Whistling Straits - The Straits

Pete and Alice Dye opened The Straits at Whistling Straits in 1998. Dye transformed a flat abandoned army air base along a two-mile stretch of Lake Michigan into an imitation Ballybunion: rugged fescue fairways, windswept greens, and 1,012 bunkers at last count — truly the most bunker-dense major championship course in the world. The Straits hosted the 2004, 2010, and 2015 PGA Championships; the 2007 U.S. Senior Open; and the 2021 Ryder Cup, where Team USA (captained by Wisconsin's Steve Stricker) won 19-9 — the largest margin since 1967. All three PGA Championship winners at Whistling Straits (Vijay Singh, Martin Kaymer, Jason Day) moved to the world #1 ranking shortly after their wins. The Straits is a perennial top-ranked public course in America — one of the most significant championship venues in the country.