Many clubs relish the opportunity to host significant professional championships. An elite few completely embrace the role. Over the past century, a handful of venues have added to the lore of the game by doing double duty, hosting at least two major championships and a minimum of 12 PGA Tour events. Most names on the list are very familiar as big-time stages. One exception is a Midwestern muni few have heard of outside the Twin Cities.
Here then, are the top 10 courses that have hosted multiple men’s majors and at least a dozen PGA Tour events.
10. PGA National Resort (The Champion)—Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Best known as the venue for the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic (now Cognizant Classic) since 2007, it also played host to the 1987 PGA Championship, where birdies were as rare as spectators in the searing heat and humidity that is South Florida in early August. Larry Nelson outlasted Lanny Wadkins in a playoff to earn the Wannamaker trophy on this 1981 Tom Fazio design that was made over by Jack Nicklaus in 1990, when he created the infamous, watery “Bear Trap” of holes 15 through 17. The Champion arrives on this list with an asterisk. While it did host the 1983 Ryder Cup, it’s been home to just that one major. The 1971 PGA Championship was indeed contested at a facility known as PGA National, in Palm Beach Gardens, but that club later became JDM Country Club and is now known as BallenIsles.
9. Quail Hollow Club—Charlotte, N.C.
A mainstay on the PGA Tour since 1969 (Kemper Open host 1969–79), Quail Hollow’s fortunes soared following a series of Tom Fazio renovations that began in 1997, culminating in two new holes in time to host the 2017 PGA Championship, won by Justin Thomas. Fazio effected more tweaks ahead of the 2022 Presidents Cup. The changes fit seamlessly into the rolling terrain that’s framed by hardwoods and crisscrossed by lakes and creeks. Renowned for its stern, gorgeous trio of closing holes, dubbed the “Green Mile,” Quail Hollow’s entry on this list comes with another asterisk: It won’t hold its second major until May 2025, when the PGA Championship returns.
8. Keller Golf Course—Maplewood, Minn.
Reopened in 2014 following a well-received renovation by architect Richard Mandell, this venerable, tree-lined muni near the heart of the Twin Cities dates to 1929. Olin Dutra and Chick Harbert won PGAs here in 1932 and 1954, respectively, and Sam Snead, Ken Venturi, and Raymond Floyd are among those who have captured PGA Tour events that ran from 1930–68. Legend has it that American gangster John Dillinger was playing Keller in the 1930s when he got a tip that the Feds were on the way—and made a narrow escape.
My favorite public golf course in MSP is Keller Golf Course, a two time @PGAChampionship host, now an affordable treat restored in 2014 by @RichardMandell. The stretch from #12 through #17 is special and the par 3 4th, with a giant tree between the tee & green, is one of a kind pic.twitter.com/wlzMMROu1Q
— PatCraig (@PatCCraig) June 28, 2019
7. Firestone Country Club (South)—Akron, Ohio
The longtime home to the World Series of Golf, the WGC-Bridgestone events—and dozens of other top tournaments—Firestone South is the quintessential Robert Trent Jones Sr. track, one that exemplifies his philosophy that every hole should be “a hard par, easy bogey.” Airport runway tee boxes inevitably lead to beefy, parallel, tree-lined holes with propped-up greens that are fortified by bunkers. The aerial game rules at Firestone. So well regarded was Firestone a half century ago that the PGA Championship touched down here in 1960, 1966, and 1975. Jack Nicklaus won the ’75 PGA, while Tiger Woods grabbed eight PGA Tour titles from 1999 through 2013—serious royalty being crowned at Firestone.
6. Congressional Country Club (Blue)—Bethesda, Md.
Not far from the nation’s capital in suburban D.C., this Golden Age product from Devereux Emmet has been revised and improved by Robert Trent Jones Sr., his son Rees, and most recently, Andrew Green. Now it is among the most respected tournament courses. Tree-lined and hilly, though with far fewer trees after Green’s (2019–21) work, it’s best known for its long, downhill par-four closer with water short, left, and long, and for its three U.S. Opens, most famously Ken Venturi’s 1964 win and for Rory McIlroy’s dominant march in 2011. Dave Stockton captured the 1976 PGA Championship here and the event will return in 2030. Fifteen PGA Tour events were contested at Congressional between 1980 and 2016, with Tiger Woods winning twice, in 2009 and 2012.
