Sunriver Resort: A versatile venue with 'True Grit'
The late and legendary John Wayne would have loved the course The PGA of America picked out for its 40th PGA Professional National Championship. Sunriver Resort in Oregon features pristine, picturesque panoramas and family friendly amenities, but with a pair of rough, gruff golf courses built to test the best of players.
By Roger Graves, Senior Writer
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the pga professional national championship, The PGA of America pursued a pair of golf courses with John Wayne characteristics to challenge the 312-player field.
To commemorate four decades of the National Championship that began in the Wild, Wild West at Roadrunner and Century Country Clubs in Scottsdale, Ariz., The PGA was looking for a venue with "True Grit" -- a resort featuring pristine, picturesque panoramas and family friendly amenities, but with rough, gruff golf courses built to test the most proficient PGA Professionals in the land on June 21–24.
Fittingly, Sunriver Resort -- 3,800 acres of blissful beauty and brawn that served as the backdrop for John Wayne's sequel to the movie "True Grit" in 1975 -- got the casting call.
Fittingly, the property in Central Oregon on which Wayne starred in the film "Rooster Cogburn" promises to provide the perfect 40th anniversary stage when PGA Professionals from all 41 PGA Sections take on long-and-strong Crosswater Golf Club and the pine-tree-lined Meadows Golf Course in an old-fashioned, 72-hole western shootout with $75,000 awarded to the last gunslinger standing. In Sunriver Resort, The PGA wanted a strong, solid, stern, demanding test of golf and a resort with a flair for family fun. It also wanted breathtaking scenery and greenery for the daily telecasts by GOLF CHANNEL.
Sunriver Resort, nestled 15 miles from Bend, Ore., on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, filled all orders.
"Sunriver Resort continues the tradition of the Association providing both breathtaking scenery and challenging venues for the PGA Professional National Championship," says PGA President Brian Whitcomb, who is extremely familiar with the region, since he owns and operates Lost Tracks Golf Club in Bend, Ore. "This area has a strong golf history that includes hosting the 2001 PGA Professional National Championship, and the community is uniting to help us welcome the 300-plus PGA Professionals and their families who will be visiting this part of the Pacific Northwest in June."
Crosswater and the Meadows give the National Championship courses that have hosted a "major" national event annually since 1999. Meanwhile, on the family fun side, Sunriver Resort features 28 tennis courts, 37 miles of paved bike paths, three swimming complexes, horseback riding, an indoor racquet club, canoeing and kayaking, whitewater rafting, fly-finishing, and a nature center built on 3,500 acres formerly occupied by Camp Abbott, an Army training base that housed 40,000 soldiers during World War II. Then there is snow-capped Mt. Bachelor standing sentinel on the horizon, and the Big Deschutes, Little Deschutes, Falls and Sun rivers running through the postcard-worthy property. Combine all of the elements and you have the ingredients for an unforgettable 40th PGA Professional National Championship.
Deschutes County west of Bend, the Rogue River, and the land on which Sunriver Resort now sits served as the natural site for "Rooster Cogburn," a film about a fearless, one-eyed U.S. Marshal who brought justice to the Wild West. Wayne won an Oscar for his performance in "True Grit," the film that introduced Cogburn to the world of cinema. And true grit is what it will take to emerge victorious in the 2007 PGA Professional National Championship presented by Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra; Club Car and Buick. It also may take a Rooster Cogburn mentality -- brave, brash, unintimidated, aggressive and a carefully plotted strategy -- to cope with the brawny (7,566 yards) Crosswater Golf Club course and the tight, well-bunkered Meadows Golf Course at Sunriver Resort.
Brad Myrick, the PGA head professional who has seen Sunriver Resort host numerous NCAA and USGA national championships, recalls that Crosswater tested the true grit of the 70 competitors who survived the 36-hole cut when the PGA Professional National Championship debuted at Sunriver in 2001. After a week of relatively warm, windless conditions, Sunday's final round in 2001 turned cold and windy. Only three of 70 players broke par in the final round. Eight players soared into the 80s in that fateful finale and the average score was just a shade shy of 76.
