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Oak Hill host professional Jason Ballard’s thoughts on the 2023 PGA Championship
Evan Schiller captured the glorious sixth hole from above in this image. Read what Jason Ballard has to say about this par four.
In previous features on the 2023 PGA Championship, we examined the history of the tournament at Rochester’s jewel, as well as the benefits of a November start on the infrastructure. As the calendar year of 2023 arrives, we are proud to continue our monthly preparation for the Return to Oak Hill, we are excited to present a six-question interview with Mr. Jason Ballard, the Head Golf PGA Professional at the club. To begin our exchange, we asked Mr. Ballard to provide a bullet-point list on his career in golf and at Oak Hill. The six questions follow the list.
- Born and raised in Santa Rosa, CA
- Attended San Diego State University
- Played mini-tour golf in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s
- Received PGA membership in 2004
- Oak Hill’s PGA Head Professional since 2014
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- Augusta National Golf Club – Senior Assistant Golf Professional 2008-2014
- Inverness Club – Assistant Golf Professional 2013 (summer)
- Congressional Country Club – Assistant Golf Professional 2008-2012 (summers)
- East Lake Golf Club – Senior Assistant Golf Professional 2004-2008
- PGA National Merchandiser of the Year – Private Category – 2020
Here are the questions.
GolfWRX: The 2023 PGA Championship returns after ten years to Oak Hill’s East course. What will the golfers find different about the course, for the ones who were fortunate to compete there in 2013?
Andrew Green’s 2019-2020 renovation of our East Course has been well received. The goal was to create a sympathetic restoration of Donald Ross’s original vision for the property. We are excited to showcase the changes to the golfing world and challenge the best players in the world. For those that have been on property for past championships, they will notice that some trees have been removed to create better growing conditions for our grasses. All greens and bunkers have been renovated and some new tees have been added to help test the modern-day professionals.
GolfWRX: Driving, Approach Play, and Putting are three skills that a championship and its host course demand of its contestants. What will competitors need to produce, in each of those three areas, to maximize performance?
- Driving: One of the defining characteristics of the East Course has always been the narrow width of our fairways. For anyone that has played Oak Hill during the month of May, they know that the rough will be thick, which was most evident during the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Fairways average 25 yards wide making accurate driving a premium.
- Approach Play: One of the main goals during Andrew Green’s renovation was to bring back some of the original Donald Ross hole locations that we have lost over time. The new greens create a myriad number of hole locations that will bring in many challenges for players. The approach lines will need to navigate new corners of greens and deep greenside bunkers. A short-sided miss will create a difficult up and down to save par.
- Putting: All 18 greens were renovated since the 2013 PGA Championship and 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Thus, any participants that played here during those championships will need to re-learn the greens. The new hole locations have created new slopes and breaks that have been unseen before in championship play.
GolfWRX: Let’s talk about the opening holes. Will players look toward a fast, under-par start, or will they seek to survive an opening gauntlet, and take advantage of later holes?
Ben Hogan once called Oak Hill’s opening hole the “hardest starting hole in Championship golf”. By modern day standards, hole #1, aptly named “Challenge” is a par-4 at 460 yards that may yield a few more birdies than it did in the 1940’s and 1950’s, however a nervous opening tee shot can find out of bounds to the right. Hole #2 “Breather” is a short par-4 at 405 yards that yielded an eagle hole out during round two that helped catapult Jason Dufner to victory during the 2013 PGA Championship. Hole #3 “Vista” played at 210 yards during the 2013 PGA Championship and and averaged 3.2 strokes, with a new tee added will now play at 230 yards during the 2023 PGA Championship it will play even harder.
The first hole at Oak Hill’s East course, from the tee. The second hole climbs the hill in the distance.
GolfWRX: In your estimation, which will be the two most important holes each day on the outward nine?
