The Tulsa, Okla. club, which was awarded the 2030 Championship last year, has been moved up in the rotation to host its eighth major and fifth PGA, as the replacement for Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey. The PGA, which said it heard from about 30 clubs seeking to land the tournament, said Southern Hills had a leg up because it was already preparing to host the Senior PGA in May of this year. The club’s Perry Maxwell course was renovated by Gil Hanse in 2019.
Ending a period of quick and rampant speculation that included several clubs hustling to put int their bids and even the establishment of a betting line (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/betting-odds-established-for-which-club-will-land-2022-pga/) on which club would earn the honor, the PGA of America announced that it will return to a familiar site to stage its 2022 PGA Championship, which was pulled from the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. in the aftermath of the violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.
Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. (which was 3-to-1 on the betting line) was awarded the 2022 Championship 14 days after the PGA announced that it was looking to make the change. It will be the eighth major championship held on the golf course that was designed in 1936 by Perry Maxwell.
It also added to a series of significant milestones for Southern Hills, which in 2020 was awarded the 2030 PGA Championship (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/southern-hills-cc-lands-2030-pga-championship/) and also opened its new History, Trophy and Founders’ Halls in its clubhouse, as featured in the cover story of C+RB’s May 2020 issue (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/southern-hills-cc-prepares-for-the-future-by-preserving-its-past/).
In 2019, architect Gil Hanse completed a renovation of the club’s Maxwell course that focused on greens and bunkering.
The announcement for the 2022 PGA Championship represents a move-up in the rotation for Southern Hills, with Kerry Haigh, the chief championships officer for the PGA of America, saying the contract with Southern Hills for 2022 replaces the one for 2030. But Haigh also said that Southern Hills would remain in the mix to also host in 2030. And there is precedent for the PGA Championship to return to a course in eight years or fewer.
The club is scheduled to host the Senior PGA Championship in May 2021, which was seen as a reason it got a leg up on also being awarded the 2022 PGA Championship, because the PGA of America already has a staff on site at the club and a tournament plan in place.
“We have a Senior PGA Championship there this year. We also have a staff onsite for Southern Hills, who now will be able to stay on through for the PGA Championship,” Haigh said. “All of these are important factors when we’re less than 16 months away from playing. And we think Southern Hills is a wonderful golf course. It always has been.”
Since the decision was announced to leave Trump National in 2022, Haigh said the PGA received invitations from about 30 golf clubs wanting to host the 2022 Championship.
In the most recent major championship held at Southern Hills, Tiger Woods won the 2007 PGA Championship. Other PGAs were held there in 1994 (Nick Price), 1982 (Raymond Floyd) and 1970 (Dave Stockton). U.S. Opens have been won at Southern Hills by Retief Goosen (2001), Hubert Green (1977) and Tommy Bolt (1958).
Current PGA Tour player Byeong Hun An won the 2009 U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills.
The temperature was in the low 100s during the last PGA Championship at Southern Hills, when it was held in August 2007. But that will no longer be an issue now that the century-old major has moved to May.
The 2021 PGA Championship will be at Kiawah Island in South Carolina, which last hosted the major in 2012 when Rory McIlroy won by eight shots. After Southern Hills hosts the event in 2022, it will be held at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. in 2023.
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