"There is a great line from that Rooster Cogburn movie that was filmed on this property that will apply to the players in the 2007 National Championship," says Myrick, who helped open Crosswater Golf Club in 1995, and is on the doorstep of the Quarter Century Club as a PGA Professional. "John Wayne, who is playing Rooster Cogburn, is teaching Katharine Hepburn how to shoot a rifle, and he says, 'Elevation and windage –- that's the secret.' He's talking about shooting, but it applies to the guys trying to play well on these golf courses, too.
"Those guys who are coming from sea level will have to adjust to this elevation of 4,200 feet. Plus, the wind can really have an impact. We don't get a lot of rain, but there is usually wind almost every day. If you can't judge the elevation and the wind, the Crosswater course will do exactly what happened to Katherine Hepburn. She pulled the trigger and it knocked her back 30 yards."
Indeed, it will take Wayne-like grit to master the high-desert elevation, potential winds, and tricky greens that will greet competitors in the 40th PGA Professional National Championship. But Championship Week also promises to have a family flavor.
"Based on reaction from the players in 2001, I think you'll see a lot of players bringing their families to Sunriver Resort this year," says Mark Tschetschot, director of PGA member tournaments. "Even though the Championship will be the emphasis, the resort lends itself to a lot of family activities away from the golf courses.
"Virtually everyone who played in 2001 said they wished they had brought their families with them. Sunriver has become an ideal venue for a Championship of this nature. First, you have a couple of great golf courses, the resort staff really knows how to prepare for a Championship of this magnitude, and it's just a great place for a June family outing."
Defending Champion Missed the Cut in 2001
Ron Philo Jr., who won the 2006 PGA Professional National Championship at Turning Stone Resort in Verona, N.Y., in the National Championship's return to a 312-player field, has mixed memories of his previous visit to Sunriver Resort for the 2001 PGA Professional National Championship.
Philo double-bogeyed his final hole at Crosswater Golf Club to miss the 36- hole cut after rounds of 75 and 72. He not only hasn't missed a National Championship cut since, but he has a streak of four consecutive top-five finishes in the National Championship and has earned a ticket to the PGA Championship four straight years.
"Sunriver is a beautiful resort and our whole family is looking forward to going back there," says Philo, who defeated Alan Schulte of Fishers, Ind., on the third playoff hole to secure the 2006 National Championship title, a check for $75,000, a ticket to the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club near Chicago, and an exemption to play in six PGA Tour events in 2007.
"What I remember most about 2001 was that the ball would go weird distances. That was my first real experience at elevation in a high-desert climate. It was a unique experience. I remember the greens at Crosswater were extremely challenging in spots and you really had to control your golf ball."
Philo says it will be a lot of fun to go to Sunriver Resort as the defending National Champion, but he's quick to add that nobody's going to just hand him the Walter Hagen Cup because he won it last year.
"Every year, the PGA Professional National Championship is the biggest event I get a chance to prepare for, and one of my goals is always to play well and qualify for the PGA Championship," says Philo. "The National Championship is my major, and it has all the candy at the end of the rainbow if you play well. It opens a lot of doors when you win this Championship.
"For a PGA Professional, taking a week off in June to play a Championship like this and spend time with your family is a rare opportunity. We're looking forward to it."
Philo is right on target when he acknowledges the lengthy list of benefits -- professional perks, if you prefer -- that await the 2007 National Champion. First, the winner earns a check for $75,000 and sees his name engraved on the coveted Walter Hagen Cup, which is named after the five-time PGA Championship winner and one of the original founders of The PGA of America. The 2007 Champion and the top 20 finishers earn invitations to The PGA Championship Aug. 9–12 at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla. The winner also secures exemptions to six PGA Tour events over a 12-month period. This year, the top 10 finishers also earn a berth on the U.S. Team that will compete in the 23rd PGA Cup, Sept. 21–23, at Oconee Course at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga.
No PGA Professional has won back-to-back National Championships since Larry Gilbert accomplished the feat in 1981 and 1982 (Gilbert also won in 1991), so history suggests it would take a John Wayne-like effort for Philo to duplicate his 2006 title.
"I'll be well prepared," assures Philo, who familiarized himself with the Sunriver courses at PGA Professional National Championship Media Day in early May. "With a field of 312 and playing at different sites each year, it's not easy to win two in a row.
"Personally, it was one of my lifelong goals to win the National Championship once, so to win it again would be something else."
