It’s all about wind

Adam Candee

Wednesday, April 14, 2004 | 10:55 a.m.

WHAT: $1.1 million LPGA Takefuji Classic.

WHERE: Las Vegas Country Club.

WHEN: Thursday through Saturday.

ADMISSION: $15 per day. $30 (grounds) or $50 (clubhouse) for weekly passes.

TV: The Golf Channel (Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; Friday, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.-4:30 p.m.).

2003 CHAMPION: Candie Kung (-12) won by two strokes.

First-round tee times

Tee No. 1

7:30 a.m. -- Jenna Daniels, Laurie Rinker, Nadina Taylor

7:40 a.m. -- Marcy Hart, Linda Ishii, Seol-An Jeon

7:50 a.m. -- Stacy Prammanasudh, Catherine Cartwright, Jinny Lee

8:00 a.m. -- Jenny Park-Choi, Sherri Turner, Jackie Gallagher-Smith

8:10 a.m. -- Sunny Lee, Michelle Estill, Luciana Bemvenuti

8:20 a.m. -- Cindy Schreyer, Cindy Figg-Currier, Cathy Johnston-Forbes

8:30 a.m. -- Allie Blomquist. Denise Killeen, Kris Tschetter

8:40 a.m. -- Gloria Park, Chris Johnson, Akiko Fukushima

8:50 a.m. -- Catriona Matthew, Christina Kim, Sherri Steinhauer

9:00 a.m. -- Mhairi McKay, Tracy Hanson, Yu Ping Lin

9:10 a.m. -- Jennifer Rosales, Hilary Lunke, Wendy Ward

9:20 a.m. -- Soo-Yun Kang, Dorothy Delasin, Angela Jerman

12:00 p.m. -- Juli Inkster, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, Laura Diaz

