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(contemplative music)
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[Announcer] The 18 holes at Erin Hills
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in Erin, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee,
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were actually created in the Ice Age,
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it just took 10,000 years for them to be unearthed.
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This unique plot of land was discovered by the design team
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of Dr. Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry,
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and Golf Digest Architecture Editor, Ron Whitten,
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back in the early 2000s.
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Once the design trio began their work
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of turning the former cornfield into a golf course,
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they took great pains
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to mow out natural fairways and greens
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from the existing topography.
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Except for when they were digging bunkers,
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they only moved earth on a total of four holes.
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That's how naturally shaped this course is.
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The designers worked hard to make each hole look unique.
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When Erin Hills opened in 2006,
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it was widely acclaimed right away.
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With its rumpled blanket landscape,
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roller coaster fairways of dry fescue,
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flawless greens of bent grass,
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and tall native roughs that swayed
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in the ever present breeze,
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Erin Hills was immediately pronounced
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one of the most natural courses in America.
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The United States Golf Association took note
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even before it opened.
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the 2008 Women's Public Links Championship here,
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Kelly Kraft won the US Amateur Championship at Erin Hills.
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The USGA liked the layout so much,
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Erin Hills is where the greatest players in the world
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will play the 2017 US Open next June.
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It will be the first time Wisconsin has hosted a US Open,
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and only the sixth time a public golf course
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has been given the honor.
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More bunkers have been added in preparation
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for the toughest test in golf,
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and a few greens have been relocated and others rebuilt,
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but the theme of the original design remains unchanged.
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Erin Hills is golf dictated by Mother Nature,
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rustic and rumbling, quirky in spots,
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with holes that look a lot harder than they actually play.