By CRAIG POTTER
The door is open now for the Ryder Cup to return someday to OHCC as a tribute to Walter Hagen.
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Oak Hill Country Club continues to add to its impressive list of being the host to the top golf championships when it was announced Wednesday morning at a press conference that Oak Hill will be the host to the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
Oak Hill is the only club to have been host to three PGA Championships, the Ryder Cup, three United States Opens, two United States Amateurs, the United States Senior Open, and the Senior PGA Championship.
In 2008 at Oak Hill, Jay Haas claimed his second Senior PGA Championship in three years by a single stroke over Bernhard Langer. At 7-over-par 287, Haas’ 2008 victory remains the highest scoring Championship since the event’s format shifted to 72 holes in 1958.
“We’re thrilled to return the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship to Oak Hill Country Club,” said PGA of America President Paul Levy. “The support we receive from Oak Hill’s membership and the Rochester community’s collective enthusiasm for golf are remarkable. As for the East Course, it provides a historical context that is rivaled by few in our sport.”
Major and premier championships held at Oak Hill include the 1998 U.S. Amateur, 1989 U.S. Open, 1984 U.S. Senior Open, 1968 U.S. Open, 1956 U.S. Open, and 1949 U.S. Amateur. Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Cary Middlecoff, Curtis Strange, and Jason Dufner highlight Oak Hill’s roster of champions.
“On behalf of the Board of Governors and the membership of Oak Hill, we are excited that our East Course will once again host this prestigious championship,” said Oak Hill Country Club President Tim Thaney. “We are honored that the PGA of America has offered Oak Hill the opportunity to showcase our East Course, our tremendous clubhouse facilities and the hospitality of the Rochester community. Oak Hill is proud to continue our relationship with the PGA of America.”
The championship will be sponsored by KitchenAid as the 80th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. The exact dates have not yet been announced.
“It just shows what a great sport, a great game golf is,” said Kerry Haigh with the PGA of America. “Top players, if they look after themselves and keep their fitness, can play golf in their 50s, even in their 60s. We even have usually two or three players in their 70s, still playing and still competing. What does that say about how good the sport is for everyone who plays it?”
“The reason that we’re actually with the championship is part of the revitalization back in our home of Benton Harbor, Michigan,” said Deb O’Connor, who is with the title sponsor KitchenAid. “So every other year, the championship comes there. And then the years that it doesn’t, it comes to amazing places like Oak Hill.”
Ryder Cup returning?
Oak Hill was the site of the 31st Ryder Cup in 1995, which Europe captured the title with a stunning final-day comeback, 14½ to 13½ over the Americans.
We asked the question would the PGA ever consider breaking tradition and return the Ryder Cup to Oak Hill to pay tribute to the man who was a rebel and catalyst in bring respectability to profession golf – Rochester’s own Walter Hagen?
PGA Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh answered, “ Our policy has been to move the Ryder Cup around the country, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t ever continue to do that…It has continued to grow. There are some space challenges that we would need to face. Anytime there is a quality golf course, venue, and community that is here in Western New York, absolutely it would be considered.”
Hagen won the U.S. Open twice, and in 1922 he became the first native-born American to win the British Open. He also won the PGA Championship a record-tying five times (all in match play) and is the only person to ever win 4 consecutive PGA titles. He also captured the Western Open five times when it had near-major championship status. Hagen totaled 45 PGA wins in his career, and was a six-time Ryder Cup captain.
“Walter Hagen was someone special and it would be unique and intriguing way to pay tribute to him by breaking tradition and bringing the Ryder Cup back to Oak Hill,” Haigh said.
Hagen’s tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (14).