Valhalla Golf Club: 9 Things To Know About The PGA Championship Venue

Valhalla Golf Club is the venue for the hotly anticipated second men’s Major of the year as 156 of best players in the world battle it out for the 2024 PGA Championship.

It’s the fourth time the Kentucky layout will have hosted this great championship after previous editions in 1996, 2000 and 2014, while the Ryder Cup has also been staged here.

Each time, the course has provided the perfect platform for drama, and the 2024 showdown promises to be no different.

Here are a few things to know about Valhalla ahead of the the PGA Championship.

1. Valhalla was the brainchild of Dwight Gahm, who dreamed of creating a golfing haven that included a course capable of hosting championships.

2. Gahm and his three sons hired Jack Nicklaus to design the layout, and at one stage, there were around 40 different routings under consideration. One was finally approved in 1984 and the course opened in 1986.

3. In 1992, the club was awarded hosting rights for the 1996 PGA Championship, where Mark Brooks beat Kenny Perry at the first playoff hole to claim his one and only Major title.

4. After the success in 1996, the PGA Championship returned to Valhalla in 2000 for another memorable duel. Few will forget the scenes as Tiger Woods and Bob May battled on an epic Sunday before the former eventually won his third successive Major after a three-hole playoff. Woods would go on to complete the ‘Tiger slam’ and hold all four Majors at the 2001 Masters.

5. Valhalla returned to the epicentre of men’s golf when it hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup. Led by Paul Azinger, the United States were looking to arrest a run of three straight defeats and were roared onto victory over Nick Faldo’s Europe by the impassioned Louisville crowds.

6. The course underwent a renovation ahead of the most recent men’s Major it held, the 2014 PGA Championship. All the greens were rebuilt and bunkers were either added or renovated, with a new irrigation system also installed. And once again, Valhalla delivered, as Rory McIlroy captured the most recent of his four Majors in near darkness.

7. Dwight Gahm, founder of Valhalla Golf Club, died on March 7, 2016, at the age of 96.

8. Akshay Bhatia won the 2018 Boys Junior PGA Championship at Valhalla.

9. Former Augusta National Women’s Amateur Anna Davis lifted the 2021 Girls Junior PGA Championship at Valhalla by seven shots from her nearest competitor.