Valspar Championship: History of the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook

Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports /

Let’s take a look at the Copperhead course at Innisbrook, one of the PGA Tour’s toughest tests.

The PGA Tour is back in Florida this week for the Valspar Championship.

Its host venue is the Copperhead course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. The Tampa area venue is a relative newbie, established in 1974 four years after the resort’s opening.

Innisbrook features four courses designed by Larry Packard. His Island course has been featured in Golf Digest’s top 100, but so has the Copperhead course and its famed closing stretch dubbed “The Snake Pit”.

Private membership is required to tee it up at the par-71, 7,340-yard Copperhead course. If you stumble on the right garage sale you might encounter the 1990s video game “Links” where you can virtually tee it up here.

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The Copperhead course has been altered since then, though. In honor of Packard, who died in 2014, the course was shut down May through October 2015 to honor his original vision.

The restoration included “replacing all fairways and rough, rebuilding each green, and reshaping bunkers to stay true to Packard’s masterful design,” read a PGA Tour press release.

Many greens were expanded to allow for more pin locations and were replaced with TifEagle Bermuda grass. The fairways are Celebration Bermuda.

New sand was also added to the bunkers, tee boxes were extended and an irrigation system was installed that saves 11 million gallons of water per year.

The bill settled at $4.5 million dollars.

Players have sung Copperhead’s praises both before and after the restorations, deeming it a fair, tough and unique challenge. Golf Channel unscientifically showed that the Copperhead course was the favorite of five venues on the Florida Swing.

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“If I could only play one course the rest of my life, it would be Copperhead,” said Paul Azinger in a Golf.com post. “It has that much character,” said Paul Azinger. “It’s the best course we play on Tour.”

The Copperhead course’s signature hole is the winding double dogleg par-5, 590-yard gem 14th. One of the last realistic chances at birdie come here.

As a whole, Copperhead is known for tree-lined tight fairways, challenging greens and the necessity for deft course management. A strong mental game comes in handy.

All that and more come into play when players exit the 15th green.

The Snake Pit

Copperhead Course /

The closing stretch at the Valspar makes for as good of theater as any on Tour.

No lead is safe stepping to the par-4, 460-yard par-4 16th dubbed “Moccasin”. Some claim this as the most difficult of the three finishing holes.

If you can hit a fairway slimmer than Jim Furyk after a workout, a long second shot to an elevated green awaits. Most players hit less than driver off the tee to play the dogleg right and avoid bordering water.

John Senden found trouble on this hole in 2014, but a masterful chip landed an improbable birdie en route to the championship.

No. 17 “Rattler”

The par-3, 215-yard 17th features the largest green on the course. The favors stop there.

Plus-200-yard holes aren’t what they used to be as far as a challenging distance, but this green is surrounded with trouble everywhere.

The left portion of the green is tough to access with overhanging trees lining the fairway. The proper play for a right-hander is a fade off the trees to the center of the green.

Overcook it right and a demanding sand save awaits. If Sunday’s pin location is on the right edge, getting up-and-down requires a miracle.

No. 18 “Copperhead”

The par-4, 445-yard 18th hole determines the Valspar champion seemingly every year. You have to go back to 2006 to find more than a two-stroke victor. Playoffs were needed to crown Jordan Spieth and Charl Schwartzel in 2015 and ’16.

Bunkers are numerous here, making for a nervy tee shot. An uphill, back to front sloped green makes for a difficult approach whether you find the short grass or not.

The Sunday pin often sits tucked near a deep bunker guarding the left side. Attempting to get up-and-down from there will nearly bring you to your knees, as demonstrated by Patrick Reed in a 2015 playoff.

Jim Herman and Henrik Stenson managed to collect 1st round birdies on their Thursday trip through the Snake Pit. Will they do it again tomorrow?

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