Southern Hills Country Club (Championship)

“24 hours from Tulsa” is one of Burt Bacharach’s more famous songs. We’re not sure why it took so long to get to Oklahoma but we’re sure it was worth it in the end, especially if you can befriend a member and secure a tee time at Southern Hills Country Club.

Southern Hills was founded by a group of rich local business during the Great Depression and they commissioned Perry Maxwell, a local Oklahoman, to design the course and it opened for play in 1935.

"Despite its name", wrote Mike Stachura in American Classic Courses, "Southern Hills is not a course of dramatic elevation change. Although the 1st and 10th tees are elevated and the 9th and 18th greens are well above the fairway, the remainder of the course is more flattish than not. In short, the topography here does not lend itself to breather holes. Indeed, for championship play the only par fives are the unreachable 655-yard 5th and the 537-yard 13th with water guarding the front of the green."

According to Tom Doak's The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses Vol 2, "The routing is chock full of doglegs well defended by trees, and the lack of space to lengthen it significantly has meant that the world's best seldom hit driver, but still face difficult approach shots to Maxwell's tilted greens. Once you move away from the hill by the clubhouse, the undulations are superb and Maxwell capitalized on them all."

There’s nothing flash about Southern Hills. Mature deciduous trees line many of the Bermuda grass fairways and the rough is notoriously thick and tangly. Apart from the rough and 7,481 championship yards, Southern Hills is there for the taking. But not for long.

In 2018 it was announced that Gil Hanse would spearhead an extensive project aimed at restoring Perry Maxwell’s classic design as part of a $19m facility upgrade. The four-time PGA Championship host, and three-time US Open venue underwent an extensive, 10-month upgrade that finished in June 2019.

All the greens were rebuilt with an underground hydronic system to allow the cooling or heating of putting surfaces as required, with a new bent grass called Pure Distinction utilized to provide firm and fast playing conditions. Bunkers were also reconstructed with a more natural style, replacing the deep, saucer-shaped versions that had evolved down the years.

The course was lengthened by more than 450 yards and the course rating (from the back tees) rose from 76.8 to 78.2 but the slope rating actually fell from 144 to 142, meaning it’s slightly more playable for the average golfer but more difficult for the scratch golfer. Drainage creeks that previously ran underground were also opened up on many holes.

Trees were cleared on the left side of the par four 2nd, creating a split fairway that was shown to exist previously in old aerial photographs, and cart paths were hidden on many of the holes, improving the visual aspect from the tee boxes. The only non-Maxwell green on the course at No. 7 was re-positioned next to a creek with new waterfalls, and trees were removed to accommodate the fairway shifting to the right.