Fred Funk remembers his initial thought when he stepped on to the tee box for the first time at Sahalee.
Trees. Trees everywhere. There were lots and lots of unavoidable trees.
“I really don’t think any other golf course has the trees that Sahalee has,” Funk said last week. “You almost feel claustrophobic on some of the holes. It’s intimidating.”
Funk, the reigning U.S. Senior Open champion, will hope to defend his title July 29, when the event opens at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish. The four-day tournament brings together the best golfers over the age of 50 and includes such luminaries as Seattle native Fred Couples, Tom Watson, Tom Kite and Greg Norman.
Funk, who has played Sahalee before, shot a United States Golf Association (USGA) 72-hole record of 20-under-par 268 to win the 2009 U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. The Maryland native said he thinks his game, which is highlighted by short but accurate drives, fits perfectly for Sahalee – which is lined with trees along each fairway – something that could give other golfers problems.
“You have to be in the fairway and you have to be in the right place in the fairway,” Funk said. “You can’t go over those trees or through them. You have to be in control of your game.”
USGA spokesman Pete Kowalski said Sahalee’s unique features were a major factor in bringing the event to the course, which was also the site of the 1998 PGA Championship (won by Vijay Singh) and the 2002 NEC World Golf Championship, won by Craig Parry.
“The U.S. Senior Open should be the most rigorous, the most difficult, yet fair, test in senior championship golf,” he said. “We want well executed shots rewarded. We want poorly executed shots penalized.”
Sahalee Country Club has three 9-hole courses – North, South and East — and the championship 18 holes will be the South and North courses. The South course will serve as the front nine with the North the back nine.
The USGA didn’t do much modifying on the course, said Jeff Hall, the USGA course set-up man. Holes No. 6 (South hole No. 6) and No. 18 (North hole No.9) will turn from par-5s to par-4s in the most drastic changes. Hall said other than that, most of the changes came in fairway width (average width will be 26 yards) and altered mowing patterns.
Hall added the course will also utilize the graduated-rough concept.
The course aims to be a challenge for the 156 golfers that will make up the starting field.
“Sahalee speaks for itself,” said Funk, who is still recovering from November knee surgery. “It will be a fun week.”