Congressional Country Club is the runaway winner for 2023’s most pleasant surprise, thanks to Andrew Green’s incredible renovation of its famed Blue Course.
I’ll confess: I didn’t much like Congo the first time I played it. But I absolutely love the place now. Bravo, Mr. Green. pic.twitter.com/JGofiLjkqJ
— LinksGems Golf Photos (@LinksGems) December 31, 2022
5. Inverness Club—Toledo, Ohio
A marvelous collection of Donald Ross-designed par fours set the stage for two of Greg Norman’s most crushing defeats, the first when Bob Tway holed a bunker shot to win the 1986 PGA Championship, the second when the Shark lipped out putts on two straight holes, handing the 1993 PGA Championship playoff win to Paul Azinger. Inverness also played host to four U.S. Opens, the last in 1979 when Hale Irwin lifted the trophy. Less well known is the Inverness Invitational Four-Ball, a PGA Tour event from 1935–53, where Sam Snead won four times with different partners and Ben Hogan won four times, each with Jimmy Demaret alongside. A recent Andrew Green restoration has transformed Inverness into the course that Snead and Hogan would easily recognize.
Inverness Club in Toledo, OH is a magnificent Donald Ross design that was restored to near perfection by Andrew Green. Weaving across a demanding creek and incorporating some nice elevation changes, the Par-4s are the real treat. Superb conditioning & fantastic caddie program. pic.twitter.com/nczOgppC7b
— Bryan Tweed (@BryanTweed16) July 27, 2023
4. Torrey Pines Golf Course (South)—La Jolla, Calif.
Tiger Woods has dominated this clifftop, municipally owned layout that peers out at the Pacific Ocean. He’s claimed seven regular PGA Tour events that conclude over the 7,700-yard layout, but most memorable was his 2008 U.S. Open win. Playing on what turned out to be a broken leg and torn ACL, Woods nailed a 10-foot birdie putt to tie at the 72nd hole, then captured the playoff over Rocco Mediate. Nearly as dramatic was Jon Rahm’s birdie-birdie finish to claim the 2021 U.S. Open. Fantastic finishes have also been a Torrey Pines staple since it began hosting the PGA Tour in the now-known Farmers Insurance Open in 1968.
3. Pinehurst (No. 2)—Pinehurst, N.C.
Donald Ross’s masterpiece displayed a retro look during Martin Kaymer’s romp at the 2014 U.S. Open. The beige-tinted fairways and restored native roughs resembled the look it enjoyed during the PGA Tour’s North and South Open, held between 1902–51, an event won by Walter Hagen, Ben Hogan, and Sam Snead, among others. Number 2 also hosted the 1936 PGA Championship and the World Open and Hall of Fame Classic between 1973 and 1982. The PGA Tour returned for its Tour Championship in 1991 and 1992. Perhaps Pinehurst’s defining tournament moment was Payne Stewart’s U.S. Open clinching putt in 1999. New memories await in June at the 2024 U.S. Open.
2. The Riviera Country Club—Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Architect George C. Thomas Jr. took strategy and bunker configuration to new heights in the 1920s, notably at eucalyptus-lined Riviera. As proof of his magical skills, look no further than the 315-yard par-four 10th. Thanks to the inspired positioning of the bunkers and the green, the options on how to play this hole are limitless. The long, uphill par-four closer is stellar as well, its green benched into an amphitheater. They’re quite familiar to PGA Tour fans, who have witnessed 60 editions of the Los Angeles Tour stop at the Riv. And also to major followers—Riviera played host to the 1948 U.S. Open, won by Ben Hogan, to the 1983 and 1995 PGA Championships, and will host the U.S. Open again in 2031.
1. Pebble Beach Golf Links—Pebble Beach, Calif.
Host to the PGA Tour since 1947, Pebble Beach is also a six-time U.S. Open venue, where winners include Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, and Tiger Woods. The fifth champion, Tom Kite, memorably chipped in for a final-round birdie 2 at the par-three 7th to win the wild and windy 1992 U.S. Open. Less remembered is that a drought-challenged, tawny-hued Pebble served as the 1977 PGA Championship host, when Lanny Wadkins defeated Gene Littler in the first sudden-death playoff in major championship history.
What is your favorite course that has hosted both major championship and PGA Tour events?
