Hank Kuehne

[50's PONY]

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Posted on Wed, May. 19, 2004



Kuehne is confident course can be big hit

By Jimmy Burch
Star-Telegram Staff Writer


GETTY IMAGES/STREETER LECKA
Hank Kuehne will play in his first Bank of America Colonial this week. He tied for 34th at last week's EDS Byron Nelson Championship.



STAR-TELEGRAM/JEFFERY WASHINGTON
Dallas native Hank Kuehne says the notion that power players cannot have success at Colonial Country Club is "a bunch of garbage."



Hank Kuehne, the longest hitter on the PGA Tour, is competing this week in his first Bank of America Colonial. But the Dallas native won't need a lengthy introduction to Colonial Country Club, a course he played on multiple occasions as a junior golfer.

Enough times, in Kuehne's estimation, to form an opinion about Colonial's reputation as a course where power players cannot prosper because the tight fairways, small greens and frequent doglegs force golfers to leave their drivers in their bags.

"I think it's a bunch of garbage," Kuehne said of sentiments that big hitters can't compete at Hogan's Alley. "It's just people's perceptions of things. The fact is, that golf course takes the driver out of my hands on a lot of holes. But it takes it out of everyone in the field's hands as well."

From Kuehne's perspective, that should work as an advantage -- not a disadvantage -- as he traverses the 7,054-yard layout because he is longer through the bag than fellow touring pros.

"In theory, it actually should be easier for me," Kuehne said. "Where everyone else can hit driver, I can hit driver, too. Where they have to hit 3-wood or 2-iron, I can hit either a 2-iron or a 3-iron ... and I'm still hitting in a shorter club from the middle of the fairway [than peers]. I'm not really bothered about the reputation of the golf course. It should work for me in a positive way. But that's in theory."

Kuehne, 28, will test that theory as one of 114 competitors in Thursday's opening round. The former SMU golfer, who won the 1998 U.S. Amateur title, practiced Tuesday at the course and said he expects to hit driver just twice during a typical round -- at both par-5 holes. If the course plays longer because of wet or windy conditions, that number could be increased.

But Kuehne, who averages a tour-best 312 yards in driving distance, won't be driving just for show. As the first golfer to play in Fort Worth while leading the tour in driving distance since John Daly withdrew after a first-round 80 at the 1999 Colonial, Kuehne plans to play the percentages because he is convinced he can contend for a plaid jacket.

That stands in marked contrast to Daly, who is skipping this year's event because he's never broken par in seven career rounds at Colonial and admits he "can't play that course" despite an affinity for the layout. Tiger Woods, the world's top-ranked golfer, cited Colonial's strategic doglegs as a reason he won't be competing in Fort Worth. Woods questioned if the course has become outdated because of recent advancements in technology that allow players to hit the ball 10 percent farther than comparable swings carried a decade ago.

In 1994, Davis Love III led the tour in driving distance with a 283.8-yard average. Kuehne tops that figure by more than 28 yards per pop heading into Colonial week.

But Kuehne's convinced he has enough versatility in his game to handle something other than a grip-it-and-rip-it layout. In fact, he welcomes the challenge.

"I like tough golf courses. I think it's fun [to play them]," Kuehne said. "This would be a very boring job, a very boring thing to do every day for 35 weeks a year, to play the same golf course over and over again. Out here on tour, guys win on golf courses that supposedly don't fit their games. It happens a lot."

In an ideal world, Kuehne would like to debunk what he considers a Colonial myth by putting his name on the Wall of Champions beside the first tee. He heads into the tournament on an uptick, coming off a tie for 34th at last week's EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Kuehne's performance in Irving included a third-round 65, matching his lowest round of the 2004 season.

The key, said Kuehne, rests with eliminating a swing flaw that plagued him earlier this season but has been corrected through his recent work with Kevin Smeltz, a Florida-based instructor. Until his 3-under par finish at the Nelson, Kuehne had missed the cut at five of his last six tournaments. But he's not worried about a ball-striking relapse at Colonial.

"I've gotten over the hump," said Kuehne, who stands 100th on the season money list ($305,559), highlighted by a fifth-place finish at the Nissan Open in February. "I was struggling with fundamentals. A couple of things I tried to change kind of backfired. I was working really hard, but working on the wrong things ... Finally, I got with my coach and we got back on the right track.

