Insider: Firestone Country Club brings back memories from pros

PGA TOUR Champions members were universally thrilled to learn recently that Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, would remain a part of their schedule through at least 2026.

Local sponsor Kaulig Companies stepped up to become the new title sponsor of the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS Championship beginning in 2023. But there is nothing new about professional golf at the highest levels being contested at Firestone, where the PGA TOUR Champions will gather again this week for the fourth of its five major championships.

In fact, Firestone has held PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions events from the 1950s to the present, including three PGA Championships, the NEC World Series of Golf, the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the SENIOR PLAYERS Championship. When it was a WGC event (1999-2018) it had a limited field of about 75 players.

We asked several PGA TOUR Champions players about their recollections of Firestone. It earned near-unanimous praise for the course and the clubhouse, as well as its employees.

“Being there meant I had done something well to get there,” Lee Janzen said. “The winner definitely has to persevere. To win there is a great accomplishment.”

Tiger Woods won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational a record eight times. Only two current PGA TOUR Champions players won it – Darren Clarke and Vijay Singh. Another PGA TOUR Champions stalwart, Jim Furyk, ranks second in career earnings at Firestone to Woods. Since it became the venue for the SENIOR PLAYERS in 2019 it has been won by Retief Goosen, Jerry Kelly and defending champion Steve Stricker.

THE COURSE

“It’s a great golf course,” Furyk said. “In my opinion it’s one of the top five on the PGA TOUR. It’s fair, right in front of you. Not tricky, but tough.”

Firestone has shown its teeth since becoming a regular home to the PGA TOUR Champions. Last year only Stricker (7-under) and Kelly (1-under) finished under par, and in 2020 only Kelly (1-under) did.

“It was always hard and still is. It’s a challenge,” Mark Calcavecchia said. “When we (PGA TOUR Champions) play there there’s not more than two or three guys who end up in the red. The rough is pretty deep. It’s all the course you want, that’s for sure.”

“It’s been really hard on us,” Janzen said. “You’re just trying to hang on. I will say though that the fairways are the purest.”

It’s OK if a course is tough but fair. When players believe it’s fair they typically don’t mind if par is a good score.

“The course at Firestone is one of the best we play, and that goes for the past 50 years,” said Jay Haas, 67, who was a runner-up to Goosen in 2019. “It’s always in good shape, was a good challenge in the 1960s and still is for the professional of today.”

THE CLUBHOUSE

Players had the highest praise for the clubhouse, locker room and its attendees. They tossed around words such as “beautiful,” “perfect” and “awesome.”

Among the clubhouse’s features are 30 dormitory-style rooms flanking the outer edges of the men's locker room that pay homage to the long history of professional golf at the club.

“The one thing that sticks out in my mind is the display of history in one of the best locker rooms we have!” Haas exclaimed. “I love looking at the pictures of the past competitors and winners of the World Series, the majors and what now has evolved into the SENIOR PLAYERS.”

The players cited the fact several locker room attendants had been around for years, and that they take great care of the players.

“My favorite hole there is definitely the 19th hole,” Calcavecchia said. “The guys in the locker room are fantastic. You can order anything you want to eat at anytime. They always had a cocktail ready for me when I got done.

“It’s a beautiful clubhouse, and the locker room is fantastic. They have these big, super comfy lounge chairs. I think I fell asleep in one of those one day during a rain delay. There’s some rooms you can find a bed in. It’s just an awesome, awesome locker room.”

FRED FUNK'S NEAR-RECORD 62

The course record at the Firestone Country Club South course of 9-under 61 is held by Woods (who did it twice), Sergio Garcia, Jose Maria Olazabal and Hideki Matsuyama.

Believe it or not, the relatively short-but-straight hitting Fred Funk once fired an 8-under 62 there, during the second round in 2003.

You know who doesn’t believe it? Funk.

“I’m not sure why you’re asking me about Firestone because I don’t think I’ve ever played well there,” Funk said.

Umm, but Fred, what about the 62? You holed out for eagle on 1 and took it from there.

“The only way I shot 62 at Firestone is if I quit after 16,” Funk said.

He was texted a link to his transcript from the news conference after his round.

“The mind is a terrible thing,” Funk replied. He also said he called his caddie from ’03.

“He didn’t remember, which is shocking. But he said that was normal for me.”

Funk’s other three rounds were all 2-over 72s. He finished T14.

Calcavecchia couldn’t believe Funk couldn’t remember a 62 at Firestone.

“I shot 63 there once,” Calcavecchia said. “Want me to go through it with you?”

TIGER'S MIRACULOUS PAR IN 2016

On the ninth hole during the third round of the 2006 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Woods hit a 9-iron over the green that hit a cart path and one-hopped atop the clubhouse. It literally came to rest on the roof.

A worker fetched the ball. Somehow Woods was awarded a free drop. He was 84 yards from the pin and managed to get up and down for a miraculous par on his way to another victory.

“How the hell did Tiger hit it on the roof and it wasn’t OB?” Furyk asked.

“That could only happen to Tiger,” Calcavecchia said.

CALCAVECCHIA FINDS LOVE

It was the third round of the 2001 Bridgestone Invitational and Calcavecchia was paired with Scott Hoch. They were waiting in the 10th fairway for the green to clear when Calcavecchia noticed a tall, pretty blonde by the right trees was waving.

“I turned around, and I know she’s not waving at Scott Hoch,” Calcavecchia said. “I had Joe LaCava caddying for me. I said, ‘Joe, this blonde is waving at me. This doesn’t happen to me, but I know it happens to Freddie (Couples, for whom LaCava caddied in the 1990s and 2000s) all the time. What do I do?’

“She walked a few more holes with us and I finally got the nerve up to talk to her after the 12th green. She says we met at Muirfield (the Memorial Tournament, which had been held six weeks prior). I said. ‘Oh yeah, how could I forget you?’

“So I asked her out to dinner a few holes later. We went to the Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse that night. It was our first date.”

Mark and Brenda were married in 2005 and are still together.