Valhalla Golf Club

Valhalla Golf Club
Club information
Location Louisville, Kentucky
Established 1986
Type Private
Owned by PGA of America
Total holes 18
Tournaments hosted PGA Championship
 (1996, 2000, 2014)
Ryder Cup   (2008)
Senior PGA Championship (2004, 2011)
Website valhalla.pgalinks.com
Designed by Jack Nicklaus
Par 71
Length 7,458 yards (6,820 m)[1]
Course rating 76.4
Slope rating 148 [2]
Valhalla
Golf Club
Location in the United States
Statue of Jack Nicklaus and Dwight Gahm by Zenos Frudakis at Valhalla in 2008

Valhalla Golf Club, located east of Louisville, Kentucky, is a private golf club designed by Jack Nicklaus, opened in 1986.

In 1992, Valhalla was selected to host the PGA Championship in the year 1996, one of golf's four majors. The following year (1993), the PGA of America purchased a 25% interest in the club. After the championship in 1996, the PGA of America raised its stake to 50% and announced that the event would return to Valhalla in 2000. At its conclusion, the PGA of America exercised an option to purchase the remaining interest in the club. Later that year, it announced that the Ryder Cup would be held at Valhalla in 2008.

Valhalla also hosted the PGA Club Professional Championship in 2002 and the Senior PGA Championship in 2004. The PGA Championship was originally scheduled to be played at Valhalla in 2004, but the PGA of America switched it to Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.[3]

In 2009, the PGA of America announced that the Senior PGA Championship and the PGA Championship would return to Valhalla in 2011 and 2014, respectively.

The course sits on a 486-acre (2.0 km2) property on Shelbyville Road (US 60) in the eastern portion of Louisville just outside the Gene Snyder Freeway (I-265) It was envisioned by local business leader Dwight Gahm (pronounced "game") and his three sons in 1981, and opened five years later. Steve Houg is the head professional as of March 2016.

Major tournaments hosted

The 1996 PGA Championship was won in a playoff; Mark Brooks won his only major title with a birdie on the first extra hole, the par-5 18th. Franklin native Kenny Perry was the runner-up in the event's final sudden-death playoff. Four years later, the 2000 PGA Championship also went to a playoff; Tiger Woods won by one stroke over Bob May in the revised three-hole format. Woods had a 3-4-5=12 to May's 4-4-5=13 on the course's final three holes. It was Woods' second consecutive PGA Championship, his fifth major title and his third consecutive major title (beginning with the 2000 US Open - a streak that continued into the "Tiger Slam" at the 2001 Masters.) Valhalla hosted its third PGA Championship in 2014, when Rory McIlroy beat Phil Mickelson also by one stroke.[4] Beforehand, the course had undergone a major "modernization" after it hosted the Senior PGA Championship in 2011, which included the rebuilding of all 18 greens.[5]

In addition, Valhalla hosted the Ryder Cup in 2008, with the United States defeating Europe 16½ to 11½ for the first U.S. win since their comeback victory in 1999 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Perry and another native Kentuckian – J. B. Holmes of Campbellsville, who made the team as one of American captain Paul Azinger's four picks - were part of the victorious Team USA and accounted for a combined five points.

YearTournamentWinner Winning Score Margin of

Victory

Runner(s) Up Winner's Share ($)
1996 PGA Championship United States Mark Brooks 277 (-11) Playoff United States Kenny Perry 430,000
2000 PGA Championship United States Tiger Woods 270 (-18) Playoff United States Bob May 900,000
 2004  Senior PGA Championship United States Hale Irwin 276 (-8) 1 stroke United States Jay Haas 360,000
2008 Ryder Cup United States United States 161/2 to 111/2 European Union Europe N/A
2011 Senior PGA Championship United States Tom Watson 278 (-10) Playoff United States David Eger 360,000
2014 PGA Championship Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy 268 (-16) 1 stroke United States Phil Mickelson 1,800,000

Scorecard

Course setup for the 2014 PGA Championship

HoleNameYardsPar HoleNameYardsPar
1Cut the Corner4464 10Turns5905
2The Ridge500411On the Edge2103
3Floyds Fork205312Odin's Revenge4674
4Short 'n Sweet372413The Island3504
5Fade Away463414Two Tears2173
6The Bear495415On the Rocks4354
7Players Pick597516Down the Stretch5084
8Thor's Hammer174317No Mercy4724
9The Rise415418Gahm Over5425
Out3,66735In3,79136
Source:[1][6] Total7,45871

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Course tour". Valhalla Golf Club. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  2. "Course Rating and Slope Database: Valhalla Golf Club". USGA. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  3. "Lexington Herald Leader: Search Results".
  4. "PGA Championship". pga.com. PGA/Turner Sports Interactive. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  5. Sokeland, Justin (August 4, 2013). "Green light at Valhalla: Renovation of putting surfaces draws praise one year out from PGA Championship". Louisville Courier-Journal. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  6. "PGA Championship: course tour". PGA of America. 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014.

Coordinates: 38°14′31″N 85°28′19″W / 38.242°N 85.472°W / 38.242; -85.472

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