When we were presented with the opportunity to bring the Illinois Women's Open to Mistwood Golf Club in 1999, I saw it as a terrific opportunity to help advance women's golf. Prior to that time, because they were given low priority, women's tournaments were played mostly on golf courses that were too straightforward and boring.
In other words, basic golf. Okay, but nothing special.
And as a result I could see that women's skills would be a long time in evolving because those courses provided a marginal test, at best. This problem extended from the high school level all the way to the LPGA Tour and women's majors. As you may have noticed, only recently has there been an effort to take the women's majors to some of the same courses played by the men. A benchmark came in 2007 in that the Women's British Open Championship was contested on the Old Course at St. Andrews. A great moment, long overdue.
You could say because of the blah venues women's golf lacked drama.
One of the biggest problems with the courses women had been playing was they did not force a player to think. Yes, an important part of golf is being able to execute all the shots. More importantly, I have always believed that a well-designed golf course demands that a player continually have to make choices offered by the golf course architect throughout the track. I have been on the Golf Digest Top 100 Courses ranking panel for almost 30 years, and consistently part of my points awarded to a candidate course depended heavily on how much strategic thinking and the golf-ball management the design demanded from the player.
To me, that is one of the mandatory ingredients to a good golf design. Anybody can design a back-and-forth golf course where scoring depends heavily on the player's length over precision shotmaking. Anybody can design a brutal, tricked-up, penal layout packed with too many hazards and sharp edges that make it unfair. To me, the key is incorporating all of the proper design elements while making the course look tough and play fair. Most golf course architects claim that's what they do, but I've played over 2,000 different courses all across the country and can tell you it usually does not work out that way.
Here's a taste of some of what we've done before, since we settled at Mistwood. No guarantees, just play the golf course is you find it.
If you've already played in an Illinois Women's Open at Mistwood, you already know what to expect. (Expect the unexpected!) Depending on the anticipated conditions, we will use any of the first three tee boxes on most holes.
Mistwood, a position golf course, will test you from tee to green. Mistwood is not just a second shot golf course. It demands proper positioning off the tee, to open up certain flag locations to approaches. And Mistwood's challenging putting surfaces require players put their ball in the proper quadrant. A miss usually means a three-putt.
You'll get a wide variety of lies. In the fescue areas, you'll have to read your lie and decide whether to take the penalty stroke (lateral hazard) or attempt to hit it out.
Course management and careful club selection on the tee box are crucial. Most players who figure to take advantage of some of Mistwood's relatively short length by busting 12 to 14 drivers get carried out on their shields.
I have long been an advocate of having a par-4 on every course – even better, one on each side – that can be set up to be driveable. Years before the PGA Tour discovered how dramatic those holes can be. I have done this in every IWO since the first, long before the PGA Tour and USGA discovered (recently) the excitement it can create.
So I like to push up the tees at least one day of the three rounds on the second hole, giving players the opportunity– should they decide to gamble – to drive the par-4. There is sufficient mounding, moguls and bunkering guarding the green to provide great risk for those who miss the putting surface in an effort to pick up an eagle or two-putt birdie.
The par-5 third hasn't had a forward tee box where we could set it up so gamblers could go at the green in two. So for 99 percent of the field this will be a three-shot hole. Tough third shot, though, and you absolutely must place your approach perfectly.
Same with the double-fairway, par-5 eighth hole, which from the front tee only the longest players with two great shots can dream about getting a sniff at the green.
The 10th hole, a par-4, sharp dogleg right, has always been played from the forward-most tees in the final round, again giving gamblers the option to hit a power fade around and over the trees and reach the green from the tee. A miss will either produce a bogey or worse, or a great up-and-down to save par.
Many times the last seven holes at Mistwood have seen exciting lead changes that have determined the champion. Players have to make a decision whether they would like to play careful and chance being passed on the leaderboard by more aggressive players, or gambling in exactly the right places with birdies and eagles the rewards.
The par-3 14th hole will probably play from the high back tees across the water two of three days.
The par-5 15th hole will have the tees on the forward-most tee box all three days, giving everyone in the field a chance to bite off whatever they think they can chew by taking the shortcut across the water. You'll need to use your noodle here, with a bad decision as damaging as a loose shot. Shots into the green are equally apoplectic as the lake and its penalty strokes tighten the left side, and mounds and OB the right. The huge green also has seen many three-putts. In the past, we've seen many eagles on this hole, as well as some very ugly "others" off tee shots leaking into the neighbor's cornfield or rinsed in the lake.
The par-4 16th hole requires exacting club selection resulting in a well-placed tee shot and an even better short iron approach because this short hole's finish is one of Mistwood's toughest greens. Same with the short par-3 17th.
And the 18th, a tight-driving 5-par with water on the right and moguls and bunkering to the left will be set up from the forward tees all three days. Any player hitting a decent drive into the fairway should have no more than a well-struck fairway wood or long iron into the green, which is guarded by bunkers, trees, and a creek in front. It's seen its share of eagles, as well as big numbers. It's gambler's paradise, and many Illinois Women's Opens have been decided on this hole.
No matter what happens, I'll guarantee you'll leave Mistwood a smarter player than when you arrived. If you show up with no game plan, you won't make it to the weekend.
Have fun and play well,
Phil Kosin Tournament director and founder Illinois Women's Open