Valhalla Golf Club

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Valhalla Golf Club
Club information
Location Louisville, Kentucky
Established 1986
Type Private
Owned by PGA of America
Total holes 18
Website valhalla.pgalinks.com
Designed by Jack Nicklaus
Par 72
Length 7,540 yards (6,895 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, one of golf's four majors, in 1996. The following year, 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 2004 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 in the eastern portion of Louisville just outside the Gene Snyder Freeway It was envisioned by local business leader Dwight Gahm (pronounced "game") and his three sons in 1981, and opened five years later. Keith Reese is the PGA professional.

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. Kenny Perry of Kentucky 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 PGA Championship and his fifth major title. At the Ryder Cup in 2008, the United States defeated Europe 16½ to 11½ for the first U.S. win since 1999. Valhalla is scheduled to host its third PGA Championship in August 2014,[4] and underwent a major "modernization" following the Senior PGA Championship in 2011, which included the rebuilding of all 18 greens.[5]

YearTournamentWinnerRunner-up
1996 PGA Championship United States Mark Brooks United States Kenny Perry
2000 PGA Championship United States Tiger Woods United States Bob May
 2004  Senior PGA Championship United States Hale Irwin United States Jay Haas
2008 Ryder Cup United States United States European Union Europe
2011 Senior PGA Championship United States Tom Watson United States David Eger
2014 PGA Championship August 7–10

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Course tour". Valhalla Golf Club. Retrieved July 19, 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Course Rating and Slope Database: Valhalla Golf Club". USGA. Retrieved July 19, 2013. 
  3. ↑ PGA Has Insulted Louisville, Nicklaus
  4. ↑ Karman, John R. III (August 1, 2013). "Ticket prices announced for 2014 PGA Championship". Business First. Retrieved August 11, 2013. 
  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. 

External links

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

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