Valhalla Golf Club Will Offer the Perfect Setting for Ryder Cup
Valhalla Golf Club first opened its doors in 1986, and it has quickly managed to achieve legendary status.
Jack Nicklaus was commissioned to design the course, located in Louisville, Ky., in 1981.
In 1987, only a year after opening its doors, Valhalla was ranked the No. 1 golf course in Kentucky and one of the top three new golf courses in the country.
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In 2005, Valhalla Golf club made the list Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses in America.
In 2000, the PGA of America completed their full purchase of Valhalla Golf Club, and the course and country club are now fully run by the PGA of America.
Valhalla is no stranger to major PGA Tour events. It has hosted the 1996 PGA Championship, won by Mark Brooks; the 2000 PGA Championship, won by Tiger Woods; the 2004 PGA Senior Championship, won by Hale Irwin; and it will now proudly host the 2008 Ryder Cup matches.
Valhalla is unlike most courses that host major championships in that it is half parkland style and half links style.
In recent years, as with any course that wants to continue hosting major events, Valhalla decided to undertake some modifications to lengthen the course to 7,500 yards.
Nicklaus was again commissioned to design the course modifications and ensure that the course remained worthy of hosting major professional golf events.
Valhalla will provide a perfect setting for the 2008 Ryder Cup Matches.
The course offers several interesting risk/reward holes that will provide for exciting moments for fans and tough decisions for players.
There are three holes that could make or break a match depending upon how aggressive a player decides to be.
The 6th hole is a 500-yard par-4 that will demand a 190-230 approach shot directly over a water hazard. It is not often that you see professionals lay up on a par 4 but depending upon the decisions made by the competition and the outcome of those decisions, you might very well see players lay up on the par-4 6th.
The 7th hole is a par-5 with a fairway split by a water hazard.
Players will have the choice of hitting their drives to the larger, safer right-side fairway, a decision that will almost certainly require a layup with their second shot; or a player can get aggressive and opt for the fairway on the left, which cuts off over 50 yards to the green but has a landing area that is a mere 24 yards wide.
A player will need to decide between going for the risky left-side fairway and getting home in two or playing it safe to the right-side fairway and laying up with their second shot.
If a player finds himself in an early hole, his decision on the 7th should provide for some interesting entertainment.
Finally, the 18th hole at Valhalla will offer one of the greatest finishing holes you will ever see.
The par-5 18th plays 550 yards with a green guarded by a bunker that stretches across the entire front side and a water hazard in front of a small landing area to the right, not to mention that the green is one of the smaller, more undulated greens on the course.
With a 300-yard drive, a player will have to fly their second shot 240+ yards with pinpoint accuracy in order to safely reach the green in two.
Players will also be hitting their second shots directly at an amphitheatre capable of holding 20,000 fans. As if the pressure of the Ryder Cup isn’t intense enough in itself, players will be finishing their matches in front a green surrounded by nothing less than a small stadium.
The 18th hole will undoubtedly provide a theatre rarely seen anywhere in the world of golf.
The Ryder Cup is one of the most exciting events in the game of golf and the risk/reward scenarios along with a 20,000-strong amphitheatre on the 18th hole should provide for some breathtakingly exciting moments, even by Ryder Cup standards.
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