Last year on PGA Championship Monday, Rochester fans kept asking where all the golfers were?
I explained how most players like to take it nine holes at a time, prioritize manage rest, and let “teams” do a lot of the course strategy work.
“But it’s a major!”
I’d just shrug and acknowledge their viewing pain.
Monday at Valhalla provided an entirely different story. With an ominous forecast for most of Tuesday, the course looked like most of America’s tee-sheet-full courses: groups on every hole. One key difference: most courses are devoid of flunky entourages out helping the rugged individualists unlock Valahalla’s secrets.
It’s a burgeoning modern tradition unlike any other: more people inside the ropes than outside:
Even players who were beat up by Quail Hollow, a.k.a. everyone but Rory, practiced ahead of the rain expected to stay around into early Wednesday.
What did they see? A huge golf course still drying out from 2.23 inches of rain last week. Add on the new zoysia fairways and surrounds that give off a cushioned sensibility, and players should be ready to hit plenty of drivers while firing at greens holding their glorified Top Flites. Even with a surprising amount of poa in the surfaces, it should not affect putts. The ball is rolling beautifully and superintendent John Ballard’s team has the place in perfect shape.
Everything else looks like a traditional Kerry Haigh PGA Championship course setup, including:
Fairways narrowed somewhere between 26-28 yards wide.
Rough recently topped off around 3 inches that seems unlikely to get more mowing, meaning a healthy 4 inches by week’s end.
A second rough height outside the ropes has once again been allowed to, well, prosper! While most of it will be mashed down by spectators, players are going to find some occasional (nasty) hack-out lies far off the fairways.
If you are coming here to spectate please watch out. There are plenty of bad steps out in the tall stuff and undoubtedly a few burrowing animal hole rulings in our future.
What else?
Tiger Woods played the back nine early and appeared in good form. As with recent majors he shows no signs of mailing in his preparation. Woods appeared to have his old Valhalla notes and hit most putts one-handed as he consulted his paperwork.
Woods is using the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS putter he first put in play in 1999 and the putter for 14 of 15 major wins. He asked a couple of us watching the round how many players in the field are younger than his putter. I’m still researching this vital factoid.
Woods stopped behind the 18th green to sign autographs for almost ten minutes. He even squatted down to pose for a few photos and that’s not normally his style. So I’d say he’s in good spirits.
Woods is scheduled to meet with the media Tuesday at noon ET.
Valhalla’s zoysiagrass replacement for bent grass fairways has had less impact than expected. But it’ll play differently compared to past PGA’s when players miss the greens.
Valhalla has several huge tight-mow run-offs where players will need to trust hitting long putts or figure out nifty bump-and-runs. Lob shots off the zoysia look more risky.
Crowds were very good given the Monday vibes. There were plenty of kids out watching now that some schools are on summer recess. All signs point to record sales and another robust turnout of Louisville fans.
The added course length seems largely appropriate given the distance increases since 2014 and as players have moved from farm-raised to wild-caught salmon.
The only downer, as expected, was the 14th stretching to 250 yards and playing to a gently-tiered green not really suited for that long of a shot.
Michael Block was out practicing Monday with Lucas Herbert. While Blockie’s triumphant return will not be confused with Bobby Jones’ 1936 return to St Andrews, he was greeted with applause at every tee, followed by fan thank you’s and other acknowledgments of his 2023 T15.
Taylor Montgomeryhas withdrawn due to injury.C.T. Pan is now in the field.
Scottie Scheffler played later in the day after flying in from Dallas. The world No. 1 and betting favorite speaks to the media Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. But his team did finally reveal that wife Meredith gave birth to a new bundle of joy. Name and other details were not shared, but his social team did leave in a Swoosh.
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Lessons From Valhalla
Just in case we have a boring 10-shot runaway winner, I thought I’d explore what has made Valhalla work so well as a tournament venue. I’m happy to hear dissenting views, but after Monday’s re-acclimation, I’ve whittled it down to vibe, freedom to hit all shots, plenty of drivers and Louisville fans.
