Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, and Quail Hollow have all hosted major championships recently, the latter of the three obviously just serving as the site of the 2025 PGA Championship won by Scottie Scheffler.
These three courses also have another common trait, as they are all regular stops on the PGA Tour.
Quail Hollow, the usual host of the event now known as the Truist Championship, is now a two-time PGA Championship venue, also hosting in 2017.
Torrey Pines, the annual host of the Farmers Insurance Open, was the site of the 2008 and 2021 U.S. Opens.
And, of course, Pebble Beach, which hosts the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, is the most famous of the bunch, previously hosting the 1977 PGA Championship and six U.S. Opens, the most recent in 2019. Pebble is also already scheduled to host four more U.S. Opens in 2027, 2032, 2037, and 2044.
One would not be wrong to think the PGA Tour plays the best courses in the country. Most put on an annual event, while others serve as an occasional fill-in, such as Philadelphia Cricket Club, which just hosted the Truist, as Quail Hollow was being used for the PGA Championship.
I wrote more about how venues are determined here, but some clubs host events because they are an adequate venue for a PGA Tour event, but lack something for a major championship.
For example, and with no disrespect intended, TPC Craig Ranch is clearly a venue the PGA Tour likes for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. It carries a sufficient challenge and otherwise seems to have something the Tour is looking for.
What about as a major championship venue? I am not ‘in the know,’ but I cannot say I have ever heard any rumblings for it hosting the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship. The same can be said for many of the PGA Tour venues. They're great for a regular Tour stop but not for a major.
Now, there are a couple of others that have hosted majors. Riviera Country Club, the home of The Genesis Invitational, hosted the 1983 and 1995 PGA Championships and the 1948 U.S. Open, and is already set to host the U.S. Open in 2031.
Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, the home of the Charles Schwab Challenge, hosted the 1941 U.S. Open, and PGA National, home of the Cognizant Classic, hosted the 1987 PGA Championship.
It got me thinking, what are some PGA Tour venues that could host a major championship?
PGA West, Stadium Course-La Quinta, California
When the PGA Tour first visited the Stadium Course in 1987, the players, in the balata and persimmon days, found the course so difficult that they successfully petitioned to never play the course again. The Tour returned in 2016 and has been returning annually since for The American Express.
With a scoring average of 71.348, it remains one of the toughest tracks on the PGA Tour. The Tour generally opts for modest setups during The American Express owing to the event’s amateur component. For a major, more penal rough, firmer greens, and more tucked hole locations could be about all that is needed.
The PGA Championship is the only realistic major that could come calling. Average highs in the California desert in May are 95 degrees. While certainly hot (‘but it’s a dry heat!’), moving the event a few weeks earlier in May would help make things a bit more realistic. Playing a U.S. Open, with traditional June dates, would average highs over 100 degrees.
Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club, Copperhead Course-Palm Harbor, Florida
Only two major championships—yes, two—have been played in the state of Florida, those being the 1971 and 1987 PGA Championships.
The 1971 event was played in Palm Beach Gardens at the then-PGA National Golf Club, now BallenIsles Country Club.
Owing to concerns over the Florida heat on its then-normal August dates, the event was played in late February, with Jack Nicklaus winning. The 1987 event was played on its then-normal August dates with highs in the upper 90s, with Larry Nelson winning, albeit in front of small crowds.
The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook certainly has enough challenge in its normal Valspar Championship setup.
Beefing up the course for a major, with higher rough, faster and firmer greens, and more tucked hole locations should be about all the Copperhead Course might need.
The PGA Tour event has been contested on the Copperhead course since 2000. The winner’s final score has been 18-under once, 17-under three times, and the rest are 15-under or worse. Viktor Hovland’s winning score this past March was 12-under.
As with PGA West, the PGA Championship is the only realistic option given its May date. The PGA Tour contested The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach in mid-May for a little more than a decade with only moderate references to the heat. A U.S. Open at the Palm Harbor facility would likely be too tough with the June Florida heat.
Spyglass Hill Golf Course-Pebble Beach, California
Spyglass is used annually for one round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, so it technically counts. Largely flying under the radar due to its more famous neighbor, the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design is a regular on top-100 lists. There have been countless articles, pieces, storylines, quips, and reviews saying how highly regarded Spyglass is.
Spyglass is in an awkward place geographically and in a business sense. Along with neighboring Pebble Beach, The Inn at Spanish Bay, The Hay, and Del Monte Golf Course, it is owned by the Pebble Beach Company.
If either the PGA of America or the USGA reached out about hosting, negotiations would be with the same entity as Pebble Beach. While that could certainly be overcome, playing a major on the Monterey Peninsula would keep another course from hosting for at least a few years, essentially putting one at the peril of the other’s success.
The 2030 U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Senior Women’s Open are set for Spyglass Hill. With Pebble Beach set to host four U.S. Opens between 2027 and 2044, I cannot see a U.S. Open coming anytime soon. With that, perhaps the PGA of America would be an interested observer to see if Spyglass Hill could be worthy of a PGA Championship.
Other potential venues
Colonial, which was mentioned above, has a unique place in golf history. Ben Hogan won Colonial’s PGA Tour event five times, which is why the course is known as "Hogan’s Alley.”
Colonial also hosted the 1991 U.S. Women’s Open and served as the venue where Annika Sorenstam in 2003 became the first woman since 1946 to play in a PGA Tour event. It was also where the first PGA Tour event of the resumed 2020 season was played amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Open returning seems unlikely as there have been no other test events held there for the USGA, those being the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Senior Open, etc. The PGA Championship seems unlikely for the time being, as across the DFW Metroplex is Fields Ranch Golf Club at the PGA Frisco headquarters.
In addition to the 1987 PGA Championship, PGA National in West Palm Beach, Florida, also hosted the Senior PGA Championship for 19 years.
The Champion Course is known for being one of the most difficult and watery non-major venues on the PGA Tour.
While the course packs a punch during the annual PGA Tour event, both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open seem unlikely.
As with the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, the USGA would shy away from the June Florida sun, leaving the PGA as its only real option. As with Colonial and Fields Ranch, it would seem that if the PGA of America would be interested, they would instead go to nearby PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, a facility it owns.