion people from around the world.
Glenn Craft has conquered the greens at Hazeltine National Golf Club for nearly 30 years. The pristine fairways typically serve as the course's only scenery. But Glenn and other Hazeltine members cannot help but notice a different look.
Construction is happening both on and near the golf course.
"It's the biggest thing that's happened to this club, and a lot of big things have happened to this club," Craft said.
Preparation is underway for one of golf's most highly-anticipated tournaments It is played in even-numbered years and only takes place in the United States every four years.
The tournament switches locations between Europe and the U.S. each tournament.
"There's nothing as big as the Ryder Cup. I think you'll find that it's bigger than the Super Bowl," Craft said.
Hazeltine normally sees between 23,000 and 25,000 players a season. But that number will swell to 250,000 during the Ryder Cup's six days -- and there is the televised audience to consider as well.
"I think the TV audience is something like a half a billion people. I try not to remind myself of that aspect," said Chris Tritabaugh, Hazeltine's course superintendent.
Infrastructure will take months to build. Construction is already underway on storage tents, corporate chalets and a massive platform spanning two football fields. It will serve as an international pavilion with patio areas, tents and televisions to watch the action.
"I think the best way to describe it is sort of a sports bar atmosphere," Tritabaugh said.
Hazeltine is no stranger to major tournaments. The club hosted the 2002 and 2009 PGA Championships. But Tritabaugh says all pale in comparison to the Ryder Cup.
"It's 100-percent bigger than the PGA Championship in 2002, which was the bigger of the two PGA [events] that have been held here at Hazeltine," Tritabaugh said.
Every day brings more progress in the preparation, until Hazeltine takes golf's biggest stage.
"It's not something that happens all the time, and I think that's elevated it," Tritabaugh said.
He says there will not be any change to the course layout, but the routing will change to allow more space at the final holes.
Golfers will play the first four holes of the front nine and the last five holes of the back nine.
For those familiar with Hazeltine, teams will play holes one through four and 14 through 18 for the front nine. For the back nine, they will play 10 through 13 and five through nine.
The Ryder Cup takes place September 27 through October 2.
