Interlachen toughened up for U.S. Open

There's already a certain level of pressure that comes with being the golf course superintendent at historic Interlachen Country Club. But, as Matt Rostal will admit, there's even more in the months leading up to the 63rd U.S. Women's Open.

"Oh yeah, definitely," Rostal said. "You're on TV. You're on the national stage. There's a lot more pressure to present our course in a positive light, and also to get the golf course ready each day for what the USGA wants. We're going to have 90 people out here working on this course at 5:30 a.m. that week. My crew of 30, plus 60 volunteers."

Rostal's crew took the covers off Interlachen's greens on April 8. It will be mid-May before the course starts growing the way it needs to. And the first practice round is June 23.

Rostal's preparation actually began two years ago, when he started working with the USGA's senior director of rules and competition, Mike Davis, who sets up all of the USGA's championships.

Interlachen's bunkers were renovated, reshaped and pinched into the fairways in the fall of 2006. They are much more in play off the tee than they were during the 2002 Solheim Cup.

Rostal also began narrowing the fairways on each hole in the fall of 2006. Some were narrowed only 2 yards. But the par-5 around the pond near the clubhouse -- the ninth hole for members but the 18th for the U.S. Women's Open -- was narrowed by 20 yards deep down the fairway.

"That was a good improvement," said Jock Olson, head pro at Interlachen. "What you saw on that fairway before was the real long hitters were getting a break, while the shorter hitters had the narrower landing area."

Rostal also built a new back tee on No. 17. The par-4 dogleg will play to a length of 445 yards -- about 25 yards longer than the Solheim Cup -- and "probably will be the hardest hole on the course that week," Rostal said. The overall length of the course will be 6,789 yards, a record for a U.S. Women's Open.

The first 11 feet of rough off the fairway will be cut at 3 1/2 to 4 inches. Beyond that, the rough could be as high as 6 inches.

The greens could roll as fast as 12 on the Stimpmeter. They are at about 10 to 10 1/2 for members.

"Mike wants them at 12 the week before the tournament so he can go out and test them to see if it's fair," Rostal said. "Our greens at 12, with the slopes, the downhill putts will be treacherous."

A longer course with tighter fairways, higher rough and faster greens. Sounds like a USGA event all right.

"The women made a lot of birdies during the Solheim Cup," Olson said. "This is going to be set up much harder. But that's the U.S. Open."