12:10 p.m. -- Helen Alfredsson, Cristie Kerr, Candie Kung

12:20 p.m. -- Natalie Gulbis, Carin Koch, Michelle McGann

12:30 p.m. -- Janice Moodie, Brandie Burton, Danielle Ammaccapane

12:40 p.m. -- Tina Barrett, Shi Hyun Ahn, Angela Stanford

12:50 p.m. -- Kristal Parker-Manzo, Diana D'Alessio, Carmen Hajjar

1:00 p.m. -- Jean Bartholomew, A.J. Eathorne, Jeanne-Marie Busuttil

1:10 p.m. -- Kristi Albers, Penny Hammel, Nancy Harvey

1:20 p.m. -- Annette DeLuca, Eva Dahllof, Becky Iverson

1:30 p.m. -- Audra Burks, Deb Richard, Laura Myerscough

1:40 p.m. -- Aree Song, Lee Ann Walker-Cooper, Suzanne Strudwick

1:50 p.m. -- Heather Daly-Donofrio, Lisa Hall, *Sunny Oh

Tee No. 10

7:30 a.m. -- Candy Hannemann, Kim Williams, Anna Acker-Macosko

7:40 a.m. -- Chiharu Yamaguchi, Brandi Jackson, Soo Young Moon

7:50 a.m. -- Jane Crafter, Nicole Jeray, Lisa DePaulo

8:00 a.m. -- Russamee Gulyanamitta, Clarissa Childs, Ashley Winn

8:10 a.m. -- Nancy Scranton, Laurel Kean, Nanci Bowen

8:20 a.m. -- Soo Young Kim, Ashli Bunch, Kathryn Marshall

8:30 a.m. -- Juli Hilton, Mikaela Parmlid, Reilley Rankin

8:40 a.m. -- Sophie Gustafson, Jung Yeon Lee, Karen Stupples

8:50 a.m. -- Stephanie Louden, Grace Park, Dottie Pepper

9:00 a.m. -- Hee-Won Han, Moira Dunn, Mi-Hyun Kim

9:10 a.m. -- Marisa Baena, Jamie Hullett, Lorie Kane

9:20 a.m. -- Liselotte Neumann, Beth Bauer, Jeong Jang

12:00 p.m. -- Donna Andrews, Amy Alcott, Kim Saiki

12:10 p.m. -- Michele Redman, Young Kim, Shani Waugh

12:20 p.m. -- Pat Hurst, Dawn Coe-Jones, Jill McGill

12:30 p.m. -- Emilee Klein, Heather Bowie, Kelli Kuehne

12:40 p.m. -- Rachel Teske, Maria Hjorth, Kate Golden

12:50 p.m. -- Riko Higashio, Il Mi Chung, Isabelle Beisiegel

1:00 p.m. -- Allison Finney, Maggie Will, Patricia Baxter-Johnson

1:10 p.m. -- Young-A Yang, Beth Bader, Tonya Gill

1:20 p.m. -- Amy Fruhwirth, Dale Eggeling, Pearl Sinn-Bonanni

1:30 p.m. -- Karen Pearce, Cindy Rarick, Kelly Lagedrost

1:40 p.m. -- Charlotta Sorenstam, Miriam Nagl, Marilyn Lovander

1:50 p.m. -- Mardi Lunn, Siew-Ai Lim, *In-Bee Park

* -- denotes amateur

Grace Park 9/2

Cristie Kerr 10/1

Mi-Hyun Kim 12/1

Catriona Matthew 15/1

Aree Song 18/1

Michele Redman 20/1

Rosie Jones 20/1

Lorie Kane 20/1

Hee-Won Han 20/1

Juli Inkster 20/1

Candie Kung 25/1

Karen Stupples 25/1

Jung Yeon Lee 30/1

Rachel Teske 30/1

Shihyun Ahn 40/1

Laura Diaz 40/1

Christina Kim 40/1

Pat Hurst 50/1

Stacy Prammanasudh 50/1

Sophie Gustafson 50/1

Dottie Pepper 50/1

Jennifer Rosales 50/1

Ashli Bunch 50/1

Carin Koch 50/1

Brandie Burton 60/1

Tina Barrett 60/1

Young Kim 60/1

Heather Bowie 60/1

Jeong Jang 60/1

Wendy Ward 60/1

Janice Moodie 60/1

Stephanie Louden 60/1

Natalie Gulbis 75/1

Angela Stanford 75/1

Dorothy Delasin 75/1

Kelli Kuehne 75/1

Helen Alfredsson 75/1

Danielle Ammaccapane 75/1

Vicki Goetze-Ackerman 75/1

Emilee Klein 75/1

Kim Saiki 75/1

Donna Andrews 75/1

Dawn Coe-Jones 100/1

Hilary Lunke 100/1

Michelle McGann 100/1

Liselotte Neumann 100/1

Gloria Park 100/1

Charlotta Sorenstam 100/1

Amy Alcott 200/1

Field (all others) 3/1

Those who lived in town during the early 1990s likely remember when high winds spectacularly tore apart the Las Vegas Hilton's freestanding sign in front of the hotel, causing a major problem and a crazy sight.

A decade later, the Hilton and the wind are still garnering attention -- but this time, it is on the golf course at Las Vegas Country Club. Players at this week's LPGA Takefuji Classic know well that the tournament could be decided over the final few holes, all of which are significantly affected by the winds that swirl and dive around the Hilton's skyscraping towers.

"The way that the Hilton's shaped, it's perfect for having just really deceiving winds," said second-year pro Christina Kim. "You could be standing at the tee and you'll feel one wind, but because of the way that the Hilton's shaped, it can manipulate the wind either way. So that has a factor in it."

That is just one theory on why Nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18 ranked as four of the six hardest holes during last year's tournament. Some golfers say that is just nerves, while others say that the siren's song of a chance to go low cause some big numbers for those who miss.

While the par-4, 410-yard stretch at No. 5 played at an average of 4.261 strokes to rank as the course's most difficult hole in 2003, wind-swept holes at par-4, 403-yard No. 15 (4.137), par-4, 410-yard 16 (4.207), par-3, 158-yard 17 (3.120) and par-5, 495-yard 18 (5.095) played as hard as any on the course.

"The wind typically kind of kicks up toward the back four holes," Kelli Kuehne said. "It's never done until the last putt is in, basically."

Wind is the most cited factor among players as the biggest challenge at the Takefuji. In addition to blowing the ball around on some narrow fairways, it also dries out the already firm greens and makes it difficult to get shots to stick.

"I think that the thing about being here is the wind," Diaz said. "That seems to be what the case was last year."

Diaz knows that well, having battled fierce Thursday winds in the opening round last year to post a co-leading score of 66. The wind kicked up in the afternoon during last year's first round, sending scores upward across the board.

Most players expect wind to be the only thing guarding the straightforward LVCC course again in 2004.

"If it gets windy, I think there will be a lot of tricky holes," said Catriona Matthew, who shared the first-round lead with Diaz last year.

That is especially true on the course's difficult final stretch, where a couple of par-4s that already measure more than 400 yards stretch out when the gusts appear -- many times from out of nowhere and with no way to account for their direction.

"I think if the wind's into them on 15 and 16, obviously it makes them longer," Matthew said. "And then the hotel -- you never quite know what it does to the wind."

The 17th hole is enough of a question mark with hazards guarding the green on all sides. But the Hilton wind probably figures most prominently into this hole, more than any other.

"It kind of really swirls around the hotel, which makes it difficult to pick clubs," Matthew said.

And then there is the closing hole, which features water guarding the front of the green, bunkers guarding the back and not much real estate sitting in between. Some players will choose to try to reach it in two shots, but most will settle for a birdie chance -- but only if they can place the ball well on the green that slopes down toward the water.

"Obviously, you have the water that comes into play. 18 is pretty tempting," Kuehne said. "Depending on where you are and where you set yourself up, you could certainly leave yourself a pretty decent opportunity to go for the green. If you lay up, it's imperative that you give yourself good layup yardage because you can suck the ball into the water."

"18 is actually a great hole for us because you can do some moving up and you can do some falling back on it."

Kim said that the Hilton-affected winds play a big part in No. 18 as well.

"Even (Tuesday), I finished playing on the 18th hole and from the tee box, the wind was blowing left to right," Kim said. "But then 150 yards out past the Hilton, it was going dead right to left. There's a lot of confusion in that. It's a really shallow green. It's a difficult green. It's rinky-dinky. I think there's maybe 23, 24 yards from the front to the back."

While the numbers support the idea that wind and tough greens make the closing holes some of the most challenging on the course, it is still a hard sell to some who believe that those stats look the same at most tournaments.

Diaz said that nerves and pressure, moreso than wind and greens, make the last four holes tough.

"It's just golf," Diaz said. "I think that's how it usually appears, that the last few holes probably play more difficult."

Of course, the LVCC track may play quite a bit different this year. Grumblings were heard among players last year about the condition of the course with its hard fairways and greens, but those have quieted in 2004.

"It's in a lot better shape than it was last year," Kim said. "I can definitely say that much. Many of the holes, the rough's grown quite a bit. I don't want to say they've taken better care of it, but they've been able to maintain the course into better shape."

And if the wind cooperates, the final four holes may be nothing more than a nuisance to a player who has built a solid score on the first 14.

"When there's not much wind, people are just going to be eating it up," Kim said."

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