CHASKA, Minn. – Hazeltine National Golf Club is spending the summer preparing for this fall’s U.S. vs. Europe team competition, the Ryder Cup, which will place the ultimate international jewel in the club’s crown.
Opened in 1962, the club’s mission statement is to maintain a golf course for national championships.
In that spirit, Hazeltine has been building toward this fall’s big event.
“We’re going to be on a short list of only one other club after we do the Ryder Cup of clubs that have hosted the men’s open, the women’s open, the senior open, the U.S. Amateur, PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup; and that’s Pinehurst,” notes Mike Barge, director of instruction since 1986.
Hazeltine history
Barge’s unique view of Hazeltine’s championship history dates back to even before he started working for the club.
“My parents brought me out here in 1970 to watch that open,” Barge recalls.
Hazeltine was just eight years old at the time, and the course, which still has a barn on its fringe that was there in those days, suffered some growing pains.
“I think the barn probably had something to do with Dave Hill’s remarks,” Barge says.
In a later U.S. Open publication, golfer Dave Hill, who was in the hunt at the 1970 U.S. Open, recalled when he told reporters the course lacked “Eighty acres of corn and a few cows.”
He wrote that those remarks were “tongue in cheek.”
Barge says, “Journalists were chuckling, and next thing you know, Hazeltine became a cow pasture, and it was hurtful. It was hurtful for a long time.”
Hazeltine has matured, and Barge says the next U.S. Open in 1991, which Payne Stewart won, was very successful.
Two PGA Championships followed in 2002 and 2009.
For Barge, one Tiger Woods’ moment from 2002 stands out.
Standing in the same fairway bunker where Woods stood on Saturday of the tournament, Barge recalls a tree that was in the way, high winds, and the shot Tiger struck that found the green.
“He said it was the best shot he’s ever hit in his life. Pretty cool to have it happen here at Hazeltine No. 18,” Barge says.
In the clubhouse, the faces of men and women, who have won championships at Hazeltine, line the hallways, including such golfers as 1977 U.S. Women’s Open champion Hollis Stacy and 2009 PGA champion Y.E. Yang.
Ryder Cup images also grace the halls, and hanging next to those, you can find the club’s mission – in short, a course for championships.
“Fifty-five some years later, we’re carrying on that mission,” Barge says.
Hazeltine and Payne Stewart
While Barge has witnessed most of Hazeltine’s championship history, one moment, which can be found in the club’s heritage collection room, is personal.
There on a shelf is a photo of Barge with Payne Stewart after he won the ’91 U.S. Open.
“Obviously, this is very special to me, for sure,” Barge says.
Anyone would cherish such a photo, but for Barge, it’s truly personal. He was a golfing teammate with Stewart at Southern Methodist University.
Stewart, who died in an ill-fated 1999 flight, is now remembered by a stone bridge on Hazeltine’s 16th hole.
Barge says, “I can’t help but think that this probably would have been his Ryder Cup captaincy.”
2016 Ryder Cup
On a course where Stewart’s victorious spirit lives, Barge says the U.S. team needs a Ryder Cup victory after Europe’s recent dominance.
“I would love it to come down to the final match, and maybe it’s Rory Mcllroy and Jordan Spieth, or maybe the last match is Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson – rematch of the Open,” says Barge.
Ultimately, Barge hopes the Ryder Cup adds to Hazeltine’s growing legacy.
“We hope on Oct. 3 – the day after the Ryder Cup – that we can all slap each other on the back and say, wow, that was fun,” Barge says.