European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22 the stars and stripes thursday june 13, 1991 1991 . Open open fits this tourney to a t by Jaime Diaz the new York times the 91st . Open which begins today at the Hazeltine National Golf club in Chaska minn., appears to be As wide open to possibility As any open in memory. A. A a a a. Topographically this is True because the championship is being held on a 29-year-old course that lacks the dense rows of tall Trees that give the open its Char acte Risic enclosed effect at older Inland courses. The most prominent things that Rise above the rolling land of Hazeltine which is situated in farm country 25 Miles Southwest of downtown Minneapolis Are a water Tower behind the straightforward clubhouse and a restored barn that lies next to the seventh Hole. Y a. Competitively this championship is More open than usual because almost no one knows anything about the 7,149-Yard, Par-72 course. Only a few. Players in this years Field of 156 played at Hazeltine it the 1970 open and those who did seem to have Only dim Mem orcs of the place., a. A Al can to Tell you a thing about that week except that it was hard a said Raymond Floyd the 1986 Champion who finished tied for 22d in 1970. A i guess it Wasny to very  not that total recall would give Floyd or anyone else who played any. Kind of advantage. In the last 21 years Hazeltine has been almost completely overhauled and judging by the reaction the course got in 1970, it needed it. In a verbal blasting unparalleled in the history of the National championship Hazeltine was insulted by players who Felt it was an immature course with too Many. Blind shots and too Many Sharp Dogleg and not enough. Definition or character to be Host to an open. A Evv hat it lacks is 80 acres and a few cows a said Hazeltine a most vociferous critic at the time Dave Hill a who finished second to Tony Jacklin. A they ruined a Good farm by building this Golf course on  stung by the criticism Hazel Tinct a officials decided to do everything they could to get the championship Back after the club was Host to the 1977 . Women a open the courses architect Robert Trent Jones sr., supervised a redesign in which he straightened several of the severe Dogleg that were a Staple of his original. Design and rerouted other holes to eliminate Blind. Shots. Quot a these changes were judged to be improvements. Hazeltine was Host to the 1983 . Senior open and in 1985 it was awarded this years -, open. In further preparation for the championship Hazeltine Ivi Rcd one of Jones sons Rees who has sought to  definition of target areas. In All the course has undergone More than us individual changes with 14 of. This original holes having been significantly alter cd. The most dramatic changes in the 1978 redesign took place at the 16th and 17th holes. The original 16th was a a 225-Yard Hole with a tree hanging Over the left Side of the Green that prompted players to Call it the worlds Only Dogleg Par 3. The 17th was a 344-Yard Par 4 so tight that most players hit their tee shots with 4-Irons. Hazeltine National Golf club course june 13-16 source Hazeltine National Golf club Jones decided to turn the 16th into a 384-Yard Par 4 by building a new tee along the Shore of Lake Hazeltine and using Landfill to create a Peninsula Green. He then changed the nth into a 182-Yard Par 3 by building new tee just Short of the Corner of the original Dogleg. A the 16th is going to be the most controversial Hole especially if it plays into the wind a said Jack Nicklaus who shot his Only score in the 80s in his 34 . Opens when he opened with an 81 at Hazeltine in 1970 and eventually finished tied for 51st.- a / Nicklaus played the course last month in preparation for this years championship in which he made the Field because of a special exemption. A it will Force you to hit a Driver just to reach a Fairway guarded by water on both sides a he said of the 16th. Very few other  played the course in recent years. One player who has several times is Mark Calcavecchia who goes to Hazeltine when he visits his in Laws who live in the Minneapolis area. He gives the new Hazeltine a favourable review a it a Tough but its really interesting a , the 1989 British open Champion. A it has an awesome variety it has holes without Trees and it has some super tight holes where you have to hit out of chutes. In be got to say that next to Pebble Beach of All the . Opens in be played two Ulbe my  defending Champion. Hale Irwin is far More