Southern Hills Country Club

"Southern Hills" redirects here. For other uses, see Southern Hills (disambiguation).
Southern Hills Country Club
Club information
LocationTulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Established1936
TypePrivate
Total holes27
Websitesouthernhillscc.com
Front Nine / Back Nine Course
Designed byPerry Maxwell (1936) Gil Hanse (2019 renovation)
Par71[a]
Length7,481 yards (6,841 m)
Course rating78.2
Slope rating142
West Nine Course
Designed byBen Crenshaw / Bill Coore
Par35
Length2,969 yards (2,715 m)
Course rating36.3

Southern Hills Country Club is a private golf and country club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

History

The club was established in 1935[1] from land donated by multimillionaire oilman Waite Phillips (Frank Phillips, Waite's brother, was the namesake and founder of the predecessor to Phillips 66. Waite worked with his brother for a time before starting his own oil company). Phillips had earned an oil fortune and, upon the crash of the stock market, Phillips became The First National Bank of Tulsa's chairman. With his oil money and with his reputation, Bill Warren and Cecil Canary asked Phillips to sponsor the development of a new country club. The boosters argued that there was the need for a family-oriented club that would include a swimming pool, stable, horseback trails, polo field, skeet range, tennis courts, clubhouse and golf course.[2] Phillips was skeptical of this proposition, and in response he told Warren and Canary that they had a couple of weeks to assume 150 pledges to become members of this club, with each of those pledges paying $1,000 each, to ensure his cooperation.[2] The construction costs were raised by the founding members.[2] The clubhouse, designed in "English country manor" style by Tulsa architects John Duncan Forsyth and Donald McCormick, opened on October 17, 1936;[3] the clubhouse was extensively renovated during a three-year project prior to the 2007 PGA tournament.[4]

Murder

On May 27, 1981, Roger Wheeler, a Tulsa businessman and owner of Miami's World Jai Alai, was murdered in the parking lot of the club. The killing was ordered by Winter Hill Gang mobster Whitey Bulger, who discovered that Wheeler had uncovered the gang's ongoing embezzlement from the jai alai organization.[5][6][7]

Golf courses and amenities

Once the money was raised, the pledges signed, and the land was donated, the main 18-hole golf course was laid out by golf course designer Perry Maxwell. The course was later on renovated by Keith Foster in 1999. Maxwell, a friend of Phillips, oversaw the entire project and its construction.[2]

There is also a 9-hole West Course that was designed by Ben Crenshaw in 1992. Southern Hills also has the typical facilities of a country club, including extensive banqueting facilities, a fitness center, swimming and diving pools, and tennis courts. Southern Hills offers swimming, personal training, and tennis instruction. The course is ranked No. 30 among Golf Digest's 2013–2014 "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses".[8]

Course layout

Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
2022 PGA Championship 468 500 472 377 656 214 489 251 391 3,818 441 173 456 632 230 417 527 371 491 3,738 7,556
Par Championship 4 4 4 4 5 3 4 3 4 35 4 3 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 35 70
Pink 78.2/142 472 500 444 377 656 226 443 220 395 3,733 406 173 461 632 230 417 567 371 491 3,748 7,481
Blue 74.7/139 451 440 406 356 600 170 424 200 367 3,414 374 150 436 529 192 388 522 336 423 3,350 6,764
Green M:72.2/134
W:76.6/135 		422 409 377 330 562 138 388 180 347 3,153 350 150 415 495 171 371 485 315 401 3,153 6,306
Gold M:69.6/129
W:74.8/129 		422 335 339 314 468 113 366 150 324 2,831 332 128 391 463 146 339 447 287 379 2,912 5,743
White M:66.7/123
W:70.6/123 		384 306 279 265 435 113 349 121 295 2,547 254 107 358 413 122 280 424 262 332 2,552 5,099
Par Men's 4 4 4 4 5 3 4 3 4 35 4 3 4 5 3 4 5 4 4 36 71
Par Women's 5 4 4 4 5 3 4 3 4 36 4 3 5 5 3 4 5 4 5 38 74