This 1986 Nicklaus design came on the major scene just ten years after opening. that alone turned much of the golf world against it—guilty as charged here—because it became the PGA of America’s latest nepo-baby venue. Soon after opening teh PGA of America took an ownership stake—since relinquished—in the latest twist that might explain why this week could be the last for a while.
Scheduling also fueled a negative perception. In the old August date, Valhalla majors finished off the Grand Slam season in summer heat and after the other majors visited stalwarts: 1996’s Oakland Hills and Royal Lytham, 2000s Pebble Beach and St Andrews in 2000, and 2014’s Pinehurst and Hoylake.
Then there is the scale and look of the place. On many front nine holes the land is gentle and idyllic (other than the high power lines). It plays through woodlands, along and over creeks, and even a rocky stretch adding another element of character. It’s overshaped in places with needless mounding and other rolly-polly excess that was popular in the 1980s. But it also has some wonderfully understated greens with gentle tilts accentuated in difficulty by uneven fairway stances.
Then there is the scale of it: Valhalla is built over 450 acres. It features some huge climbs yet manages to put the pieces together well enough to make the walk fairly seamless.
“It’s a big test,” says CBS’s Dottie Pepper, who has covered multiple events here.
Big rarely translates to producing fun golf to watch. The best tournament venues are on a more intimate scale for players and fans. They should have clusters of holes where roars reverberate, where players can feed off the energy or where decisions are made based on seeing what competitors are doing nearby (think 16 and 17 at TPC Sawgrass).
Valhalla offsets its spread-out nature with multiple amphitheater settings which have produced some of the loudest Ryder Cup and PGA Championship roars this century. I was reminded again on Monday just how many greens sit in bowl settings:
“You’ve got elevation changes which I think add to it,” says Pepper of the routing. “You’re coming up to the peak at No. 9. You’ve got a really cool first hole that has a great arena the way they build it out and there’s such great natural noise there.”
Even the island green at the 13th can be seen by fans from many different vantage points.
As anyone who remembers Tiger’s seesaw playoff battle with Bob May, many loud moments happened because of Valhalla’s natural amphitheaters. Like a great music hall where a band hears themselves well and the acoustics only heighten the music’s power for both audience and performer, Valhalla is a warm room. Throw in passionate Louisville fans happy to see the brats, and fan energy has carried it through several wet and weird tournament days. Valhalla achieves the same sensation many TPC courses hoped to create and that so few outside of Scottsdale and Sawgrass manage to capture.
There is also the undeniable but unquantifiable idea that players are free to hit driver here. For all the hill climbing and trouble, players feel encouraged to attack. And attacking golf is way more fun than plodding.
“There’s a sense of drama building,” says Pepper. “You’ve got a pretty tough par-4 (17th) getting to that par-5 finishing hole. You definitely have excitement with the par-5 finishing hole.”
Curiously, the 18th has one of Valhalla’s less-comfortable tee shots. It’s elevated, bends left-to-right, and has water down the right. It’s big and open, which may not be comforting. But that peculiar sensibility has also fueled some of the final hole zaniness.
The best performers here have varied in playing style and length off the tee. That’s a compliment to the variety of holes and shot shapes allowed.
Deeper, varied leaderboards add to the fun of tournaments here.
The par 3s, while disappointingly all 190 and up to 250, at least play in different directions. They are interesting enough without overtaking the rest of the course as the Postage Stamp or Island 17th at Sawgrass do (in their charming way).
And finally there is the landscape. Setting the high power lines aside, it’s a pretty setting with mature trees, water and texture in the form of some cool outcroppings. But it’s not a dark forest. Fans can see under the trees to other holes and other points through the property. I’m not saying it’s like looking out at Augusta National from the clubhouse. But noise carries here.
