The Hole Story Brown Deer

Nowadays I use a $5,000 handheld laser range finder to measure
holes, but when I got into this line of work in 1976, my tools
were much more primitive. Back then I used a 200-yard piece of
twine on which I had painted colored stripes every 10 yards. I'd
attach the string to a screwdriver, which I would stick in the
ground, and then roll out the twine by hand.

That first year I went out early one morning, when the turf was
still glistening with dew, and used my twine to map Tuckaway
Country Club, the site of the Greater Milwaukee Open from 1973 to
'93. A few days later I ran into Lee Trevino on Tuckaway's
practice tee. "Last week at the Western Open your book was on the
money," he told me, "but this week everything is off by a couple
of yards."

I was dumbfounded. "Sorry, Lee," I said. "I'll get it right next
week."

I later figured out the problem: The dew had caused the twine to
stretch. When the string said 147 yards, for example, it was
really 150. That afternoon I went to a marine supply store and
bought a reel with 250 yards of seven-strand, stainless steel
cable. I marked it off with colored tape and used it for the next
14 years without a mistake.

Milwaukee's Tour event is now played at Brown Deer Park, and
precision is essential there on the straightaway 18th hole. The
elevated green is reachable in two, but only if you hit the
fairway. The green is guarded in front by five bunkers, and shots
that go long bounce into a swale of thick rough.

*For 28 years--the last two months with his golden retriever,
Woody--Gorjus George has drawn the yardage books that the pros
use.

B/W DIAGRAM: DIAGRAM BY GEORGE LUCAS No. 18 N Par-5 N 560 Yards

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID WALBERG (LUCAS)