Breakfast Ball #69: Guess Who's Back, Back Again

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Course Profile: Quail Hollow Club

Course Profile:

Location: Charlotte, North Carolina

7,618 yards, Par 71

Course Rating: 77.2 (the score a scratch golfer is expected to shoot)

Course History:

Quail Hollow Club was opened in 1961, two years after it was founded by James J. Harris on Morrocroft Farm. The site was once the largest dairy farm in North Carolina, but when the tee sheet started to fill up at nearby Charlotte Country Club it was clear that this growing city needed another course to satisfy the demand.

The course was originally designed by George Cobb, a design consultant down the road at Augusta National and the architect of the par three course on that property. Quail Hollow hosted its first PGA Tour event just eight years after it opened, with the Kemper Open moving into town. The course would host the event for 20 years, but lost the privilege in 1989.

While Arnold Palmer worked on a few holes in the 1980s, Tom Fazio led a complete redesign of the course in the late 1990s. Fazio is known for his original work at courses like Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas and Congressional Country Club in Maryland, which has been the host of multiple US Opens and PGA Championships. He is also responsible for the overhaul of Adare Manor, the home of the 2027 Ryder Cup.

This redesign brought Quail Hollow back into the limelight, and it returned to the PGA Tour circuit in 2003 for the Wachovia Championship (now known as the Truist Championship), where it has remained ever since.

Justin Thomas picked up his first major title at Quail Hollow’s first major—the 2017 PGA Championship. The course hosted the President’s Cup in 2022, and will host its second major next week. Rory McIlroy won his first PGA Tour event here in 2010, and has returned to triumph three more times since then, including a five stroke victory over Xander Schauffele here this time last year.

What Makes Quail Hollow Unique?

Well, that is kind of the problem. Quail Hollow isn’t very unique.

While it certainly offers a strong enough test to justify its place on the PGA Tour calendar, it just doesn’t feel like a major championship venue—and I can’t quite pinpoint why. The course’s primary defense has always been its length, which is a legitimate way to challenge players. But with modern advancements in technology and the ever-increasing driving distances, that advantage is starting to feel less relevant.

The course also lacks distinctive, memorable features—if you’re casually passing a TV without knowing where the Tour is that week, it could take a few minutes before you realize it’s Quail Hollow.

That said, Quail Hollow is still more than capable of delivering an entertaining PGA Championship. Its final three holes—collectively known as “The Green Mile”—form one of the toughest finishing stretches in golf. At last year’s Wells Fargo Championship, they played more than a stroke over par combined. If the tournament is tight heading into the par-4 16th on Sunday, we could be in for a dramatic conclusion.

My favorite hole at Quail Hollow is the par-4 14th, which plays at 344 yards. I’ve always been a fan of risk-reward short par fours, and this one fits the bill perfectly. Players can choose to lay up and leave themselves a wedge into the green, but that brings deep fairway bunkers into play. Going for the green off the tee is tempting, but it’s no easy task. It requires a right-to-left ball flight and precision, with water guarding the left side of a long, narrow green. The tournament organizers can also shift the tee forward, shortening the hole by up to 50 yards and making the decision even more difficult. Between 2015 and 2023, 56 percent of players went for the green, but only 11 percent (169 drives) successfully found the putting surface (Golf Digest). Keep an eye out for this one during the PGA Championship next week.

Can You Play It?

Quail Hollow is a private country club, meaning the easiest way to play is to get an invite from one of the members. However, there are only 600 members, and it is extremely difficult and expensive to get an invitation to become one yourself. Best of luck!

Scottie Scheffler Makes History With a 31-Under Winning Score at the Byron Nelson

Well folks, you can only keep a good man down for so long. Scottie Scheffler dominated the field at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, winning by eight strokes and tying the record for the lowest score in a 72-hole PGA Tour event.

Scheffler made his professional debut at this tournament 11 years ago and has a long-standing connection to the event, having attended as a kid growing up in the Dallas area. However, his best result in the tournament to date was a 5th place finish in 2023. He was noticeably emotional after the victory: “We have a lot of great memories as kids coming to watch this tournament. I just dreamed to be able to play in it, and it's more of a dream to be able to win it.”

Scheffler had 32 birdies or better during the four rounds, and led wire to wire. He entered the final round with an eight stroke lead, and was able to coast home after a front nine 30. South African Erik Van Rooyen was his closest competitor at 23-under, with Jordan Spieth back in third after firing a final round 62. Antoine Rozner was the top European in a tie for 13th.

Other Results & News 📰

• 🇰🇷 Bryson DeChambeau won his first title of the season at LIV Korea, beating his teammate Charles Howell by two strokes

  • This was his first win since the US Open last summer, and gives him some great momentum going into the second major of the year

  • LIV does not have another event for a month, when it returns stateside to Washington DC

• 😅 Michael Block, who made headlines as a PGA Professional in the 2023 PGA Championship, has qualified for the 2025 PGA Championship

  • “Blockie” finished in T15 at the tournament and famously made a hole in one while playing alongside Rory McIlroy

  • He has only made one cut in the nine starts he has had on major tours since that event

• My Shot of the Week comes from the LPGA this week - MH Lee found herself in serious trouble at the Black Desert Championship in Utah, and somehow almost holed a shot from the desert

Coming up this week on Tour

• 🦅 The PGA Tour comes to my neck of the woods at the Truist Championship - Philadelphia Cricket Club is hosting this year’s event due to Quail Hollow’s preparations for the PGA Championship

• 🇹🇷 The DP World Tour begins its European swing at the Turkish Open

If you have any feedback for the newsletter or would like to get in touch, I would love to hear from you! Email [email protected] or message us on Twitter/X at @BlueHorizonGolf. Thank you for reading!