- Hole #6 “Double Trouble”: This newly restored par-4 was inspired by the original Donald Ross hole and will now play 500 yards during the PGA Championship. The drive will require the player to choose to play towards the bunkers on the left side or tempt the right side of the dogleg along Allen’s Creek. Any drive that does not carry at least 300 yards will find the penalty area. The approach shot will require an accurate shot with the creek to the left of the putting green and a very deep greenside bunker to the right. Any shot that misses the green right will face a challenging up and down to a green that slopes away and toward the penalty area.
This is an artistic shot of the sixth green at Oak Hill’s East course. The green sits beyond the tree, in the distance.
- Hole #7 “Creek’s Elbow”: One of Oak Hill’s finest par-4 holes at 460 yards. This is a very challenging driving hole with a tight fairway bordered by trees down the left side and Allen’s Creek along the right. The green has been restored adding hole locations along the edges and corners of the green guarded by a bunker on the front left. A par on holes 6 and 7 will pick up valuable strokes on the field.
The seventh hole on the 2023 PGA Championship course. Finding the fairway is half the bargain. Safely reaching the putting surface is the handshake.
GolfWRX: Part two of that question. Which two holes on the inward half will most determine a player’s success?
- Hole #14 “Bunker Hill”: One of the most dramatic and best risk/reward par-4 holes at 320 yards. During the renovation, trees were removed to expand the vistas and encourage the player to try and drive the green. A back hole location will create a difficult approach for any player who laid up off the tee due to this two-tiered green. A new runoff area over the green brings out of bounds in play and creates a very difficult up and down to a green that runs away. A birdie is a real possibility here, however bogey or worse is also in play.
This akimbo angle of the 14th hole gives an idea of the options available to competitors.
- Hole #18 “Goin’ Home”: The hole is steeped in history; Shaun Micheel’s approach shot from 174 yards to 3 inches to secure the 2003 PGA Championship on the final hole and Nick Faldo’s incredible up and down from 92 yards to save par to help secure the Ryder Cup for Europe in 1995. A very difficult slight dogleg right, par-4 playing 490 yards that will challenge the players to close out the 2023 PGA Championship. Three renovated fairway bunkers beginning at 300 yards off the tee guard the right side of the fairway. Any player that finds these fairway bunkers will need to navigate steep faces that make the approach shot very difficult to find the putting surface. The renovated green now offers multiple new hole locations.
It has been the site of both joy and sadness in major championships and international play. In May, both emotions will resurface.
GolfWRX: You are the ultimate insider, with great inside knowledge of the East course. Is there a course-related question that we haven’t asked, that you would love to answer? Please ask it and then, answer it. Thank you for your time.
I get asked quite often what I think the winning score will be in 2023. Previously, the lowest winning score in a major championship at Oak Hill was 10 under par by Jason Dufner in 2013 and just prior to that it was 7 over par during the 2008 Senior PGA Championship by Jay Haas in 2008. It is tough to predict due to the talent level of the best golfers in the game, however the biggest factor will certainly be the weather. I can assure you that Jeff Corcoran, Manager of Golf Courses and Grounds and his team will have the course in excellent conditions to challenge the best players in the world. The good news is that no matter what the winning score is during the 2023 PGA Championship, our members are enjoying the course more than they ever have, and to me, that is what is most important in my day-to-day role as PGA Head Golf Professional at Oak Hill Country Club.
Top photo courtesy of Evan Schiller. Other photos courtesy of the author. His work is viewable on @buffalogolfer on Instagram.
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PGA Championship Sunday is a multi-tiered celebration. It begins with the identification of the top PGA professionals in the USA, and their naming to the USA side for the PGA Cup competition. This biennial event pits the best club professionals from Great Britain and Ireland, and the USA. Beginning with this year’s low PGA professional, Braden Shattuck, and his fellow cut-maker, Jeremy Wells, and concluding with last year’s darling, Michael Block, ten golfers were selected to represent the stars and bars at Sunriver Resort in Oregon.