"Since then, my ball striking has gotten better every week. I haven't putted well, which has been strange. I've always been a great putter but I've had a stretch where I haven't putted well the last [five] tournaments. If I'd putted halfway decent, I'd have been more of a factor the last few weeks."

Can Kuehne, and other long hitters, be a factor at a course like Colonial? David Toms, the No. 16 player in the world golf rankings, thinks so. Before withdrawing from the 2003 Colonial after one hole because of injury, Toms posted three consecutive top-10 finishes at Hogan's Alley from 2000-2002.

"Anybody can win there," Toms said, noting that defending Colonial champ Kenny Perry "hits it as deep as anybody."

The key, said Toms, is shaping shots off the tee; for power hitters, as well as short hitters. A power player, said Toms, "might have to throttle back a couple of times ... but [Colonial] still has some long holes. It doesn't get any tougher than [holes] 3, 4 and 5, that stretch right there."

Kuehne knows. Although he's preparing for his first professional appearance at Colonial, he's played the course in junior events and during casual rounds with Willard Crenshaw, a former teaching pro at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano. Crenshaw was a friend of the late Ben Hogan, and Kuehne recalled visiting with the five-time Colonial champ when Kuehne was a teen-ager.

"I never played golf with him, but I had lunch with him a couple of times and spent some time with him in Fort Worth," Kuehne said. "He watched me hit some balls and I just talked to him about different things in golf. I don't really remember that much of the conversation. I know it had an effect on me, but I don't know what ... I wish I could go back now and ask some questions. I asked a couple then, but I was a kid. I didn't have a clue. I wasn't far enough along to really think about anything to ask that would really help me in golf."

Now, Kuehne is back in Fort Worth, trying to win the tournament that is synonymous with Hogan. He plans to take an open-minded approach when formulating his game plan, despite his status as the tour's premier power player.

"That's just the way I play golf," said Kuehne, who led the tour in driving distance as a tour rookie in 2003 with a 321.4-yard average. "It's just the way I play. It's nice. It's a fun stat. It gets people out to watch and it stirs a lot of interest in my game. But ... I definitely don't change the way I play the game to pad my stats. I try to play the golf course the best way for me to shoot a good score. If that's hitting driver, that's hitting driver. If that's hitting 4-iron off the tee, that's hitting 4-iron. Either way, I'll be OK. I think my game will be just fine at Colonial."

Kuehne's key stats

A look at Hank Kuehne's telling statistics, and where they rank among his peers on the 2004 PGA Tour:


Category Stat (Rank)
Driving distance 312.0 yards (1)
Driving accuracy 46.4 pct. (183)
Greens in reg. 62.7 pct. (137)
Putting avg. 1.808 (151)
Scoring avg. 71.75 (121)
Earnings $305,559 (100)

Bank of America Colonial

• Through Sunday, Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth

• Purse: $5.3 million, $954,000 to winner

• Defending champ: Kenny Perry

• Tickets: Tickets are available at the Bank of America banking center at the corner of University Drive and Berry Street. Today or Thursday daily ticket, $30; Friday, Saturday or Sunday daily tickets, $45. Tickets not sold at the course. Call (817) 927-4280.

• Parking: Public parking at Farrington Field and TCU's Amon G. Carter Stadium is $8 daily. Cost includes round-trip shuttle-bus service to and from Colonial.

• Tournament highlights: Today, pro-am, 7 a.m.; Thursday-Sunday, tournament rounds.

• TV: Thursday-Friday, 3-5:30 p.m., USA; Saturday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m., KTVT/Channel 11

• Spectator notes: The following items are prohibited on the course: cellphones, large purses or bags, audible pagers, firearms, backpacks, clipboards, chair carry bags (small stools/chairs not in carry cases are allowed), cameras (not allowed Thursday-Sunday), glass containers or alcohol. These items will be confiscated if brought to the tournament. All small purses and bags are subject to search.

• Autographs: Posters and autograph items larger than 8 by 12 inches should not be brought to the tournament.


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ONLINE: www.pgatour.com
Jimmy Burch, (817) 390-7760 jburch@star-telegram.com





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© 2004 Star Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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[WildHorse]

Leave it to the Star-Telegram to offer better coverage of an SMU grad than the Morning News.
Then again, did anyone else hear the clowns at Fox Sports refer to him as Hank"KOON-ie"? Nice work - it's only the most famous local name in golf since Justin Leonard. No reason to learn how to say it, right?