USPGA Championship: Baltusrol named after farmer Baltus Roll brutally strangled to death on site of stunning course in 1831
Championship course spookily built on farmland belong to Dutchman battered, throttled and left for dead for his treasure
BALTUSROL Golf Club, the site of the 2016 PGA Championship, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered man who is the club is named after.
The likes of , and Open champion tee off at the prestigious course in in New Jersey, US - but they may not be aware of its grisly past.
It was named in honour of Boltus Roll a Dutch-born farmer who was attacked, tortured and killed by two strangers on the night of February 22nd, 1831 aged 61.
He farmed the land on which the club now sits, having emigrated to the United States with his family - and over the years had become quite successful, leading two men identified as Peter B. Davis and Lycidias Baldwin to be convinced he was wealthy.
That night they went to Roll's home to try to get him to share the location of some treasure he had buried, but when he refused to co-operate they tied him up and beaten by the criminals.
His wife, who was alone in the house with him at the time, said at the trial of one of the accused: "We were awoken at about midnight by a loud pounding on the door, and then the door burst open and two men came in and dragged my husband out of bed, punched and beat him, and took him out of the house.
"They seemed to ignore me, but I could see the face of the larger man - a full face with large whiskers and light blue eyes.
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"I watched them tie my husband and choke him and throw him on the ground, and not knowing what to do, I hid myself in the woods and wandered about until daylight. Then I went for help to a neighbour's house."
She returned to find him dead, and despite a huge amount of national interest at the time, no-one was ever convicted of the crime.
When Baldwin heard that the police had arrested Davis, he fled and committed suicide in a room at the tavern by overdosing on a narcotic.
Davis was tried but not convicted because a number of pieces of evidence were declared inadmissible - but he did eventually go to prison on a forgery charge and died inside.
Sixty years later, residents purchased the property and built a golf course on it naming the club "Baltusrol" in his memory in October 1895.
It has hosted seven US Open tournaments and two PGA Championships, the last coming in 2005 when Phil Mickleson emerged victorious.
McIlroy is gunning for glory at Baltusrol, having said watching Stenson and Mickleson at the Open gave him a "kick up the ass".
And Roll's tombstone still stands nearby, while his cottage is still standing, a short distance beyond the hill where the eighth and eleventh holes are situated.