The next bit of intrigue is a bit larger, in news terms. Who would hoist the Wannamaker Trophy, the largest of all the men’s major vessels, as the 2024 PGA Champion? Would it be a former major winner like DeChambeau, Lowry, or Morikawa? Or, would a first-timer prevail, perhaps with the last name of Hovland, Theegala, or Schauffele? After his third-round 73, we knew that the grand slam of golf would not happen in 2024 for Scottie Scheffler, but we admired his moxie.
For those architecture luddites who proclaim that if it ain’t Raynor, it ain’t golf, we hear you, but we don’t side with you. Major-championship golf needs courses like Valhalla, with odd, stone-lined, island greens, alongside forced carries over water. A little thick rough is all right, from time to time. Quail Hollow might have some rough in 2025, but there is no doubt that Aronimink in 2026, and PGA Frisco in 2027, will play lean, fast, and firm. Be patient; you’ll get what you crave.
WOW??
Alejandro Tosti drives the green on the signature 13th!#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/XeZ9OBtMmA
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 19, 2024
Valhalla gave us all the drama we needed, waaaayyyyy more than we had at Augusta in April. This first-gen bloke from California made birdie on his first hole, to jump into a tie for the lead. This leader of mutant super heroes took the lead back, and held it for most of the day. Some muscular physicist entered the fray, alongside a fan of Norwegian death metal music. Let’s be honest: that’s quite a mixed bag, and could we ask for anything more? Nah. Here we go, then, with the one thing we learned on Sunday at the PGA Championship.
Sahith Theegala began the day with a longish putt for birdie on his first hole of the day. If he had stuffed his approach and made the same score, he might have made believers of us. As it was, that was the last hurrah for the young Californian. He gave the stroke back at number two, and failed to find any balance nor momentum on the day. Five bogeys and three birdies gave him 73 on the day, and he dropped from solo third to T12. There’s still a bit of learning on how to close a major championship for Theegala, but he has time.
On the other end of the spectrum, Shane Lowry figured to have the poise to make a run at a second major title. The pride of Ireland started well, standing minus-two through four holes. Unfortunately for Shamrock Shane, he didn’t make another birdie until the 14th hole. His 70 kept him inside the top six, but seven strokes off the winner’s pace.
Sahith Theegala starting things off RIGHT??
He birdies 1 and moves into a tie for the lead. ?#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/3s69WnNQyI
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 19, 2024
Collin Morikawa and Thomas Detry each arrived at four-place-tie station on different horses. Morikawa began round four in a tie with Xander Schauffele, at minus-sixteen. Morikawa did not have his “A” game on this day, and his “B” game wasn’t good enough to keep him in contention. Detry bounced back from a Saturday 70 with 66 on day four. He moved up six spots on Sunday, almost as magnificent a jump as Billy Horschel, who climbed from 29th to 8th with 64. The T4 was a ringing success for Detry, his best major finish ever. For Morikawa, it was another gut punch, suggesting that his major wins in 2020 and 2021 were more fortune than fame.
Death Metal merchant Viktor Hovland came to the last hole at 19-under par. His game is built around power, and birdie should have been a possibility for the Norwegian nightmare. His drivefound the left side of the fairway, but his approach was more foozle than flame, and was fortunate to find the right tongue of fairway, short of the green. He pitched to 10 feet, but missed the putt for birdie. Knowing that the tournament was lost, he proceeded to miss from three feet and finished in solo third. If there was one bit of consolation, the missed tap-in mattered not at all in the final tally.
And just like that… Viktor Hovland grabs a share of the LEAD!
He’s 19-under through 13.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/VF13Z28SXL
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 19, 2024
Bryson DeChambeau made his bed when he defected from the PGA Tour in 2023. Like Hovland, he challenged for the 2023 PGA Championship in Rochester, at storied Oak Hill, before ultimately offering a golf clap for winner Brooks Koepka. DeChambeau did everything that one might do on Sunday, save win the tournament. Unlike the other contenders, the 2020 US Open winner signed for a clean card on day four. His seven-birdie 64 was the day’s low round, matched by the aforementioned Billy Horschel, and England’s Jordan Smith. Knowing that he had to make a 72nd-hole birdie to pressure the leader, DeChambeau hit a marvelous pitch from thick rough, to ten feet. Unlike Hovland, he converted the birdie and went to the scorer’s pavillion at 20-deep. Only a birdie from the final pairing could ruin his day.
