Jerry Kelly excited about SentryWorld as U.S. Senior Open site

STEVENS POINT, Wisconsin – It had been 39 years since Jerry Kelly walked the pristine, manicured fairways and greens at SentryWorld.

Needless to say, his memory of the golf course was a bit foggy.

“It’s pretty much all been redone. I kind of remembered one of the par fives. The Flower Hole was No. 7 back then, I think,” Kelly said.

The Madison golfer was on the grounds last Thursday for his first look at the venue for this week’s U.S. Senior Open Championship, essentially cramming for a major test that could have many answers to the same question.

“I pretty much played at least 27, maybe 36 holes today,” he said during a phone interview shortly after Thursday’s lengthy practice session. “Hit three drivers off a bunch of tees. Hit utility, 3-wood, driver on a few other ones just because of bunkering and trying to hit it short. See if you want to squeeze something up, see if you want to get up close to it or you really want to lay back. A million putts from the centers of the greens out to all the corners – uphills, downhills, sidehills. Short-side bunker shots.”

And what did Kelly learn about the course he last played during the 1984 WIAA state tournament, when he shot 77-82 and finished in 10th place seven shots behind another state golfing legend – Steve Stricker?

“I think it’s about as classic of a Wisconsin parkland, wooded golf course as you’re going to find,” Kelly said. “What they’ve done with this golf course … there’s nothing tricked up about this golf course. The only tricked-up situation you could get into is set-up, and that’s entirely on the USGA side. This golf course is awesome.”

Here’s what Kelly had to say about the course, the state of his game heading into the major championship and his prediction for the winning score:

On the thick rough at SentryWorld

“It’s very uniform and it’s very thick. So even if they top it, those morning rounds with the wet grass it is going to be impossible really. A few guys with some good lies may be able to advance it 150, 170 but nobody’s going to chance it when they’re going over some of the water and into greens like that. There’s going to be a lot of punching it out of the rough and hitting wedge shots in. It is that thick and that deep. It’s Wisconsin. We know how to grow rough here.

“A lot of the guys were sending me pictures. It was up to their shins in some spots. And I’m like, ‘Guys, understand you have an illusion of getting a…