sceptical. Irwin did not qualify for the 1970 championship but he played a practice round at Hazeltine in 1979,and played  again Early last month on a blustery Day with temperatures in the 40s.map Martha p. Hernandez a i think we Are All looking at Hazeltine with questions in our minds a said Irwin who will be trying to win his fourth . Open. A i prefer a course where the Trees outline the targets better. The Day i played it was just so cold and Windy you  reach some of the holes. I think if the wind blows hard the ninth and j8th holes might be  indeed wind and rain is not unheard of in Mineso. To in late Spring. The main reason the 1970 championship was such an unpleasant tournament was the fact that 40-mile-an-hour winds buffeted the lightly forested course. Only seven scores in the 60s were achieved in four rounds and none of them were shot by Jacklin. Still the englishman a score of seven under Par 281 gave him a Victory margin of seven strokes the largest winning margin in the . Open since 1921. So far this year Hazeltine a biggest problem has been the record amount of rain it absorbed in May. But the  drained Well and thanks to All the water will have very Lush rough. Short of another protracted storm Hazeltine appears Safe from postponements Tor a  one will truly know what to expect until the Field gets in some practice rounds. Calcavecchia believes anyone Able to match jackling a score will surely prevail. A a in a predict three under will win assuming the weather is Normal a he. Said offering a More conservative prediction. A a a a a of course at the moment this years . Open As too open to assume anything. Europeans Chase rare breakthrough year Winner a \ score 1990 Hale Irwin.,280 1989 Curtis strange 278 1988 Curtis strange 278 1987 Scott Simpson 277 1986 Raymond Floyd 279 1985 Andy North 279 1984 fuzzy Ozellar 276 1983 Larry Nelson 280 1982 Tom Watson 282 1981 David Graham 273 won in 18-Hola playoff. Source , Apap Chaska Minnesota up a Britain a Tony Jacklin won the . Open when it was held at Hazeltine National Golf club in 1970. Twenty one years later Jacklin remains the Only european to own a . Crown in a 70-year Span. I a a there a no logical reason for that a said Nick Faldo of England one of the favourites when the tournament returns to Hazeltine today a there Are several european players capable of winning the american  with the exception of Jacklin. Who ran away from the Field at Hazeltine More. Than two Dee Ades ago the european drought in the  National championships is one of Golf s most curious  that Faldo Ian Woosnam of Wales Germany a Bernhard Langer Scotland a Sandy Lyle and Spain a seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Ola Zgabaj have made a mighty imprint on golfs other major events in recent years those half dozen europeans have accounted for five of the last seven. British open titles and six of the last nine masters titles including four in a Row. But there a not a . Open title among then. A i can to explain it a said Hale Irwin who won last years open at the age of 46. A i think it More coincidence than anything. And then again maybe it has something to do with an unconscious patriotism where we wont let them win our  the u-.s-., players did t let Jacklin win in 1970. He just reached out grabbed the open by the Throat and never let go. Jacklin who also won the 1969 British. Open shot a 7-under-Par 281 in 1970�?Ts controversial tournament. A a the tournament was the first played on Hazeltine then an 8-year-old Robert Trent Jones designed course which Dave Hill called a a cow  those remarks Drew More at Tendon to Hazeltine than Jack-., links Victory by seven shots Over Hill a the biggest winning margin in an open in 49 years when James a Barnes won by nine shots in 1921. A a a. A Jacklin posted what was then a record dying highest first round in 1970 when he shot a 1-under Par 71. It was the first of tour under Par rounds for the englishman one of Only three players Ever to do that at an open. A. Billy Casper had four rounds under Par at olympic in san Francisco in 1966, and Lee Trevino duplicated the feat at Oak Hill in 1968. Hazeltine has undergone Many changes since Jacklin won and it is doubtful even Hill would Call it a cow pasture again. But by sunday the foreign players might be saying the same  have been surrounding the open title the last Lew years but never have been Able to take it Back Home. A one of us might be due Faldo said. A but there Are lots of american players who Bly Twel the same