Valhalla Golf Club

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Template:Short description Template:Infobox golf facility

File:Zenos Frudakis Jack Nicklaus Louisville.jpg
Statue of Jack Nicklaus and Dwight Gahm by Zenos Frudakis at Valhalla in 2008

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

In 1992, Valhalla was selected to host the 1996 edition of the PGA Championship, 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.<ref name=PGA>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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. In November 2017, the PGA of America announced that the PGA Championship would return to Valhalla in 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On June 1, 2022, the club and the PGA of America jointly announced that the club had been sold to a group of club members led by Jimmy Kirchdorfer, CEO of locally based piping supplier ISCO Industries. Other group members include former Yum! Brands CEO David Novak, businessman and former NBA player Junior Bridgeman, and hotelier Chester Musselman.<ref name=2022sale/>

The course sits on a Template:Convert property just north of 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.

Major tournaments hosted

Mark Brooks won the 1996 PGA Championship in a playoff, winning his only major 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 of his eventual "Tiger Slam" of four consecutive major titles – the PGA Championship was preceded by the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the 2000 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews and then followed by the 2001 Masters at Augusta National.) Valhalla hosted its third PGA Championship in 2014, when Rory McIlroy beat Phil Mickelson also by one stroke.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=grltval>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.

The club hosted the 2024 PGA Championship, marking the fourth as host site for that major. Later that year, it was announced as the venue for the 2028 Solheim Cup, making it just the fourth course after The Greenbrier, Muirfield Village and the Gleneagles Hotel's PGA Centenary to host both the Ryder and Solheim Cups.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Year Tournament Winner Winning Score Margin of

Victory

Runner(s) Up Winner's Share ($)
Total To Par
1996 PGA Championship Template:Flagicon Mark Brooks 277 –11 Playoff Template:Flagicon Kenny Perry 430,000
2000 PGA Championship Template:Flagicon Tiger Woods 270 –18 Playoff Template:Flagicon Bob May 900,000
 2004  Senior PGA Championship Template:Flagicon Hale Irwin 276 –8 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Jay Haas 360,000
2008 Ryder Cup Template:USA 161/2 to 111/2 Template:EUR N/A
2011 Senior PGA Championship Template:Flagicon Tom Watson 278 –10 Playoff Template:Flagicon David Eger 360,000
2014 PGA Championship Template:Flagicon Rory McIlroy 268 –16 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Phil Mickelson 1,800,000
2024 PGA Championship Template:Flagicon Xander Schauffele 263 –21 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Bryson DeChambeau 3,300,000
2028 Solheim Cup N/A

Scorecard

Course setup for the 2024 PGA Championship

Hole Name Yards Par Hole Name Yards Par
1 The Post 484 4 10 Big Red 590 5
2 Winning Colors 500 4 11 Holler 211 3
3 Honest Abe 208 3 12 Sting Like A Bee 494 4
4 Mine That Bird 372 4 13 The Limestone Hole 351 4
5 The Sun Shines Bright 463 4 14 On The Rocks 254 3
6 Long Shot 495 4 15 Julep 435 4
7 Genuine Risk 597 5 16 Homestretch 508 4
8 Float Like A Butterfly 190 3 17 Straight Up 472 4
9 Twin Spires 415 4 18 Photo Finish 570 5
Out 3,724 35 In 3,885 36
Source:<ref name=vgcctr/><ref name=pgact>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}Template:Dead link</ref> ||colspan=2 align=center|Total||align=center|7,609||align=center|71

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See also

References

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