Image is everything, as those advocates of a certain crystal clear soft drink will testify; which is why a lot of things have happened in Tulsa this past few months. For instance, downtown roads that have been in dire need of some rejuvenation for some time have been resurfaced - coincidentally? - and, as the 101st US Open hits town, the course that Tiger Woods et al will attempt to conquer has also undergone some changes.
Southern Hills hasn't played host to a US Open since 1977 - when Hubert Green won - and is a little off the beaten track for the USGA who tend to stick to either the east or west coast when the time comes for choosing venues. However, it has staged two US PGA championships since then, most recently in 1994 when Nick Price won, but there have been significant alterations to the course in that seven years.
Some were enforced. Two years ago, a vandal dumped battery acid on six of the course's greens and caused further damage to a number of fairways and teeing areas. As if that wasn't bad enough, the old greenkeepers' maintenance shed burned to the ground due to an electrical shortage. "We had a lot of unfortunate things happen, but every one of them had a silver lining: it enabled the club to do a lot of things that needed to be done," remarked course superintendent John Szklinski.
In these matters, money helps - and there's no shortage of that commodity amongst the members of Southern Hills. The course was closed for play for 10 months and $4 million of renovation work was conducted. Keith Foster, a student of Perry Maxwell who had originally designed the course which opened in 1935, was brought in to restore the greens and bunkers to their original design.
All 18 greens were re-seeded and all of the bunkers on the course were rebuilt along with nine tee areas. The irrigation and drainage system was also modified. Foster found that, over the years, the Bermuda grass fringe and rough had encroached onto a number of greens. He re-established those areas as part of the greens, made the putting surfaces a bit larger and brought the edges of the greens closer to the bunkers. All of which should make for some interesting - and dangerous - pin placements this week.
"In the long term we would have done the renovations," explained Szklinski, "but I don't think we would have been on the break-neck schedule that we went on."
Even then, things didn't go as planned. Once the seeding had been completed, Mother Nature took a hand. From July until October last year, the Tulsa area received virtually no rainfall and 100-degree temperatures in August compounded matters, causing drought-induced dormancy with the Bermuda grass. Then, in October, Tulsa received its earliest frost in 105 years and that was followed by 27 days of snow.
Such shenanigans make the Irish weather seem a doddle in terms of getting a course in shape, but the green fingered staff at Southern Hills have managed to pull it off. The greens this week should be firm and fast - just as the USGA like them - with no worries about needing extra water to keep them in good condition. "The new varieties of bent grass we used are much more dense, so they are a faster surface," added Szklinksi.
This is not the first time that Southern Hills has had to reconstruct its greens, however. Just five minutes after the award ceremonies for the 1958 US Open, a hailstorm struck with such force that it damaged the putting surfaces. The greens had to be rebuilt.
And they had to be rebuilt again after the 1982 US PGA only for the club to discover six years later that they had used a counterfeit Penncross seed. The greens were intentionally killed off with a chemical and replanted with a new strain, Pennlinks, only for battery acid to be poured on them two years ago which prompted the major renovations that will be in evidence this week.
While players will encounter many physical changes from the course that played host to the 1994 US PGA, the sense of history won't be diminished. The game's top players first came to Southern Hills for the Tulsa Open of 1945, won by Sam Snead. In 1946, the US Women's Amateur championship was held there and was won by another of golf's greats, Babe Zaharias, who claimed nine of the first 11 holes in the final on the way to an 11 and 9 win over Clara Sherman.
The 1953 US Junior at Southern Hills was won by Rex Baxter but is probably more notable for marking the USGA-event debut of a 13-year-old Jack Nicklaus.
There have been five previous majors held at the venue and a peculiar oddity is that the winner of each took control early on in his respective championship. Raymond Floyd led outright after every round in winning the 1982 US PGA; Tommy Bolt (1958 US Open), Green (1977 US Open) and Price (1994 US PGA) shared the lead after 18 holes and led outright for the remainder of the championship; and Dave Stockton (1970 US PGA) led or shared the lead after the second and third rounds. None came to the 72nd hole needing a par to win.
The course's reputation for toughness was established in that 1958 Open won by Bolt. The average score was 77.92 - which still ranks as the second-highest relative to par since the second World War - and conditions were such that Gene Sarazen described the course as "ridiculous." Bolt's three-over-par 283 was sufficient to beat Gary Player by four shots.
Meanwhile, the 1970 US PGA was won by Stockton in one-under-par 279 - but the man the crowd wanted to win was Arnold Palmer. His army of supporters were out in force pulling for him to win the only major that was to elude him in his career. Palmer, though, finished two shots behind Stockton for his third US PGA finish.
The last time that the US Open was staged at Southern Hills, in 1977, Green - a winner of the Irish Open at Portmarnock that same year - was advised of a death threat by the FBI while out on the course of his final round with just four holes to play. Green told his caddie to stay away from him, played the last four holes in level par and won with a two-under-par total of 278, one clear of Lou Graham.
The last two stagings of the US PGA championship at the course give some false impressions. The greens were soft and receptive, the conditions ideal. Floyd included a 63 in his first round on the way to winning in 1982 with a total of 272, and Price came in with an 11-under-par total of 269 to beat Corey Pavin by six shots in 1994.
This week, the USGA has moved back several tee boxes to lengthen the course - and it is something that Price doesn't agree with. "All it does is play into the hands of the longer hitters. One of the things that has made this game great over the years is short-hitting players who drive it 250 yards can play with guys who hit it 290. That no longer is the case. They're making these courses too long. It seems the longer you hit it the better off you are. That's sad. There are a lot of great players out there who are medium off the tee that will struggle at the major championships because they're stretching these courses so much."
Price's graph has changed since 1994, when winning the US PGA made him number one in the world rankings. In his last three majors, he has missed the cut. "Many parts of my game are coming together. If you put it all together, you have a chance. You can't have any weak links at a major championship. If one part of your game is not good, you don't have a prayer, especially at a course like Southern Hills," he said.
Such a gripe is unlikely to be echoed by Woods, who hopes to extend his major streak to five. It is estimated that the local economy in Tulsa will benefit to the tune of $65 million this week. The last time that the US Open was staged here in 1977, there were no such things as corporate tents; this time, some $11.5 million has been raised from that area alone. Private houses are being rented for up to $4,000 for the week. Staging a major is big business and Southern Hills has answered the call. "Now all we want is for Tiger Woods to be in the final pairing come Sunday. That would be fantastic," remarked Al Bush, chairman of the club's organising committee. So far, overcoming vandalism and Mother Nature, they've managed to get things right. Who'd bet against that wish coming true too?
