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KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 21, 2019

Kerry Haigh

Rochester, New York

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon, and welcome back to the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship here at Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, New York. I am glad to be joined by the PGA of America's chief championships officer, Kerry Haigh. Kerry, thanks for carving out a little bit of time to join us here. Wondering what the golf's top senior talents might expect on Oak Hill's East Course this week.

KERRY HAIGH: Well, thanks, John, and good afternoon, everyone. It's nice to be back here at Oak Hill Country Club East Course, which is truly a great championship golf course for the best senior players in golf. Jeff Corcoran and his team yet again have done an unbelievable job in preparing this golf course this week. Every one of the players I have spoken to are raving about the golf course, just what wonderful condition it is in, certainly for the time of year, and with this beautiful day we have today, it is just a spectacular golf course, and we can't wait for the best senior players in golf to play in the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

Q. Can you talk about the amount of people that are involved in the setup portion, meaning not just work, but sit down and figure out what the setup is going to be, how the setup should be put out each week, not only here but last week, as well. Obviously you're a large architect of that, but who else is involved in that process?
KERRY HAIGH: Certainly the preparation of the golf course primarily is up to the superintendent of whichever club we are working with. Customarily our plan is to meet with them two or three years before, go around the golf course, look at the golf course, and put a plan together of how we want the golf course to be prepared, you know, the height of the rough, the height of the fairways, the height of the greens, speed of the greens, and work through the next two years to hopefully achieve that and do what is necessary based on the time of year of the championship to do things or not do things in the spring and maybe do them in the fall to prepare for a spring championship in May as we have done both last week and certainly, more importantly, right now this week.

Q. And in regards to hole locations for the week of the championship, just like last week, you determine those ahead of time, correct?
KERRY HAIGH: Yeah, every championship we sort of put a championship plan together for all four days of the championship and sort of go into the week with that plan, and then depending on the weather, the wind, how wet or otherwise it is and how the traffic, how the damage is, do modify off that plan a little bit, but basically I'd say 80, 90 percent follow that plan throughout the four championship rounds.

Q. And just to confirm, it's yourself and the superintendent that are pretty much the people that are basically involved with what the course is going to look like in setup for that championship?
KERRY HAIGH: Yeah.

Q. You mentioned a moment ago that there are many variables with the weather that can change your plan. It's been a very wet spring here in Rochester. How has that affected at all the preparations over the last few weeks and even up to the last couple days?
KERRY HAIGH: Sure. Well, you don't need me to tell, you certainly have had a wet spring, but there again, Jeff Corcoran and his team have done an unbelievable job. They're probably one of the best if not the best in the business of preparing golf courses for major championships. It is certainly challenging with this May date, where the growing season really only starts like three, four weeks ago, and to lead up, it's a very late-blooming golf course to be ready in this perfect condition that it is now.

With regards to the softness, yeah, we still have potentially more rain in the forecast, and if we do, we'll certainly adjust what we do, how we do it and how we set it up, as well as, if need be, adjust overall to the tee locations based on how the golf course is playing. All those factors come into effect for every championship, but certainly here where right now the forecast is for the wind to possibly change almost each and every day directions. So in that case you've got to be on your toes to hopefully make sure you set the golf course up fairly for the best senior players in golf.

Q. The wind yesterday upon arrival was quite strong. Did that actually help dry out some of the golf course and move the needle in the right direction, or was that a challenge for Jeff and his staff?
KERRY HAIGH: Yeah, we just met with Jeff and kind of talked about it, and he felt in hindsight it was a bit of a benefit in that it helped dry probably a little more quickly than a flat calm day obviously with drizzle. And today obviously a beautiful day. We have wind, blue sky and sunshine, so the course just keeps getting better and better. So it's very exciting, and it is just dynamic out there, how beautiful the golf course looks right now.

Q. Obviously it varies from golf course to golf course, but last year we saw Paul Broadhurst win at 19-under, and in 2008 Jay Haas won here 7-over. How much work goes into ensuring that the championship is a tough test but also a fair test, especially on a golf course like the East Course at Oak Hill?
KERRY HAIGH: Yeah, I think it just shows golf is a beautiful game, and to us it's not the score that matters, it's setting up a fair challenge for the best senior golfers in the world. You know, this is certainly a great test of golf, for any golfer and any golfer, from the Oak Hill members who play it day in and day out to the best senior players in golf. Yeah, it's a tough golf course, and that's okay. Other courses may be a little more scoring friendly, but that's okay, as well. And I think as long as it's fair, it challenges the players so that they can think their way around, it's just great.

Q. I believe this will be your fifth major event, Ryder Cups, PGA Championships, KitchenAid Senior PGA Championships here. Maybe talk about your impressions through the last couple decades of golf in Rochester and how the fans here really engrain themselves in the event.
KERRY HAIGH: Sure. Well, I think it starts with the club. Oak Hill Country Club, probably one of the best unique clubs in the country in that part of their mission is to host major championships. It's almost in every member's bloodline that they're involved, want to be involved. There will be a committee chair, the various committees, and it's sort of passed down through the years. As you say, '95 Ryder Cup I was here, and the support then is just as good today as it was in 1995. It's unbelievable, the community, the city of Rochester, the town of Pittsford are just amazing partners. Every time we bring our major championship to this venue, they want to support it, they want the championships to go well. And certainly it shows on the volunteer support. Every volunteer position is filled. They were out here this morning bright and early on the pro-am day with a smile, happy smile. It was 46 degrees or whatever this morning, and, in fact, the spectators themselves, they come out usually in record numbers to support whatever the golf championship is here.

This week's KitchenAid Senior PGA, we expect no different, and the crowds of Rochester will hopefully come and support the best senior players in golf.

Q. Kerry, how different will the setup be for the PGA when it comes here versus the setup that you have now, with the exception obviously it'll be longer? I'm assuming you'll play it longer. Outside of that, how much different will the setup be?
KERRY HAIGH: Well, the setup for the PGA Championship in 2023 could well be -- we could be playing somewhat of a different golf course. As you know, I think, there are plans starting this summer to redesign a number of the holes, so the whole look and the feel. The grass on the greens will be a different grass. It will be pretty much all bentgrass. So that in itself will make the golf course change, but whatever the other modifications. So we'll be playing a hole that's never been played or not since it was originally designed out in the corner after 4, there's going to be a new par-3 there.

That in itself will make the golf course different in terms of how the setup will be from a grass height, what have you.

It will probably be pretty similar. Certainly green speed, appropriate speed for the best players in the world, the amount of slope that's in the greens, and the rough, we'll see how it plays this time of year as we see this week. The rough is pretty dense and thick, it's growing and it's thriving in this temperature, so it will be healthy. It's just a question of how tough and how healthy we want it to be. And we'll make that call as we get closer when we put the plan together.

Certainly the removal of a number of trees in places here has helped thrive the health of the grasses, as well. All those factors combined will be put together into the plan we put together for '23.

Q. I think you topped off Bethpage on Wednesday afternoon, the rough, and then didn't touch it after that. Is that a similar procedure you'd use here?
KERRY HAIGH: Yeah, the plan coming in, again, depending on the weather and how it's growing, is we're certainly going to mow on Wednesday down at a lower height than we were at Bethpage and then possibly look to do it again on Friday evening after the cut. But that will depend how it's growing, what the weather is over those next two days.

JOHN DEVER: Kerry, thanks for coming down and making some time for us.

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