Recalls Wayne DeFrancesco, who won the 2001 PGA Professional National Championship when all 72 holes were contested at Crosswater Golf Club with a field of 156: "Winning was a career highlight because it paved the way for so many other opportunities as a player.
"It's nice to see it returning to Sunriver Resort. It's a great part of the country, and Crosswater is a great golf course. There is a lot of strategy involved in how you attack those holes, but if you hit quality shots you are rewarded. I remember the wind blew the last two days in 2001, and was fortunate enough to play even-par on the weekend to win (by three strokes). It will be interesting to see how the (Crosswater) course has changed over the past few years."
Championship Kicks Off "Sunriver Slam"
Talk about true grit from an administrative perspective. The 2007 PGA Professional National Championship tees off what Sunriver Resort PGA Director of Golf Michael Sizemore calls the "Sunriver Slam" -- the National Championship on June 21–24 at Crosswater and Meadows; the Jeld-Wen Tradition, the final major of the Champions Tour season Aug. 13–19 on the Crosswater course; and the USGA Senior Women's Amateur Championship on the Meadows course on Aug. 30–Sept. 6.
"The PGA Professional National Championship kicks off a busy season for us, and our entire staff of 800 is committed to making sure it is a very special week for everyone involved," says Sizemore. "We're trying to conduct at least one national championship at Sunriver Resort every year, and we have signed a four-year contract to host the Jeld-Wen Tradition each August.
"In addition to playing two challenging golf courses, we want everyone to enjoy themselves and take advantage of all the great recreational opportunities available at the resort."
Asks Myrick with a chuckle: "Where else can you see Bob Ford (the longtime PGA Professional at Oakmont Country Club, site of this month's U.S. Open) walk into the clubhouse soaking wet from a rafting trip?
"In 2001, the guys discovered what Central Oregon and Sunriver Resort is all about. Where else can you go rafting, .y.shing, canoeing, horseback riding, cycling, jogging, play tennis or visit the spa in addition to playing golf on three championship courses? That's what I mean when I say this is going to be a special week for players and families."
Maturity is the main difference between the Crosswater Golf Club course that challenged PGA Professionals in 2001 and the 7,566-yard layout -- the second longest in National Championship history -- that will test the grit of the 312- player field in 2007. Designed by Bob Cupp and inspired by the Scottish Highlands, Crosswater is so named because players will cross the Big Deschutes or Little Deschutes Rivers at least seven times during a typical round while also contending with an array of natural wetlands and ponds.
"Bob Cupp was a master of how he took a beautiful piece of property, utilized the rivers so perfectly and moved a minimal amount of dirt in creating a real gem of a golf course in Crosswater," says Myrick. "You know, they originally had 36 holes planned for the Crosswater property, but Bob was instrumental in maintaining the integrity of the land and talking the owners into building a good, natural 18-hole course instead. He moved just enough dirt to give the fairways some movement while incorporating the rivers naturally.
"It's like Cupp said, 'You can build a golf course anywhere, but you can't put a river through it.' He did a great job with the green complexes, too. The ninth green is larger in square footage than the clubhouse, which is 17,000 square feet. There is tremendous variety to the greens."
The Meadows Golf Course at Sunriver Resort, which each of the 312 players in the 2007 National Championship will play once, is a collaborative effort between Fred Federspiel and 1977 U.S. Amateur Champion John Fought. The par-71 layout will play at 7,001 yards for the National Championship, winding its way through a vast meadow and through groves of ponderosa pine trees.
"John Fought did a complete remodel of the bunkers and green complexes on the Meadows course in 1997 and we reopened the course in 1998," says Sizemore. "We maintained the same routing of the course, but a lot of recontouring of fairways and greens was done. The result has been a very enjoyable course for our resort guests and a very challenging course when set up to host a championship.
"The Meadows course presents a different set of challenges than Crosswater. It's shorter, but it's tighter and places a premium on accuracy. Distance control is very important on both courses, and it always comes down to who can make a few putts on the greens."
When DeFrancesco won the 2001 PGA Professional National Championship at Crosswater Golf Club, he exhibited that solid, stern John Wayne-Rooster Cogburn combination of toughness and perseverance. That same approach will be necessary to conquer the Crosswater Golf Club and Meadows Golf Course at Sunriver Resort in the 40th edition of the PGA Professional National Championship on June 21-24.