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JACK Nicklaus’s Kentucky golf course has been given a brush-up despite only being 22 years old.
It was bought by the PGA of America from founder Dwight Gahm after it hosted their flagship championship in 2000 – the second time in four years the USPGA had been to the home of bluegrass and bourbon.
The word Valhalla stems from Norse mythology – the fabled playground of the Viking Gods – so Europe’s Scandinavian trio of Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson and Soren Hansen should feel right at home.
Golf’s unrivalled god in the pre-Tiger era has been back to revisit his original design work, and Jack has rebuilt his “Viking” home, altering the green’s on the sixth, eighth, 11th and 16th holes.
The slick, bent grass greens are reportedly running fast as Americans putt better on faster surfaces.
Now stretched to 7,496 yards, many feel Valhalla is one of the Golden Bear’s masterpieces of the 265 courses he has designed around the world. It is ranked as one of the top three new private courses in America.
Running through creeks and marshes, the front nine is akin to a Scottish course winding through an open valley with wide gently-contoured fairways bounded by mounds sprouting the famous Kentucky bluegrass.
The back nine is laid out on tree-lined terrain with the creek coming into play on four of the holes.
It is a classic risk-reward venue and course superintendent Mark Wilson has confirmed that US captain Paul Azinger has been heavily involved in setting up the course.
“Zing” has opted to open the fairways and reign in the bluegrass rough to favour their bigger hitters – none more so than local lad J B Holmes, who hails from Kentucky, and Kenny Perry, who hails from just down the road in Louisville, which just happens to be the birthplace of one of sport’s greatest-ever legends.. one Muhammad Ali.
ANDREW GRIFFIN takes a look at the course where America will look to land a knockout blow in the eight foursomes and eight fourball matches on Friday and Saturday, before the Sunday singles shootout for the famous gold trophy dreamed up by Samuel Ryder back in St Albans some 81 years ago.
| Valhalla Course |
| Hole 1 |
448 yards Par 4 |
Two new bunkers – one short right and one back left – narrow the target on this slight dog-leg left opening hole, with a five-foot swale to punish anything coming up short. Plenty of nerves on the tee even with a three-iron in hand. Not the most formidable of starting holes. |
| Hole 2 |
505 yards Par 4 |
Another dog-leg left to test even the big hitters. Some of the green’s contours have been smoothed but two greenside traps to the left have been deepened and a third added to the right. |
| Hole 3 |
206 yards Par 3 |
Extra hole locations available after the narrow, elevated putting surface was stretched back. Water winds around the front and right. Fail to judge the wind from the left and you could be left praying to the Gods – Viking or otherwise. |
| Hole 4 |
375 yards Par 4 |
Carry the big bunker on the left corner and it will be just a small wedge in for most – running through the fairway may not be a problem if the rough is cutback as most predict. The elevated green is the most contoured on the course and is divided by a ridge running lengthways. |
| Hole 5 |
463 yards Par 4 |
Jack added extra bunkers on the right to force a 290-yard carry off the tee. The well-guarded green is one of the toughest on the course. Massive bunker on the right and close cut run off on the left. |
| Hole 6 |
500 yards Par 4 |
An extra 80 yards was added by moving the green back on the sharp dog-leg right to leave a second shot of at least 200 yards, regardless of the tee shot. A treacherously deep bunker awaits anything left of the target while the green runs away to the right in a bail out area which will test even Lefty’s short game. |
| Hole 7 |
601 yards Par 5 |
Reminiscent of Rees Jones’ 17th at The Oxfordshire’s with a runway strip of fairway in the lake taking off 50 yards - but requiring two carries over water. The longer route requires a lay up away from three extended fairway bunkers with the water along the left flank of the raised green which has two greenside traps and some of the deepest rough on the course. |
| Hole 8 |
180 yards Par 3 |
Shortest hole on the course despite the shared tee with the fifth which adds 25 yards. Deep bunker to carry while a slippery collection area catches anything over-hit and a swale will drag down anything short. Deep cabbage right and a severe slope heading left towards Floyd’s Fork makes this a tough, tough hole. |
| Hole 9 |
416 yards Par 4 |
A fade needed to avoid three traps on the inside of the dog-leg right, while two more bunkers await anything hit too far down the left. An uphill second must avoid the deep bunker lining the right of the lightning-quick green, which slopes from back to front. |
| Hole 10 |
594 yards Par 5 |
Snaking fairway is a feature of the hole now measuring 35 yards longer. Solitary bunker right of fairway to miss. Second dog-leg to right requires a lay-up on the raised fairway. Good line essential to take on two-tiered undulating green in two with a blind approach, for anyone pressing after a slow start. |
| Hole 11 |
208 yards Par 3 |
The two-tier green has been moved back 30 yards and is now further left of the tee. Three front traps protect the elliptical, elevated target, which falls away to the right. Missing left – which bounds down the hill - is a recipe for a four and a back pin will be one of the hardest shots of the day. |
| Hole 12 |
464 yards Par 4 |
Difficult drive through the trees on dog-leg right leaves second shot of around 160-180 yards. The re-contoured green is protected by a deep bunker across the leading right edge, and deep rough. The hardest hole at the 1996 and 2000 USPGAs. |
| Hole 13 |
352 yards Par 4 |
The shortest par four – and Valhalla’s signature hole played from a tee 70 feet above the fairway - could force desperate measures for anyone three or four down with six to play. The green is raised some 20 feet, built on boulders and surrounded by water. A risky play but will J B be able to resist having a shy at it whether they move the tee forward or not? |
| Hole 14 |
215 yards Par 3 |
The longest short hole with a two-tiered green and an elevated tee. A large trap lines the front side with two new ones added to the rear. Green slopes left to right. Don’t go long ’cos it will end in tears. |
| Hole 15 |
434 yards Par 4 |
Brush Run Creek runs the entire right side of one of the prettiest holes at Valhalla. The narrow, undulating green has been altered to give more pins with the water in play. Attacking play will be risky. |
| Hole 16 |
511 yards Par 4 |
The creek lines the right of the fairway again with a dog-leg right. A tree-lined slope forms the left-hand side to make it one of the tightest tee shots. Two greenside traps have been added – the left is deep leaving little room to thread the ball on to a new elevated and shallow green with a 20-foot swale thrown in. Miss it and you will need the Mickelson of all flop shots. Expect a few holes halved in five and plenty won with pars. |
| Hole 17 |
477 yards Par 4 |
A new tee adds 50 yards with a matching right fairway trap at 340 yards mirroring the existing bunker on the left creating a difficult landing area on the uphill hole. Slightly elevated kidney-shaped green guarded by two traps on the left slopes to the right. Back left pin the toughest. No banker birides here if you are two down. |
| Hole 18 |
547 yards Par 5 |
The spectacularly-tiered water feature will form the backdrop as the drama unfolds in any matches that reach the uphill last. Remember the USPGA play-offs with Kenny Perry and Mark Brooks and Tiger Woods and Bob May? Large, extended fairway bunker must be avoided on the left, while the re-contoured, horseshoe-shaped green can only be reached in two by carrying a deep bunker. New bunker added left of the three-tier target. Going long requires another Phil special. Big mounds will give a grandstand finish for spectators most of whom will be chanting U-S-A unless Nick’s boys can handout another Oakland Hills-style beating to silence the home crowd. |
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