Xander Schauffele, along with the other Olympic gold medal winners, gets a major win from this writer. Olympic Gold is akin to immortality. From his peers and from the rest of the media, it may not count quite so high. Affirmation comes from winning one of the four big ones. The men’s tours have the fewest major events, so their value escalates. Schauffele had come close before, and two weeks ago, he faded against Rory McIlroy in the final round at Quail Hollow (next year’s PGA Championship site, doncha know?!)
On Sunday, Schauffele was a lion. He made seven birdies on the day, and survived a bogey at the benign tenth, a straightforward par-five hole. He followed the bogey with a pair of birdies, to reclaim the lead. It wasn’t until DeChambeau made birdie at the last, that the outcome was in doubt. With gravel in his belly, a boy named Xander rose up and kept his ball dry at the last. He pitched to six feet, and rammed the winning putt into the back of the hole. In a flash, all the unwanted finishes washed away: Xander Schauffele was, finally, the owner of a grand slam tournament title.
Attack an awkward lie with confidence like 2024 PGA Champion Xander Schauffele with these key tips from Ryan Adams, PGA. ?@TMobile | @PGAChampionship pic.twitter.com/0Y66NzUnsR
— PGA of America (@PGA) May 19, 2024
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Moving Day is a term applied to round three of a four-round tournament. It suggests that competitors need a solid or spectacular round on Saturday, in order to position themselves for potential Sunday victory. Among the favorites in contention after 36 holes, only Scottie Scheffler fell out of contention. The Texan suffered a par-double-bogey-bogey start, and could not recover. Three more bogeys damaged his score even more. Scheffler begins day four at seven-under par, eight shots behind the leaders.
As for those leaders, it’s a familiar pair, and we’ll get to them. We saw Justin Rose return to major-championship contention for the first time in a while. He’ll need 63 on Sunday to matter, but it’s still good to see the two-time major winner (Olympic Gold counts!) in the mix. Bryson DeChambeau carried the LIV flag into the day-four conversation, and with a low 60s score, he’ll have a chance at a second major title. Even the home-state feloow, Justin Thomas, found a way to matter. He’s on the outside, looking in, but a 60 is not inconceivable, and 11-under would certainly win the day, if not the week.
UNBELIEVABLE! Justin. Thomas.
The Kentucky guy holes out for birdie! #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/YVeNslCW37
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 18, 2024
1. Xander holds the lead
There’s a burden that comes with posting a score of 62. Media, fans, and even the player hope and even expect to see it again. Xander Schauffele wasn’t on track to repeat that number of Saturday, but he stood in the middle of the 15th fairway and thought about how low he could go. Three-under par on the day, coming off birdie at 14, with a pitch to the green, and he went for the flag and missed.
Schauffele made an unanticipated mistake and it cost him two shots. His most immediate competitor was in his group and made birdie, retrieving three shots in one hole. That’s the sort of moment that goes down in history as a gut check. Schauffele’s gut responded. He leveled the wings with par at 16, then closed with birdies at 17 and 18, to returne to 15-under par. The X Man will tee off again in the final pairing, and take a run at his first major title. The fifteenth hole might loom large again in the outcome; hopefully, a lesson has been learned!
This ball wanted to build some suspense!
Xander Schauffele holds on to the top spot with this putt from distance ???#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/kM4LZwUSLu
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 18, 2024
2. Morikawa can taste another PGA
For two years, Collin Morikawa was that guy. He won this tournament in 2020, then collected the Open Championship jug at Sandwich in 2021. Win two majors, and everyone heads down the career grand slam discussion. Three years on, Morikawa has the same number of majors on his dossier, and two more professional wins to show. He’s probably antsy for another major.
