Valhalla Golf Club: Course Profile and Some Random Thoughts
Course Overview and History
Valhalla Golf Club sits around twenty miles due directly east of downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It is a relatively new course, having opened in 1986. It has quickly become a staple for championship golf and has now has hosted four PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup. That would be an impressive resume for a century old course, let alone one this new. Tiger Woods won here in 2000 with a dramatic three hole playoff win over Bob May. Rory won in 2014 also in dramatic fashion, with light of day escaping the course, finishing nearly in the dark. At the time it looked like Rory may chase down Tiger in terms of majors, but sadly Rory has not won a major since then. The US Ryder team tasted sweet victory over rival Europe with their 2008 victory there. Valhalla is ranked as the consensus top course in Kentucky. Golf Digest’s ‘Americas’100 Greatest Courses’ article in 2023 has this Kentucky gem at number eighty seven.
Accurate drives and well struck long irons are a recipe for success at Valhalla
Jack Nicklaus was tapped to design the course. He was dealt a difficult property to design a golf course as half of the land was set on a flood plain when he took on the project. The course is setup well for championship golf and handling thousands of spectators, and I am sure that was part of the original plan. Though I haven’t seen exact numbers from this year’s tournament, over 200,000 attendees were expected from Thursday to Sunday — a PGA Championship record. Much of the course plays along rolling hills with a section of the front nine playing to a flatter aspect of the course, most likely the original flood plane area Jack had to deal with. Small creeks (and one impressive waterfall structure) weave and wind their way through various parts of holes and the property. The course is setup with five tees and for the tournament the big dogs were playing from a cool 7,675 yards. The course has a traditional layout with two par threes and fives on both the front and back, and remainder of the holes are par fours. It’s clear that this course was built and setup for championship golf. I really enjoyed profiling this course. In this post I cover some standout holes and some unique takeaways from the event that may not have profiled over the television broadcast.
Individual Hole Profile
No 6, ‘Long Shot’
While I did not get a picture of number six, it felt like a hole that needed to be profiled, as it was the most difficult hole on the course. The tee box sits a whopping 495 yards from the green. Floyd’s creek sits around 300 yards from the tee box so players had to be strategic right from the start; most elected to hit less than a drive with a 280-290 yard shot that would still leave them 210 plus to the hole. A long approach shot combined with a difficult green makes par feel like a birdie on this hole.
No 7, ‘ Genuine Risk’
The par five seventh was my favorite hole on the golf course. The hole name would also make for a great movie title but is actually named after a former Kentucky Derby winner in 1980. It got a lot of air time on television as well which I was glad to see. It looked like a tee box may have been specifically created for the tournament and played 600 yards from the gold tees. The hole plays to split fairways with water covering the middle. The shorter play and more common tee shot was to the left fairway. The left fairway also comes with risk as the fairway width is smaller than that of the right and is only twenty six yards wide. That’s a hard pass for us human golfers.
The split fairways on seven were one of my favorite design aspects at Valhalla
I did not see many tee shots land in the water but did see a number of lay ups on second shots, particularly from errant tee shots that missed the fairway. When players did have to lay up, they were usually in a pretty good position to attack the pin. With a good tee shot players were almost always going for the green. This was a great viewing hole from anywhere whether it be decision making on the tee box or watching the player-caddie combination decide what to do on their second shot. Seven green was also a great viewing point and provided additional views of tee boxes of the fifth and eighth hole from a single vantage point. More birdies were carded here than any hole but the finishing par five. Decisions were the name of the game on this par five.
The nine green was one of the best viewing points on the course to see multiple holes from one spot. Also I would imagine television never showed those power lines.
No 9, ‘Twin Spires’
Number nine reminded me of the par five finishing hole at Valhalla from a look and feel standpoint. This par four does not play long for these guys at 415 yards. The hole plays longer than the scorecard yardage with a large uphill approach shot. A kidney shaped green boarded by a massive sand trap on the right makes this approach shot one to think about and strategize. The approach shot on nine was a fun viewing area as you had a great angle for the ball flight. Though you can’t see how close to the pin the ball lands with an elevated green in some places, the large grand stand crowd noise will tell you right away if you have just seen a great shot. A great closing hole to the front at Valhalla.
