SOUTHERN HILLS COUNTRY CLUB

Course Architect(s): Perry Maxwell (1935), Keith Foster (renovated, 1999), Gil Hanse (2018)
Year Opened: 1936
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Slope: 144. Rating: 76.8
Par: 71
Yardage: 7,556
Hole-by-Hole: 1 - Par 4 468 Yds    10 - Par 4 441 Yds
                 2 - Par 4 500 Yds    11 - Par 3 173 Yds
               3 - Par 4 472 Yds    12 - Par 4 456 Yds
               4 - Par 4 377 Yds    13 - Par 5 632 Yds
                5 - Par 5 656 Yds    14 - Par 3 230 Yds
                6 - Par 3 214 Yds    15 - Par 4 417 Yds
            7 - Par 4 489 Yds    16 - Par 5 527 Yds
                8 - Par 3 251 Yds    17 - Par 4 371 Yds
                9 - Par 4 391 Yds    18 - Par 4 491 Yds
               Par 35 3,818 Yds      Par 36 3,738 Yds

Key Events Held: U.S. Open Championship (1958, '77, 2001),
                 U.S. Amateur Championship (1965, 2009)
                 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship (1946, 2024)
                 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship (1961),
                 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship (1953),
                 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship (1987),
                 PGA Championship (1970, '82, '94, 2007, 2022, 2032),
                 PGA Tour Championship (1995-96), Senior PGA Championship (2021).

Awards Won: Top 100 by Golf Digest - America's 100 Greatest Courses (Since 1966),
            #24 by Golf Magazine - Top 100 Courses in U.S. (2024-25),
            #33 by Golf Connoisseur - 100 Most Prestigious Private clubs,
            #45 by Golf Magazine - Top 100 Courses in the World (2005),
            #1 by Golf Digest - Best in State Rankings, Oklahoma (2005-07).

Website: southernhillscc.com

HISTORY: Oilman Waite Phillips donated the land that is now Southern Hills Country Club. Phillips was approached by Bill Warren and Cecil Canary to finance a new country club, however Phillips was having his own problems with the stock market, as he lost almost $50 million. Phillips gave Warren and Canary two weeks to get 150 Tulsans to pledge $1,000 each, but he would not help them to finance the project. The money was raised and famed architect
Perry Maxwell, a native Oklahoman, who designed Colonial and Prairie Dunes was hired to design the course.

Southern Hills has been the site of many championship events, including three U.S. Opens and five PGA Championships. Famed winners at Southern Hills are: Babe Zaharias, Tommy Bolt, Bob Murphy, Hubert Green, Dave Stockton, Ray Floyd, Nick Price, Billy Mayfair, Tom Lehman, Retief Goosen, Justin Thomas and of course, Tiger Woods.

The 2001 U.S. Open held at Southern Hills, saw Goosen defeat Mark Brooks in an 18-hole playoff. Goosen had a chance to win the title in regulation, but three-putted from 15-feet to fall back into a tie with Brooks, who was cleaning out his locker prior to hearing the news. During the playoff, Goosen outlasted Brooks, 70-72 to become the third South African to capture the U.S. Open.

The PGA Championship has made five visits to Southern Hills with number six on the way in 2032. When Stockton won in 1970, he was paired with Arnold Palmer during the final round. Stockton holed his wedge on the seventh hole for an eagle and never looked back, as he posted a two-shot win over Palmer and Bob Murphy.

Ray Floyd captured the 1982 PGA Championship in record fashion, as he led from start to finish after an opening, course-record round of 63 for a three-shot win over Lanny Wadkins. Fred Couples and Calvin Peete finished four behind.

Nick Price did the same thing 12 years later, as he led wire-to-wire to defeat Corey Pavin by six shots. Phil Mickelson finished alone in third, seven shots back. Nick Faldo carded a final round of 66 to tie for fourth with Greg Norman and John Cook.

The 89th PGA Championship came to Southern Hills in 2007. Tiger Woods started the second round, six shots off the pace, but erased that quickly with a course-record tying 63 to take the lead after two rounds. Woods finished the championship with back-to-back rounds of 69 to clip Woody Austin by two shots. After three straight birdies on 11-13 and a bogey by Woods on 14, the lead was down to one, however Woods birdied the 15th and parred in for the win.

Fifteen years later, the PGA Championship returned to Tulsa for the 104th staging of this championship. In one of the most amazing events, Justin Thomas defeated Will Zalatoris in a three-hole aggregate playoff to win his second Wanamaker Trophy. Thomas trailed by seven shots heading into the final round, but carded a 67 to forge a tie at five-under-par, 275. The three holes for the playoff were, 13, 17 and 18 and Thomas birdied the first two and parred the last for the win.

Prior to the 2022 PGA, Gil Hanse was brought in to restore the original design by Perry Maxwell. Hanse, Jim Wagner and their team modified teeing grounds and fairway sightlines, reshaped bunkers and green complexes and adjusted creeks to Maxwell’s original vision and thoughts. Upon completion of the work, Hanse commented, "What a joy and privilege it’s been for me to be entrusted with the restoration of one of the greatest golf courses in the world, originally designed by one of the greatest golf course architects that’s ever lived.”

REVIEW: With a beautiful view of the Tulsa skyline, the opening shot from an elevated tee box gives the player a sense of calm. That will surely change as you play the course. A slight dogleg left, the first is a solid starting hole with very little trouble, as long as you keep it in the fairway, avoiding the two bunkers down the left side.