The California native stumbled early on Saturday. He made bogey at the two-shot second hole, then dug in with everything he had. A birdie at three balanced the card, and four more came his way. None was bigger than the three that he made at the 15th, as the leader was making double bogey in his group! Morikawa took a one-shot lead there, then closed with birdie at the last to reach Sunday morning tied at the top with Xander Schauffele.
Sunday will fill with drama, but it won’t involve just that grouping. When Morikawa tees off at 2:35 Louisville time, a move will have been made. Someone close by (one at -14, three at -13, two at -12) will be a few under par, and the thermometer will have risen. Our guess, simply, is that Morikawa will need 66 to win outright on Sunday. 20-under par should get it done, and to go down as one of the greats, he’ll need to be great.
Bounce-back birdie for Collin Morikawa at the 3rd ?#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/enpc0mkbcc
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 18, 2024
3. Shane shares PGA record
Shane Lowry goes down as one of the most popular major champions of this era. His Open Championship win at Royal Portrush in 2019 kicked off a massive celebration of Irish pride and delight. Lowry hasn’t added to that major total of one, but the cask-chested, smile-and-a-beard doesn’t need to. He’s the sort who can take a two-man win, as he had this season with Rory McIlroy in New Orleans, and elevate its worth. He’s the sort who anchors an international side, as he does every two years in the Ryder Cup.
This week in Kentucky is different. Lowry has the chance to keep the hot hand and claim a second major title. These opportunities don’t come around that often. Lowry was fire on Saturday. He posted the first, sub-thirty nine of the tournament on the outward half. HIs six birdies and three pars gave him 29, and he looked for all the world to be the man to chase. The inward half wasn’t quite as volcanic, but the card was clean, and he came home in 33. His score matched Schauffele’s opening round, for the all-time low, 18-hole score, in PGA Championship history.
What’s to do? Make putts early. Find a way to get back in the zone and ride that spaceship to the final green. Lowry most likely needs to finish Saturday in 65 strokes or fewer, and posting 127 on a major championship weekend is unheard of. That’s why they play, though, isn’t it? Why not Shane, why not today?
A fist pump we’ve been waiting for! ?
Shane Lowry loves it too. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/BysfhGOeZ3
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 18, 2024
4. Theegala lost, then found
As far as I was concerned, Sahith Theegala was yesterday’s news. Consecutive bogeys at five and six, supported by zero birdies through eight holes, destined him for the also-ran section of the leader board. I was frightfully incorrect.
Theegala found some inspiration at the ninth tee. Maybe it was a kick in the arse by his caddie, or by him, but a flame ignited. Theegals made the first of six birdies at the outward home hole, and posted 31 coming home. Birdie at the final hole ensured that he would tee off in Sunday’s penultimate group, with Shane Lowry.
It is often written that all should be wary of the wounded, as they fight for survival. Theegala dislocated a rib two weeks ago, at Quail Hollow. This week, he has been under the weather with some bug. With his mind focused on health, rather than score, he has done quite well. If he stays that course, one last round, he might have to do a heavy lift on Sunday, with the Wannamaker trophy in his hands.
Sahith Theegala with the magic touch!#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/jYu5dZcig0
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 18, 2024
5. The Prediction!
Despite all the kind words I’ve written about the aforementioned four gentlemen, none of them will exit Louisville with the happiest of visages. The winner, however, will not let us down in the smiles department. Viktor Hovland teed off in the final pairing last year, at Oak Hill, and had a front-row seat in the Koepka Koaster, as Brooks Koepka showed the Norwegian how to win a major championship. Rest assured that Hovland took copious notes. His frustration at a Masters missed cut in April has been channeled into his performance this week.
What will go down? Hovland will have at least one holed shot from off the green on Sunday’s outward nine. He’ll find a groove and the putter will warm up quickly. Hovland will sign for the third 62 of the week, but will have to wait as each of the final four golfers has a chance to tie at the final hole. One will, and they will head to a play-off, where Hovland will emerge in overtime.
Viktor Hovland has made back to back birdies to move to T3 ? pic.twitter.com/bdEbcz6DS1
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) May 18, 2024
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