So to recap: while not an ideal property in size or scale, and faced with drainage difficulties after big rains, Valhalla still works because it gives performers and audiences a place to feel good. It’s not the Royal Albert Hall or Hollywood Bowl of tournament golf, but it is a place that anyone building a tournament course should respect as a proven stage relying on more than happenstance to explain its unforgettable track record of thrilling championships.
Valhalla By The Numbers
5,000 sq. ft.: Average green size
485: Total Property Acres
23: Acres of Fairway
60: Acres of Rough
62: Bunkers
5: Water Hazards
7: Holes with water in play
.100”: Green mowing height (T1 bentgrass)
.250”: Approach morning height (Zeon zoysiagrass)
.350”: Tees height (Zeon zoysiagrass)
.450” Fairways height
4”: Rough height
2021: year of conversion from bent to zoysiagrass
484: Hole 1 length, 38 yards longer than 2014
494: Hole 12 length, 27 yards longer than 2014
254 yards: Hole 14, 37 yards longer than 2014
570 yards: Hole 18, 28 yards longer than 2014
7,609 yards: Course yardage, 151 yards longer than 2014
Odds Movement!
The wagerers have (finally) taken notice of three-time PGA Champion Brooks Koepka’s win in Singapore. And they certainly saw Rory McIlroy’s dominating and inspired fourth win at Quail Hollow.
Scottie Scheffler remains in the remarkable 4-1 range, but McIlroy is now around 7-1, Koepka has come down to 14-1 and punters also seem to be reassured by reports of Ludvig Aberg’s plans to play after taking last week off to rest his knee.
Still, that Scheffler is 4-1 on a course he’s never played speaks to what an incredible run he’s on. Now a father and unburdened by the stress of waiting for a child to enter the world and for his wife Meredith to come out of it in good healthy, he should be rested and ready to pursue his third major.
The full list from Oddschecker.
Weather Update
The update from on-site forecaster Stewart Williams is not encouraging for Tuesday or Friday afternoon.
But we look good for getting the first round in without issue. Only the positive takes here!
Dunne Has Seen Enough PGA Tour Stalling
A letter came out late in the day from PGA Tour Policy Board member Jimmy Dunne announcing his resignation.
SI’s Michael Rosenberg was first to report the news.
There was little chance to catch any of the range chatter because (A) the PGA of America no longer allows media on the range in addition to numerous new bizarro restraints on press access, (B) the Dunne letter only reinforced that the Tour is a directionless chaotic mess being run by a bunch of players who should not be running a business.
Dunne’s timing is curious, at best. While it could be seen as rude to the PGA of America by dropping this a few hours before most player press conferences, I sense more to this story we don’t know just yet.
And while Dunne might not have been the ideal choice for explaining the infamous June 6th deal on national television, when someone who loves the game and has nothing to gain from serving on the board declares this at such a sensitive time, Dunne seems to be reinforcing what a disastrous mess the Tour has become.
After Dunne’s Monday resignation, the PGA Tour’s Commissioner told players in a message that the organization would not be commenting out of respect to the PGA of America.
Tuesday’s Interview Schedule
I hate to think how many questions will go something like this: “So what do you make of Jimmy Dunne resigning and essentially saying you guys are a point-missing bunch of whining wackos? And also, I have a follow-up to that when you’re done.”
The lineup for Tuesday:
Justin Thomas - 9:00 a.m.
Max Homa - 9:30 a.m.
Michael Block - 10:30 a.m.
Member of the 2024 Corebridge Financial Team
PGA News Conference - 11:00 a.m.
Featuring John Lindert, PGA; Seth Waugh; Kerry Haigh
Tiger Woods - Noon
Jordan Spieth - 12:30 p.m.
Jon Rahm - 1:00 p.m.
Brooks Koepka - 3:00 p.m.
Scottie Scheffler - 3:30 p.m.
Xander Schauffele - 4:00 p.m.
That’s all from Louisville for now,
Geoff
