CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A hole-by-hole look at Quail Hollow Club, site of the 107th PGA Championship to be played May 15-18:
A strong opening hole. A big left-to-right tee shots leaves players atop an elevated landing zone beyond the dogleg. The approach is mid-iron to a narrow, undulated green guarded by three big bunkers.
A 280-yard drive reaches a slight turn in the fairway, leaving about 170 yards to an elevated green that slopes from back to front.
The tee shot must be long and straight, avoiding a deep bunker on the right. The approach is to an elevated green that is surrounded by three bunkers and divided by a small ridge that separates the back from the front.
The shortest par 3 is framed by pine trees and features a large, undulating green guarded by three bunkers in the front. Anything long will end up below the green and leave a tough par save.
The hole slightly drops then heads up a shallow valley to a green that is situated on a hillside behind the sixth tee. The fairway has bunkers on both sides, and the green is narrow with a front right bunker.
The long par 3 plays downhill and asks a player to be accurate with a hybrid or a long iron. The green slopes back to front, and is guarded by a front right bunker.
The shortest and most exciting of the par 5s, this is easily reachable in two provided the tee shot avoids bunkers on the left and water on the right that runs long the fairway and cuts in front of the green. The green is surrounded by bunkers. It should be a birdie, but can lead to a big number.
Depending on the tees and the wind, players can try to drive the green or lay up and attack with a wedge. Two bunkers on the left side must be avoided, and a large bunker guards the right side of the green.
Typically among the toughest par 4s, the drive should avoid a bunker on the right for a player to have a clear shot with a long iron up the hill toward the green. Two front bunkers guard the green, which has a lot of movement to it.
Players can reach this in two provided they avoid the bunker on the left and trees on the right. The green is sloped from back to front and right to left, so position is everything to convert birdie chances. Bunkers are situated on both sides of the green.
Two large bunkers guard the corner of the slight dogleg, and deep bunkers are in play to the left of a slightly elevated green.
The fairway is narrow with trees tightly guarding both sides. From the fairway, players face a short iron to an elevated green that slopes severely from back to front. It’s crucial to keep the ball below the cup to have a chance at birdie or avoid potential three-putts.
The green is situated between two large bunkers. The putting surface has two levels with a collection area on the right middle portion, along with a severe slope from back to front. Par shouldn’t be a problem. Birdies figure to be difficult.
Players can go for the green or lay up with an iron. The water down the left side presents the risk with driver off the tee. From the fairway, the green is long and narrow and can be difficult to get it close to the pin. Birdies are as common as bogeys.
The final par 5 is deceptively challenging with water on the left and trees to the right. It plays uphill, and anything in the fairway should leave a fairway metal into the green, which has a ridge down the middle that can feed the ball close or repel it further away. This is the last easy birdie opportunity.
The green sits on the edge of the water. The tee shot to a slight dogleg right should avoid a bunker on the right side, and a mid-iron to a green with a bunker on the right and water on the left.
The signature hole at Quail Hollow is a peninsula green that requires a carry of 195 yards from the back tees. With a firm green, players have to be careful with back pin positions so the ball doesn’t run off the back into the water. The popular miss is to the right, which leaves a tough up-and-down.
One of the strongest closing holes, players must avoid a bunker on the right and a creek that meanders down the left side of the hole, with a steep slope to the left of the creek. The second shot is uphill with bunkers right and the creek to the left.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
FILE - Justin Thomas poses with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
