SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — This week marks the first time Baltusrol’s Lower Course will host a women’s major since 1961. No one in the field at this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA was born when Mickey Wright won her third U.S. Women’s Open title that year.
This week presents a history lesson for the best female players in the world as they tackle a course that saw Jack Nicklaus win two U.S. Open titles and Phil Mickelson win a PGA Championship. The first USGA championship ever held at Baltusrol was the U.S. Women’s Amateur back in 1901.
This week marks another chapter in the storied club that in 2014 became a national historic landmark.
“The course is in immaculate shape,” said former KPMG champ Brooke Henderson. “I’ve never seen a golf course in such great shape, I don’t think.”
HOW TO WATCH: 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA
Unfortunately, bad weather looms on the horizon, with anywhere from a 60 to 80 percent chance of rain expected every day though Sunday. New drainage and a SubAir system will help, but players will experience a vastly different test from they’ve seen in the practice rounds.
Here’s what some of the best in the world had to say about what’s to come:
The 18th hole at the Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Kellner/PGA of America)
“I mean, this golf course is going to play hard, and then you’re going to add some elements of wind and rain, and it’s going to get even harder.
“It’s going to be one of those golf courses that you just have to – when you get in trouble, you’ve got to get out. There’s tons of … a lot of the par-4s have cross bunkers that if you try to take something, be aggressive out of the rough and get caught in these cross bunkers that are 50, 60 yards from the hole, you can make some big numbers. It’s going to come down to who manages it the best, who can get up-and-down from 100 yards the most often. It’s not going to be, I don’t think it’s going to be, at least, one of those birdie-fests where everybody is just attacking pins.”
Nelly Korda plays her shot during a practice round prior to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club on June 19, 2023 in Springfield, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
“Three of the par-5s are reachable, so obviously I think they’re going to make one that’s not reachable, so I would say 17 is going to play as a three-shotter. And then 18 obviously if you’re in the hunt, you have water down the left and pretty thick rough down the right, and if you’re in the right rough, it makes that second shot pretty hard over the water.
“I feel like just in general, this rough is really thick. I’ve tried to hit 6-irons out and they come out as knuckle balls and dead left, and I feel like it’s just going to be a very crucial golf course to hit the fairways and greens.”
A plaque in the 18th fairway commemorates a shot Jack Nicklaus hit with a 1-iron in 1967 at Baltusrol Golf Club ahead of the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Springfield, New Jersey. (Photo: Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I walked by the Jack Nicklaus 1-iron shot on the 18th hole today. I thought that was really cool. I took a thumbs-up picture next to it with my coach. It’s been really cool. I saw a lot of the memorabilia stuff in the clubhouse and all the locker room, so it’s really cool to see all the history here.”
Marina Alex watches a shot from the fourth tee during the third round of the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)
“The green complexes are pretty difficult, subtle but difficult. There’s a lot of elevation in your approach shots, and then false fronts that you need to carry, but then also hold the green once you’ve hit it on top of the green. So that I think therein lies the challenge of it. If you come up short, you’re probably rolling back and having about a 20- to 30-yard chip shot, again, elevated. And if you do go over the back the rough is thick and it’s unpredictable in your lies.”
Lydia Ko warms up on the driving range during a practice round ahead of the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
“I think the approach shots going into the green needs a lot of precision. There are some holes where the greens are really big, so necessarily you being on the green doesn’t guarantee you an easy birdie, two-putt, et cetera.
“There are some greens where it falls off straight from back to front, and there’s only a small area where they can have the pin locations. That just means that your numbers need to be very precise. There’s no, OK, this is a better miss on those kind of holes. I think your second shots are obviously going to be key.
“The rough is getting juicy, and I think with the weather forecast, it’s not going to be easy when you do hit it in there. But the good thing about this golf course is that the front of the greens are pretty flat, so at least if you do have a long club in, you’re able to hopefully chase it up to the front edge of the green.”
Rose Zhang lines up her shot the third green during the first round of the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo: John Minchillo/Associated Press)
“I feel like green reading here is also especially difficult. There’s a lot of just hidden breaks. Sometimes I would putt like a 30-footer and I’ll probably about six feet off on the other side of the hole, and I would be super confused.
“That’s what I’ve been doing in practice rounds is just trying to get a feel for what the greens are doing. Rough is super thick, like I said. The chipping techniques that I’ve been using this week are definitely different from any other chipping techniques that I’ve been using.”
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