The CPC will visit Ohio in 2004

The PGA Club Professional Championship will travel to Ohio for the first time in its storied history, when The 2004 CPC is staged at Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio, on June 24--27.

By Roger Graves, PGA Magazine

Ohio-based architect Arthur Hills designed Longaberger, which is about 45 miles east of Columbus, for the Longaberger Company, a world-renowned firm that makes handcrafted baskets. Hills is a disciple of Donald Ross, and his Longaberger layout has already hosted a match pitting Karrie Webb against Dottie Pepper on Shell's Wonderful World of Golf television series. Longaberger Golf Club was named "America's Best New Upscale Public Course" in 2000 by Golf Digest and was ranked 23rd on its list of the top 40 daily-fee courses by Golf & Travel Magazine. In addition, Golf Magazine included it among "The Top Ten You Can Play" in its March 2000 issue and in 2002, it rocketed to 34th place on Golf Magazine's "Top 100 You Can Play" list. But the national attention was delayed by the decision not to open Longaberger until a year after it was finished. Hills completed the course in 1998, but it didn't open to the public until May 1999.

"It is unusual to let a golf course sit for an entire year," admits Longaberger Head Professional Danny Ackerman, who has served as the head professional at Quail Hollow Country Club and Pinehurst No. 6. "By allowing it to sit, the course and the golfers really benefit from a number of things. First, a lot of problems with drainage and washed-away areas could be solved before the course opened. It also allowed the greens and fairways to mature."

Hills, one of the most prolific golf-course architects of the latter third of the 20th century, is famous for mixing the dramatic elements of American golf with understated accents reminiscent of more classic British and Irish layouts. His green complexes at Longaberger, for example, are guarded by grass bunkers as well as sand bunkers. Some critics consider Longaberger to be Hills' finest public course to date. The picturesque course includes elevation changes of more than 100 feet. Conditions are impeccable, and a premium has been placed on shot-making, especially when it comes to iron play. Plus, water comes into play on six of the greens.

"It will be interesting to see how the best PGA Professionals in the United States play this course," says Ackerman. "We have fair driving holes, but you had better be a good iron player, and be able to use a 60-degree wedge if you miss a green." Hills, who was inducted into the Ohio Golf Hall of Fame in 1993, designed numerous forced carries to fairways more than 200 yards away; thin, slick, difficult greens; and more slopes than you'll find on a roller coaster to challenge The 2004 CPC field. The course can play up to 7,243 yards, with much of that yardage found in a quartet of par-4s that averages 466 yards from the back tees.

It all adds up to another stern challenge for the 156 PGA Professionals who qualify for The 2004 CPC.