Number two is a difficult driving hole, as your tee shot must carry 225 yards over bunkers and a creek just to reach the fairway. From there a mid to long iron must negotiate a green surrounded by several bunkers. Be prepared to give one back.

The third is a sharp dogleg left featuring a stream that crosses in front of the tee box and flanks the left side of the fairway and crosses back across the end of the fairway. Although three bunkers guard the green, a short iron should produce a birdie, however the putting surface is severely sloped.

Another chance for a birdie comes at number four. This short, slightly bending to the right hole, has a rolling fairway which slopes to the right and assures the player of a difficult lie to an uphill green. Once again a quartet of bunkers await your approach shot. The green slopes severely from back to front, so don't miss long.

The longest hole in Open history, prior to Oakmont in 2007, the fifth is a bear at 656 yards. Just making par on this dogleg left will be reward enough. Bunkers guard both sides of the landing area off the tee. Trees, along with rough and sand await your second shot, while the putting surface is surrounded by four bunkers and a creek to the right.

The first one-shotter rings in at number six. Wind direction will decide club selection on this 226-yarder. The meandering creek of Southern Hills guards the left side, along with a bunker while another sand trap awaits shots missed to the right. Once again, the green slopes from back to front, so accuracy here is a key.

The seventh slopes right to left and requires an uphill, blind tee shot to a fairway that falls away to the right. Although short at just 443 yards, thick rough guards both sides of the fairway and the greens is hidden by three bunkers, fronting and left. A quick undulating green will also be
difficult to master, not to mention the creek down the right.

The 251-yard, par-3 eighth features a long green with a hump in the middle, making birdies unlikely. Three bunkers protect the putting surface and anything long can roll down the back of the green and into the creek.

The final hole on the outward nine winds back to the clubhouse and is similar in style to the 18th. A dogleg right, a well positioned tee shot must be placed in the left side of the fairway, opening up your approach to the green and avoiding the pair of bunkers on the right. The uphill second shot must battle several bunkers and a sloping green front back to front.

The back nine starts out simply enough, or does it. At just 441 yards, one might think a birdie is in the offing, however a dogleg right and a sloping fairway left to an uphill green guarded by four bunkers will make par a difficult task. Don’t forget the meandering creek left of the putting surface.

One of the smallest greens on the course is the par-3 11th. This downhill hole is guarded by four bunkers and features a green that slopes from back to front and right to left. A large pond sits along the left side, but does not come into play, however the creek certainly does.

Many call the 12th, the signature hole at Southern Hills. A precise tee shot is called for on this dogleg left to a blind landing area as it slopes from right to left. A long to middle iron awaits the player to a well-banked green, guarded left by three bunkers and one right and short by a stream. Both Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer ranked the 12th as one of America's greatest par-4 holes. Bogies and double bogies will abound on this hole.

Birdie awaits the player on 13th, most likely the last real birdie chance on the course. This par-5 is 632 yards and slopes from right to left with two bodies of water guarding the left and right side before the green. After a solid drive, the player has the option to go for the green in two or lay up short of the water, leaving an easy wedge to a small putting surface, surrounded by five bunkers.

The final par-3 on the course is a monster at 230 yards, guarded by six bunkers, four left and two right. Wind will dictate club selection and it is not uncommon for three-metal to be the answer.

It is possible to steal one on the dogleg left 15th. Just 417 yards, a well-placed tee ball will leave the player with a short iron approach, however the severely sloped green and several strategically placed bunkers could cause problems.

Although played as a par-four for the U.S. Open, the 567-yard 16th requires both length and accuracy off the tee. Length gives the player an opportunity to view the green while accuracy affords a chance to reach the green in two. Otherwise, its a routine three-shotter to a smallish green, with water left and plenty of sand.

The 17th figures to be a birdie chance, however a tough, sloping left-to-right fairway with trees and a creek on the right, make the tee shot a priority. After negotiating the first half, then a narrow, two-tiered green with three fronting bunkers await.

One of the finest finishing holes in golf, the 18th requires extreme patience. A solid tee shot placed on the left side of the fairway, opens up the dogleg right. Now the player is faced with an uphill second shot, similar to the ninth, but longer at 200-plus yards. Although the view of the
clubhouse is spectacular, this is not a fun shot, as two large ball receiving bunkers front the putting surface, which includes the largest of them all, nicknamed “Jaws.”. Once aboard, the slick green slopes front and right and is one of the quickest on the course.

OVERALL: With all its history and style, Southern Hills is a true gem and a must play if possible. Not a so-called beautiful course, but a venue that is very taxing mentally and physically reminiscent of Oakmont. The course features tree-lined fairways, doglegs both right and left, difficult rough and
severely sloped greens. To score well, one must be on top of his game or a long day will ensue.

A true country club with over 900 members, Southern Hills also features a 47,000-foot clubhouse, two swimming pools, 11 tennis courts and another nine-hole course designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. This course will beat you up, but you'll keep coming back for more.

With it's hosting of the 2032 PGA Championship, Southern Hills will become the first course to play host to six PGA Championships. Playing as a par 70, this course will give the players all they can handle, as it has done every year!

Next to Pine Valley and Oakmont, Southern Hills is certainly one of the most difficult golf courses in the United States.