Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019 - 18

GEARING UP FOR THE 3M OPEN
fairway edges. And Lehman says they
grabbed length where they could, most
dramatically on the par-5 fi nishing hole.
" We completely changed the way
No. 18 is going to play, " Lehman says.
" We moved the tee 200 yards from
where it used to be, changed the angle
and reworked the pond. The hole now
requires quite a good tee shot in order to
have a legitimate chance to knock it on
the green to make an eagle. You will still
see eagles, and a lot of birdies, but you're
going to see more balls in the water and
more bogeys, maybe even a double or
two. You're going to see a little wider
variety of score on 18. "
On the par-4 second hole, Lehman
and company built a new tee right next
to the fi rst green for the championship,
but it requires a drive across an existing
road. Lehman admits that's not the
fi rst choice a designer would make in
creating a course, but the change turns
an easy hole into a good one and was an
obvious choice.
" For the tournament, if they choose
to (which I hope they do), they'll use
the tee next to the fi rst green, " Lehman
says. " Drive it across the road to the fattest
part of the fairway. It changes a hole
that was 3-wood and a wedge and makes
it a driver, 7 iron with water everywhere.
That's a big change. "
The par-5 third hole became a par 4,
which Lehman believes will likely grab
one half to three-quarters of a shot to par
back from the scoring average. The TPC's
large greens were left basically untouched
(only one was altered), although Cavner
expects them to be fi rmed up (weather
permitting) from 10.5 on the stimpmeter
for the 3M Championship to 11.5-12
for the 3M Open.
" You do enough little things where
you make holes a tenth of a shot tougher,
two-tenths of a shot tougher, then take
the big changes when you can, and hopefully
you end up with a course that will
challenge those guys, " Lehman says.
The " guys " Lehman refers to include
(at press time) the likes of Bryson
DeChambeau,
Jason Day,
Brooks
Koepka, Si Woo Kim, Lucas Glover,
Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama,
Jason Dufner and the ever-popular Phil
Mickelson, who says he's excited for the
PGA Tour to return to the Twin Cities.
Lehman expects more big-name players
to commit as the tournament nears. He
says that has everything to do with the
July 4th date-which is a big holiday for
lake-going Minnesotans but falls two
weeks after the U.S. Open and two weeks
prior to the British Open.
" I think the date is the biggest reason.
Players don't like to continue to
play after a major, " Lehman says. " The
top guys prepare so their game is all systems
go for a major championship. And
MINNESOTA'S PGA TOUR HISTORY
Excitement is building for the 3M Open, but this
isn't the fi rst PGA Tour stop in Minnesota history.
The last local regular PGA Tour stop was in 1969-
and it was called the Minnesota Golf Classic,
played at Braemar Golf Course and won by Frank
Beard (see " Backspin " on page 40). But that's only
a portion of the PGA Tour history in the Twin Cities.
We're familiar with the many major events that
have taken place in the state: four U.S. Opens,
fi ve PGA Championships and the 2016 Ryder Cup. But less
renowned are the 22 St. Paul Open titles contested between
1930 and 1956 at Keller Golf Club, the site of the state's
fi rst PGA Championship. Some of the trophy winners include
Harry Cooper (who won the inaugural, plus two more), Sam
Snead in 1937, Jimmy Demaret in 1948 and Tommy Bolt
in 1955.
The Keller event became the St. Paul Invitational
in 1957 (through 1965) with Ken Venturi, Doug
Sanders and Raymond Floyd among the winners.
Finally, the tournament became the Minnesota
Classic for four years and moved across the river
twice: to Hazeltine National in 1967 and Braemar
in 1969.
Throw in the Western Open, which Snead snared
at Keller in 1949, and the Twin Cities has a decent
PGA Tour history. Tom Lehman is happy to help restart that
tradition after a 50-year drought.
" It's a big deal to have a PGA Tour event in your city, " he
says. " It raises a signifi cant amount of money for charity, it
provides an amazing amount of entertainment for golf fans
and it's really fun to see the top players. So when the chance
rolls around, you take advantage of it. "
18
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2019
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Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019

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