“Cathedral Spires” is the ninth
hole on Blackwolf Run’s River
course.
minds. These electric generator sets soon
spread throughout America’s countryside,
bringing light to the darkness. At the same
time, the company’s indoor toilets soon
turned the outhouse into a quaint symbol
of the olden days. It was on this foundation
of quality, dependability and innovation
that decades of growth were built.
In the 1970s, Herbert V. Kohler Jr., who
is the grandson of John Michael Kohler, led
the business into a new era of expansion,
based on the iconic slogan that would come
to define the company: “The Bold Look of
Kohler.” The goal was to add style and
color to the bathroom and to improve upon
the basic plumbing engineering that had
remained virtually unchanged for years. In
short, Kohler wanted to revolutionize the
The very idea is daunting: hosting not one, but two major golf events within
less than a month of each other.
The Kohler-owned Old Course
Hotel was the host-hotel for the
150th Open Championship in St.
Andrews, Scotland, in mid-July,
and this week Kohler hosts the
92nd PGA Championship at
Whistling Straits. Kohler is the
first entity to play host and host-hotel to
two of golf’s four major championships in
one calendar year.
Luckily, Scott Anderson (pictured),
92nd PGA Championship General
Chairperson and Kohler Co. Group
President – Hospitality & Real Estate, has
experience supervising large events: he
was the Managing Director of the 1996
Olympic Games in Atlanta.
The logistics are mind-boggling. Consider, for
example, the volunteers for the
PGA Championship: more than
3,600 of them from 46 states
and four countries, and each
one needs a uniform that fits
well, a work schedule, and
special hospitality training.
“They are vital to the
success of the event,” explains
The operations matrix is incredibly
detailed, including making sure 12,000
cases of soda and water are on hand, that
the buses run on time for the 750 trips
they’ll make throughout the week, and
that the 200,000-plus
A “majors” year for Kohler
brats and hot dogs are grilled to
perfection.
“In Wisconsin, you’ve got to have your
brats and beer,” laughs Anderson.
However, he notes, if beer’s not your thing
there’s also a specialty wine tent where
guests can find out which vintage pairs
best with that brat.
For two Kohler-owned properties to be
at the center of half of the game’s four
majors within the same year, let alone
within a month of each other, is an
unprecedented honor that comes with an
enormous responsibility.
“We’re in the business of creating
memories,” says Anderson. “Our main
goal is to make them great experiences
for people from the moment they
arrive.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KOHLER CO.
82 THE OFFICIAL PROGRAM OF THE 2010 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