Nine approach shot made for another great viewing point on the golf course and was a fun finishing hole to the front nine
No 13, ‘The Lime Stone Hole’
Number thirteen is certainly the most unique hole on the course and probably considered the signature hole as well. This par four plays as the shortest of the par four variety on the course at 355 yards. Most players were looking at an iron off the tee, keeping the ball right to avoid the bunkers lining the left side of the hole. I do not recall seeing any player attempt to hit a driver off the tee and land their tee shot on this island green — the risk seemed too high. A well placed tee shot will lead to a shot likely within 120 yards to an island green. The hole name clearly comes from the unique limestone rock which lines the back right side of the green with streaming water falls trickling down into the surrounding moat. The green is a large one at over 5,600 feet and would be a knee buckler for most amateur golfers but seemingly a walk in the park for this level of golfer.
The island green and surrounding limestone on thirteen is the most unique course element at Valhalla
No 14, ‘ On The Rocks’
On The Rocks is the longest par three at Valhalla. It was playing 256 yards (a short part four for some of us) and golfers teed off from another elevated tee box to an elevated green. It was incredible to watch the high percentage of shots that hit the green on such a long demanding par three. The green is made up of two tiers and the back and side of the green slope off, so misses left and off the back here can create a tricky up and down.
Green view on number fourteen provides a great vantage point to watch tee shots from a elevated tee box to a two tier green
No 18, ‘Photo Finish’
The finishing hole at a major, does it get any better? And what a finish it was with Mr. Schauffele playing his final hole of the week knowing he needed a birdie to win it. Xander kept his composure all week and was laser focused on an incredibly difficult second shot on eighteen where his feet were downhill in a sand trap and he ripped a four iron to short left of the green. That shot setup an uphill chip followed by the winning birdie putt. The green complex on eighteen is a difficult one with multiple tiers. Had Xander hit the chip too hot, he could have put himself in a position to possibly lose the tournament with a three putt I was happy for Xander; he led wire to wire and has been on the cusp of many majors in his career. His legacy will no longer be in question after a superb week of incredible golf through the hills of Vallhala.
Photo Finish has everything you could want for finishing par five in a major
Not to be forgotten, the hole itself. Eighteen plays from an elevated tee box where most players were keeping their tee shot to the left side of the hole to avoid water which lines most of the right side of the hole. If in the fairway, most players were going for the green with relatively low risk for a missed green. Photo Finish played as the easiest hole on the golf course. The players view from the second shot is picture perfect with trickling streams to the right playing to an elevated green with the clubhouse directly in the background. I wasn’t able to spend as much time on this hole as I would have liked but consider it a great finishing hole, especially given the way players can go for the green in two with a good tee shot.
What The Television Broadcast Might Not Have Told You
John Daily’s Golf Cart
The man and seemingly legend himself was back for another PGA Championship. Winning the 1991 tournament earned Daily a lifetime exemption. Daily has started in twenty-nine PGA Championships but has only made seven cuts through the years. The more interesting exemption with Daily comes with his ability to use a golf cart for this tournament. That exemption is built off Daily’s past knee issues and surgery which led to cartlidge being fully removed. That’s all it’s built on? Daily carded an eleven over on Thursday — only slightly out of contention — and withdrew from the tournament citing a thumb injury. The clear theory with zero proof here is that with a very wet day on the course Friday, the Valhalla team/PGA would not allow him to take the golf cart on the course in those conditions. I am sure we will see Daily tee it up again in Charlotte next May at Quail Hollow.
Things you don’t think you will see at a major
The Bridge to Number Nine Tee Box
The tee box is set back over a creek and players and caddies have to take a surprisingly small and narrow bridge to get to the tee box. The bridge could not have been more than two feet wide. We may have heard more about it if someone accidently took a dip. One area that got slightly less air time than Scottie this week.
John Daily’s golf cart will not fit across number nine bridge
The Lone House On The 6th Hole
Valhalla is largely lined with trees with a few open holes, like number seven. One very unique aspect of the property is the lack of residential property surrounding it. I noticed only one private home with a golf course view on this historic course. After some thorough research on Zillow, the house appears to have last sold for $1.3 million and is part of a larger neighborhood. The owners may have been able to make half of that buy from renting their house out for the week.