Valhalla Golf Club

Jack Nicklaus designed Valhalla Golf Club in 1986 on a piece of Louisville, Kentucky rolling-pasture land that Dwight Gahm — a Louisville businessman — bought specifically to build a championship venue capable of hosting the PGA Championship. The PGA of America bought the course in 1993, eventually taking full ownership, and the venue's rotation history confirms the original strategy: two PGA Championships (1996, 2000, 2014), the 2008 Ryder Cup, and U.S. Senior PGA hosting through the 2010s. Nicklaus's design carries his signature use of natural topography — Valhalla rolls through enough vertical that several holes climb or descend more than fifty feet from tee to green.

The course plays around 7,500 yards par 71 from the championship markers, with bent fairways and a slope in the low 140s. Mark Brooks won the 1996 PGA in a playoff over Kenny Perry; Tiger Woods won the 2000 PGA in a playoff over Bob May at one of the most-discussed major-championship duels of the modern era. Rory McIlroy won the 2014 PGA in fading light, claiming his fourth major in three years. Phil Mickelson won the 2008 Ryder Cup singles point against Justin Rose in the U.S. team's 16.5-11.5 victory. The thirteenth — Nicklaus's island-green par-5 with a fairway split by a natural creek — and the eighteenth, a 542-yard par-5 with a green set behind a waste-bunker complex, are the routing's tournament-defining holes.

Valhalla operates as a private club but maintains a partnership with the PGA of America that opens limited public-access play windows. The membership is regional Louisville and Kentuckiana, with corporate and equine-industry representation. The 2024 PGA Championship returned to Valhalla — Xander Schauffele winning his first major — confirming the course's continued major-rotation status.

Kentucky climate gives Valhalla a playing season of March through November. Louisville humidity makes mid-summer afternoons slow; spring and autumn are the prime member windows. The course closes through brief winter cold snaps.