96th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club (SETTLED)

[Teh One Who Knocks]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Valhalla, 19 miles due east of downtown Louisville, is one of those private courses that doesn't sit still, so to speak. It's only 28 years old, yet it already has an impressive championship history – having thus far been home to PGA Championships in 1996 and 2000, the Senior PGA Championship in 2004, and the Ryder Cup in 2008.

The PGA of America bought the club in 2000 for good reason. Valhalla's 438 acres easily accommodate 40,000 spectators, 6,000 support personnel, media compounds and 22 acres of corporate tents and merchandising. Vast parking fields abut the property. A four-lane road brings spectators right to the front gates.

The Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course: Par 71, measuring 7,458 yards, is a study in contrasting landscapes. The front nine generally is lower lying through a vast, open meadow that doubles as a flood plain for a creek, Floyd's Fork. The back nine is markedly different: much more elevation change, through densely wooded parkland. There's no doubt this is a tough course, with a whopping 77.6 rating and a slope of 152 from the club's back tees. And that's for a par-72 layout measuring only 82 yards longer than for the PGA. If there were measurements for this week's championship tees, both the rating and slope would be higher.

The heat and humidity of the central Ohio River Valley make Louisville one of the country's toughest places to grow quality turfgrass. Credit to superintendent Roger Meier for the quality stands of turfgrass here: bentgrass greens and fairways, framed by dense roughs, predominantly turf-type tall fescue with a touch of Kentucky bluegrass. Course presentation was helped by a major renovation in 2011-12 that improved greens agronomy, opened up some overgrown tree corridors, upgraded drainage, and created cleaner lines of strategy.

The last PGA Championship here, in 2000, was a legendary duel between upstart Bob May and eventual winner Tiger Woods – then at the apex of his playing prowess. Valhalla, with its long, testing par-4s and its very birdie-able par-5s, should provide an exciting stage for the last major of the year.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Last hour to get any bets in....