Valhalla is named after the great hall described in Norse mythology where the souls of Vikings feasted and celebrated with the gods.

Dwight Gahm, a prominent Louisville business leader and golf enthusiast, had the dream of creating an outstanding championship course in 1981.

With his three sons Walt, Gordy and Phil he commissioned Jack Nicklaus to build the lay-out on 486 acres of rolling Kentucky terrain.

It opened its doors in 1986 and was named one of the top three new private golf courses in the United States.

As early as 1992 Valhalla was announced as the site for the 1996 PGA Championship and a year later an agreement was negotiated whereby the Professional Golfers' Association of America agreed to purchase 25% of the club.

After the successful conclusion of the PGA Championship in which Mark Brooks beat Kenny Perry in a play-off the PGA assumed 50% ownership and announced it would return for the 2000 PGA Championship.

Tiger Woods beat Bob May in a play-off for that and afterwards the PGA exercised the right to purchase the remaining interest in Valhalla.

The front nine traverses a low-lying parkland setting where 650,000 cubic yards of earth were moved to build up tees, greens and fairways to a level that would protect the course from major storm damage.

The primary rough is Kentucky bluegrass with fescue making up the secondary rough. The incoming nine holes were carved out of higher, tree-covered terrain with a shallow creek that would come into play on four holes.

The Valhalla Golf Club course record is the 63 by Jose Maria Olazabal during the 2000 championship and it was in December that year that the PGA announced that the 37th Ryder Cup would be played there.

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