How a 15-year-old handicapper can shoot at the PGA’s Valhalla, according to a teaching instructor

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Xander Schauffele and Shane Lowry shot 62s. John Daly is 82 years old. The results have been very low at this week’s PGA Championship, although Valhalla Golf Club has shown its teeth at times for the pros.

But the average player, say, 15-handicap?

From tips?

For tough tournaments and tournament greens and tournament pins?

Tracy Phillips thinks high 90s. For more details.

Phillips is a good source. He played three practice rounds here, then shot a 4-over 75 in Thursday’s first round and an 80 in Friday’s second round. He is also a teaching professional at Cedar Ridge Country Club, just outside of Tulsa, Okla. You’ve seen all kinds of players.

So on Wednesday afternoon, a GOLF.com reporter asked him this:

If the 15 handicap were playing from the tips right now, what would they shoot?

“If they’re on point,” Phillips said, “they can probably shoot the top 90 here.”

Really? OK.

“If it’s crooked, it could be 100s, for sure, because the roughs are very difficult.”

Phillips then raised his own. He is 61 years old and 5-foot-4.

“The combination of different grasses, it’s — and, for a 5-4 guy, you don’t have a built-in angle of attack. It’s tight. And the greens around you, going into the greens, there’s not a lot of greens to hit. So if I miss the fairway, there’s a good chance that I missed the green.

“And yes, 15-handicap can be difficult.”

What is the hardest hole for them?

“Well, it depends on how far they get,” Phillips said.

“The 17th hole [a 477-yard par-4], if I don’t have low wind conditions, I have to hit a very good ball just to get to the fairway. I wish they had mowed the walkway, it was a little shorter and a little bigger so I could go for that. So you can at least hit it from the short grass.

“But obviously, it’s only 18 big holes, 18 tight. So they are all difficult.”

The DP World Tour communications team asked the same question to Jon Rahm and Min Woo Lee, although the player in question was decided to be better.

What can a scratch player shoot?

Lee guessed 10 to 15 over the category.

“It’s difficult,” he told DP people. “I mean I’m a tall batsman and he’s tall for me. So yeah, some par-4s, most par-4s, you go in with an 8-iron or more, so it’s possible for the handicapper to hit, I don’t know, 5-iron, 6-iron. in between, maybe more. So yes, I would say 10 for people who are going to be crazy and then 15 – I think the disability would shoot for more than 15. “

And Rahm? He thought they would have a hard time breaking 80.

“I’ve never seen you before? Haven’t you seen the course before?” he said to the DP World Tour communications team. “It’s very hard to say because it’s so long so it would depend on the golfer. Tough par-3s and really tough par-4s to finish. From the back. , today we had a couple if we hadn’t hit well, we wouldn’t have gone up in the wind the way we did so 17 is an automatic bogey.

“I mean, I would say for a beginner golfer, if they don’t have a lot of experience and enough height, I have trouble seeing them breaking 80. If it’s a taller person with more golf experience, they can shoot something in the high 70s. But it’s a challenging course out there. It’s rough, even if you’re on the fairway you can put yourself in some tough spots.

“So I would say somewhere between the 70s and 80s.”

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for planning, writing and promoting news on the golf course. And when he’s not writing about how to hit the golf ball forward and straight, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash down his scores. You can contact him about any of these topics – his news, his game or his beer – at nick.piastowski@golf.com.