Links Magazine | The Best Of Golf

Low key and detail oriented, Kerry Haigh isn’t a klieg-light seeker. But for one week each summer—and an additional week in the fall every fourth year—the spotlight falls on Haigh, the man responsible for setting up the courses for the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup.

While setup has been a major topic of debate and controversy at the Masters and U.S. Open, the PGA has largely avoided the criticisms.

“Why can’t all the championships be this way?” Tiger Woods asked at the 2005 PGA at Baltusrol Golf Club won by Phil Mickelson. “The PGA gets it right.”

What Haigh and his staff get right in the eyes of the players—ultimately the only constituency that matters—is fairly simple. “They’re not as concerned about protecting par as rewarding excellently struck shots,’’ says 1988 PGA winner Jeff Sluman.

The winning score in the past five PGAs has ranged from four under (twice, in 2003 and 2005) to 18 under (Woods at Medinah in 2006). Haigh allows the course architecture to determine the outcome rather than trying to micromanage the width of the fairways, length of the rough or the firmness and speed of the greens.

“You try to do your best every day and try not to make mistakes,” says Haigh, a native of Doncaster, England, who began his career in 1984 as an LPGA tournament official before he joined the PGA of America in 1993. “Every hole is a new challenge.”

In fact, Haigh’s most visible blunder had nothing to do with rough or the greens. Despite an ominous forecast for the fourth round of the 2005 PGA, Haigh and the PGA decided to accommodate the CBS broadcast schedule and did not move up tee times. Rain postponed play and the leaders had to play their final holes on Monday.

Haigh will receive some help from American captain Paul Azinger in setting up Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the Ryder Cup, which starts September 19. The goal is to give the home team an edge.

“Length of rough, which varies from captain to captain, is probably the main issue they feel strongly about,” says Haigh. “Our overall aim is not to get in the way of the players and let the players be able to show their skills and talents on great golf courses that are fairly set up. That’s easier said than done in some cases, but that’s always our aim going in.”

Kerry Haigh

Managing Director of Tournaments