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Few midcentury golf courses have enjoyed as significant a rise in prestige in the past 20 years as Quail Hollow Club.

In that time, the big-name club of Charlotte, N.C. has willed its way into prominence, hosting PGA Tour golf since 2003 in the form of the now-Truist Championship, the Presidents Cup in 2022 and, as of this week, its second-ever PGA Championship (2017).

Quail Hollow is very much in the mold of typical modern championship layouts: large in scale, broad-shouldered and long, with narrow fairways, plenty of water, greens that accommodate a good variety of hole locations and pearly white bunkers. The course has a core routing, with periodic reminders of its location in one of Charlotte's wealthiest neighborhoods in the form of mansion-sized homes along the perimeter.

George Cobb laid out Quail Hollow's original course in 1961. By the end of the decade, it began a decade-long stint hosting the PGA Tour's Kemper Open. The 1980s saw changes to four holes by Arnold Palmer. Since 1997, though, Tom Fazio has been Quail Hollow's architect of record, undertaking first a major course rebuild in 1997, followed by further tweaks in 2003 and 2016. All along, though, the course has been reliably well-liked by the world's best golfers. There aren't a lot of tricks or quirks, and the best drivers of the ball tend to flourish. Quail Hollow has benefited greatly from the champions it has produced. Rory McIlroy has won four times there, including his maiden PGA Tour victory in 2010 and a thoroughly dominant performance in 2024. And Justin Thomas made good on the promise of his prodigious talent when he won the 2017 PGA Championship.

Quail Hollow's "Green Mile" finish from holes 15th through 18th holes sets up lots of drama. The watery par-3 17th is demanding, while the menacingly tight, uphill 18th features a tiny but terrifying stream dancing along the entire left side of the hole from green back to tee.

Swinging downhill and to the right, this hole requires players to smash a power-fade down the hill. The last of three fairway bunkers, at 330 yards off the back tee, will be very much in play under most circumstances. Avoiding the sand sets up a downhill approach to a long, well-bunkered green. A fitting start to an exacting golf course.

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Reversing direction on the first and heading back uphill, this par 4 will be a welcome sight to drawers of the golf ball. Players will do well to cheat slightly left on their approach shots, as everything slopes down to the right off this green to a low fairway area and the hole's lone bunker.

Playing to the northwest corner of the property and running straightaway along the left side of Quail Hollow's short game practice area, this hole has one of the course's narrowest fairways, with a bunker pinching it to just 25 yards across around the 310-yard mark from the tee. Three more bunkers guard the green, which has a false front and a distinct tier through the middle.

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There's more room than appears to be available on this green beyond the three fronting bunkers, though a falloff at the back-right edge can carry a ball into the rough. A front-right hole location in a slight funnel between the first to bunkers - and above a false front - could create some early drama.

Bunkers line the landing area here, with two swallowing up right misses of between 270 and 325 yards, while one more on the left starts at 310, potentially serving as a target for those who may want to hit 3 wood. False edges at both the front of the green and the middle-right make hole locations close over the greenside bunker doubly tricky.

Despite its gaudy scorecard yardage, the fact that this hole plays about 25 feet downhill means players will likely be hitting some kind of iron. The green narrows toward the back, but a gathering slope at the back-right could be used to funnel a tee shot close. Going too far in that direction could mean a tough up-and-down out of one of the hole's two greenside bunkers.

After a meat-and-potatoes opening half-dozen holes, the fun begins in earnest. The first of Quail Hollow's three par fives is also its shortest, and should provide a jolt of excitement to any matches that are struggling to get going. Water - a dammed creek that creates a wider waterway along the fairway and green - lines the entire right side of the hole, and while no one would mistake this hole for the 13th at Augusta National (though both the course's architects, George Cobb and Tom Fazio, have worked on the Masters host course), the green has a dramatic slope down to the front-right portion that will make hole locations perched over the water exciting to attack. There will be eagles and some attempts at glory will fail spectacularly with splashdowns.

With a green broken into distinct sections, those who do whale away at the green from the tee will need to miss in the correct spot in order to avoid an impossible up-and-down.

This is Quail Hollow's longest par 4, and one of the longest in major championship golf. There is a noticeable rise on the left-middle portion of the green that can contain and redirect shots toward rear and rear-right hole locations.

At no. 10, the fairway drifts slightly toward the left-side fairway bunker that sits 310 yards off the back tee. Avoiding it means a potential eagle putt after another strong long shot to the green, bunkered on each side and sloughing off shots short and right.

Two fairway bunkers cover the left side of the landing area between 250 and 325 yards off the tee, waiting to catch an over-hooked drive. The entire field will need to confront them one way or another. The next order of business is to clear the false front and avoid two more bunkers menacing the left side of the green.

The 12th hole is a medium-length par 4 that will connect them with the most exciting portion of the course, including the "Green Mile." The slender, unbunkered fairway drifts downhill about 20 feet to a two-tiered green.

Playing over an attractive brook, this one-shotter will invite players' eyes left to look ahead a few holes, but there's still a solid mid-iron to hit to a green that wants to shrug marginal shots down and to the right.

The 14th is potentially the most exciting hole on the course. The 50-yard-long green, perched over a lake, can create very awkward short second shots for players who get out of position after a wayward drive; disaster will likely strike players who either get greedy off the tee or try to hit a heroic recovery. Don't be surprised to see a player who lays up off the tee triumph over one who tries to bite off more than he can chew.

For the fourth time in eight holes, eagle is potentially on the table. The slightly downhill, right-to-left sweep of the landing area will have bombers salivating, and a good drive will leave as little as a mid-iron up the hill (possibly off a hanging lie) to a green with relatively modest internal movement. The best ball-strikers will separate themselves here.

It's 320 yards to clear the lone fairway bunker on the right. The day's best driver swing by the longest players could pay big dividends as the landing area leans downhill from that point, making this imposing hole much more gettable. But most will have to play left, leaving one of the longest approach shots of the day to a green wedged between a bunker and the lake.

In reality, the green on this par 3 is plenty large. But the shot plays downhill, a bunker pinches the front-right and water wraps around the front, left and back portions of the putting surface, making it look as small as it possibly could. A fearless iron shot to a tucked pin here could help win a prestigious Tour event.

The carnage on this brutal test is usually caused by the hole's uphill climb, the right-hand fairway bunker and the stream that harangues the entire left side of the hole. The stream lurks on both the tee and approach shot, causing anxiety for any player in contention.

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