Major golf has returned to Kentucky as Valhalla Golf Club hosts the 106th PGA Championship.
Valhalla is a relatively young course but is already steeped in history.
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All you need to know about the 2024 PGA Championship final round
Just 10 years after being established, the hilly Louisville track held the 1996 PGA Championship – won by Mark Brooks – and has gone on to become one of the most active courses on the major rotation.
Tiger Woods claimed the Wanamaker Trophy there in 2000 while Rory McIlroy did the same in 2014. Hale Irwin and Tom Watson have also won the Senior PGA Championship at the venue.
The PGA of America owned the course for several years, hence it’s regularity in being selected, but it has provided plenty of drama over the years to warrant its picks.
Of the five top events held there, two have been won by just one stroke while the other three have gone to play-offs.
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Founded by Dwight Gahm and designed by Jack Nicklaus, Valhalla was built on old farm land and tracks used to train American Quarter Horses.
It has undergone more renovations in time for the 2024 PGA Championship and should provide the perfect test for the game’s best.
It will be a par 71 and play to a maximum yardage for 7,609.
The course is wrapped around Floyd’s Fork River which comes into play on several holes while the par 5 18th ‘Photo Finish’ is a classic major finishing hole.
Here’s a full guide to every hole that the players will face this year at Valhalla…
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1st (The Post), 484 yards, par four
Lengthened by around 40 yards since 2014, this dogleg left presents a stiff challenge both off the tee and into the green, which is guarded by intimidating bunkers to front-left or back-right pin positions.
2nd (Winning Colors), 500 yards, par four
A more gentle dogleg left than the opening hole, but Floyd's Fork - which meanders through the front nine - runs down the left side of the fairway and the green, which is also protected by three bunkers.
3rd (Honest Abe), 208 yards, par three
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Floyd's Fork sweeps around to the right of the green and awaits any shot which is mishit or misjudges the wind and catches the slope to push the ball into the hazard. The hole is named after Kentucky's only president, Abraham Lincoln.
4th (Mine that Bird), 372 yards, par four
A short par four which some of the longer hitters may be able to reach, while those opting to lay back will need to find an accurate approach to a green which has significant contours.
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5th (The Sun Shines Bright), 463 yards, par four
The only hole on the course without a single tree, the fifth is a dogleg right with a fairway surrounded by bunkers and more at the green, which also features a run-off area to the left.
6th (Long Shot), 495 yards, par four
One of the most difficult holes on the course challenges players to get as close to Floyd's Fork as they dare off the tee, before turning 90 degrees right and hitting a lengthy approach to a green guarded on the left by a large, deep bunker.
7th (Genuine Risk), 597 yards, par five
A risk-reward hole which features a split fairway. Going left shortens the hole by more than 50 yards, but the landing area is just 26 yards wide and surrounded by bluegrass rough and water, and also leaves an approach shot over more water.
8th (Float Like a Butterfly), 190 yards, par three
The shortest par three on the course, but one with a challenging green which is protected at the front by a deep bunker and more sand to the left.
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9th (Twin Spires), 415 yards, par four
The tee shot must avoid the three fairway bunkers on the right and two more to the left, before an uphill approach to a relatively narrow green guarded by a bunker on the right which runs the length of the putting surface.
10th (Big Red), 590 yards, par five
A double dogleg par-five which features a fairway bunker on the right side of the driving zone and an undulating, two-tiered green. McIlroy made an eagle here in the final round on his way to victory in 2014.
11th (Holler), 211 yards, par three
The shallow target sits at an angle to the tee and is guarded by bunkers to the front left and back right of the green. Anything too far to the left will bound away down a steep slope.
12th (Sting Like a Bee), 494 yards, par four
The fairway narrows significantly as it approaches the end of a slight dogleg right, leaving an approach of around 180 yards to another elevated green which sits at an angle and is protected by one of the deepest bunkers on the course.
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13th (The Limestone Hole), 351 yards, par four
The shortest par four on the course requires a positional tee shot to avoid the six bunkers left of the fairway and set up a wedge approach to the ‘island’ green built up on large boulders and framed by a waterfall.
14th (On the Rocks), 254 yards, par three
The longest par three has a two-tiered green with two bunkers in front and two behind, with shots from the rear bunkers played on to a putting surface which slopes from back to front.
15th (Julep), 435 yards, par four
Brush Run Creek runs down the right side of the entire hole and features most prominently at the green, where any shot pushed off target risks finding the hazard, particularly to a front-right pin.
16th (Home Stretch), 508 yards, par four
The creek this time poses more of a threat off the tee and meanders away from a green protected by two bunkers at the front and a severe drop-off to a closely-mown area to the right.
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17th (Straight Up), 472 yards, par four
The tee shot must avoid the fairway bunkers - McIlroy made a vital birdie from the right-hand one in the final round in 2014 - to set up an approach to a green guarded by more interconnected bunkers short left.
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18th (Photo Finish), 570 yards, par five
Another split fairway to end and this hole is one of the best in the game. A large bunker left of the fairway can push tee shots close to the water on the right, but a good drive will give most players the chance to reach the vast, boomerang-shaped green in two and set up drama at the death.