Play Hazeltine -- in your living room

The new Tiger Woods golf game includes the Chaska course that will host the 2009 PGA.

By JEFF SHELMAN, Special to the Star Tribune

Last update: June 7, 2009 - 8:08 PM

Now everyone will have a chance to play Hazeltine National Golf Club. ¶ In this case, however, playing doesn't mean actually putting a ball on a tee, hitting it and walking down the fairways. But, for many, this will be as close as they will get to competing at the Chaska club that will host the PGA Championship in August. ¶ Today, video game giant Electronic Arts will release "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10," the latest version of its extremely popular golf game. And for the first time, Hazeltine will be among the courses available for gamers to play.

As a result, golf fans who own a Xbox 360, a Wii or a system in the PlayStation family can get a sense of what Hazeltine is like before Woods and the other top golfers in the world arrive in the Twin Cities. They can see just how difficult it is to find the fairway on Hazeltine's No. 16, how small the green on the par 3 No. 8 looks from the tee and just how uphill Nos. 9 and 18 play.

At Hazeltine, members and staff are excited about their course entering the world of video games.

Hazeltine controller Jeff Okland said EA approached the club prior to the 2002 PGA Championship about being in the game. At that point, the club's board opted against participating. Okland received an e-mail from EA about a year ago and this time, the reaction was very different, in part because of how the Tiger Woods franchise has grown.

"Tiger Woods is the golf game," Okland said. "The game is so well regarded. It's the kind of thing we want to be a part of."

Last fall, a crew traveled to Hazeltine to do the mapping for the game. Over the next three days, they took pictures and used GPS to determine the location of items on the course. Late this winter, EA sent flyovers of each hole for Okland to look at.

While most of the features looked just like reality, a few tweaks needed to be made. A bunker was too close to a tee box. A couple of trees that aren't really in play in reality were a little too close to the video game action. And a cart path that doesn't exist had to be removed. Other than that, Okland said the game certainly reflects reality.

In a video trailer for the game, Woods talked about the 8th, 16th and 18th holes at Hazeltine. Woods certainly hasn't forgotten his spectacular bunker shot on No. 18 in the final round of the 2002 PGA, saying on the trailer, "[No. 18] is actually where I hit probably my best shot ever on the PGA Tour, a 3 iron from the left bunker."

The PGA Championship is part of the reason why EA wanted Hazeltine in the game. Each of the new courses in the game -- a group that includes Bethpage Black, Torrey Pines and Oakmont -- have played host to major championships.

Hazeltine, which will be in the next three Tiger Woods games, is being paid by EA for its participation. The club is also receiving a number of games for its members.

"I got an e-mail from just about every member. They all play, apparently," Okland said. "Our little allotment was way oversubscribed. I underestimated that so many of our members play. I wouldn't have thought that."

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