Brooks Koepka 16/1 © Idz93
Jack Nicklaus must have been ecstatic when he was given this 500 acres of land to work with in Kentucky back in the 1980s, with it’s varied terrain, water and plenty of space, it was a golf course designers dream. In fact there was so much space that 40 possible course designs were considered before construction began.
Valhalla opened for play in 1986, with the front nine designed in what the Americans like to call “links-style” with fairly flat rolling fairways. There was lots of earth moving to create the visually appealing run of holes, but also to protect the fairways from storm damage. There are over 60 bunkers scattered throughout the course and water comes into play on a half dozen of the holes.