Lengths of the course in previous major championships:

U.S. Open Championship

  • 2001: 6,973 yards , Par 70
  • 1977: 6,873 yards , Par 70
  • 1958: 6,907 yards , Par 70

PGA Championship

  • 2022: 7,556 yards , Par 70
  • 2007: 7,131 yards , Par 70
  • 1994: 6,834 yards , Par 70
  • 1982: 6,862 yards , Par 70
  • 1970: 6,962 yards , Par 70

Senior PGA Championship

  • 2021: 6,968 yards , Par 70
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 451 455 406 377 600 188 424 220 395 3,516 406 173 436 529 204 417 485 342 460 3,452 6,968
Par 4 4 4 4 5 3 4 3 4 35 4 3 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 35 70

Golf tournaments hosted at Southern Hills

Southern Hills has hosted eight major championships for men, including the U.S. Open three times (1958, 1977, 2001)[9] and five PGA Championships (1970, 1982, 1994, 2007, 2022).[2] It is the only course to host the PGA Championship five times. Southern Hills also hosted the first-ever U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur in 1987, and the U.S. Women's Amateur was played at Southern Hills in 1946.[10]

Winners

Year Tournament Winner
1946 U.S. Women's Amateur United States Babe Zaharias
1953 U.S. Junior Amateur United States Rex Baxter
1958 U.S. Open United States Tommy Bolt
1961 U.S. Senior Amateur United States Dexter Daniels
1965 U.S. Amateur United States Bob Murphy
1970 PGA Championship United States Dave Stockton
1977 U.S. Open (2) United States Hubert Green
1982 PGA Championship (2) United States Raymond Floyd
1987 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur United States Cindy Schofield
1994 PGA Championship (3) Zimbabwe Nick Price
1995 Tour Championship United States Billy Mayfair
1996 Tour Championship (2) United States Tom Lehman
2001 U.S. Open (3) South Africa Retief Goosen
2007 PGA Championship (4) United States Tiger Woods
2009 U.S. Amateur (2) South Korea Byeong-Hun An
2021 Senior PGA Championship Germany Alex Cejka
2022 PGA Championship (5) United States Justin Thomas
2024 U.S. Women's Amateur (2)
Bolded years are major championships on the PGA Tour.

Notes

  1. ^ The course par has been reduced to 70 for some tournaments, including major championships.

References

  1. ^ "About Us - Southern Hills Country Club".
  2. ^ a b c d e "PGA.com". Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  3. ^ Davis, Kirby Lee (April 19, 2013). "These Walls: Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa". The Journal Record. Archived from the original on December 7, 2018.
  4. ^ Davis, Kirby Lee (May 3, 2013). "These Walls: Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa. Believe it or not, many famous people are members of southern hills country club. some include: john mabee, george kaiser, hip-hop and R&B musical artist, Ski Mask The Slump God- aka Stokeley Clevon Goulbourne, and the ceo of the cooking and cleaning company, arm and hammer. (part 2)". The Journal Record. Archived from the original on December 7, 2018.
  5. ^ Murphy, Shelley; Valencia, Milton J. (July 18, 2013). "Daughter of slain Tulsa businessman Roger Wheeler testifies at Bulger trial". Tulsa World. Tulsa, OK. Retrieved September 6, 2021 – via The Boston Globe.
  6. ^ "The Consequences of a 1981 Mob Hit at a Venerable Country Club Still Linger". Golf. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  7. ^ "Black Mass movie connected to Tulsa". KJRH. September 18, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  8. ^ Whitten, Ron. "Golf Digest". Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  9. ^ "USGA.org". Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  10. ^ "Southern Hills Country Club". Retrieved March 31, 2014.

36°4′21.49″N 95°56′58.77″W / 36.0726361°N 95.9496583°W / 36.0726361; -95.9496583