Hazeltine National Golf Club is one of the premier championship venues in American golf. Located southwest of Minneapolis, the course was designed by renowned architect Robert Trent Jones and opened in 1962. Known for its challenging layout, dramatic water hazards and major-championship pedigree, Hazeltine has hosted some of golf’s biggest events, including multiple PGA Championships, the 2016 Ryder Cup and the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
The club is perhaps best remembered internationally for hosting the 2016 Ryder Cup, where Team USA captured a historic victory in front of passionate home crowds. With tree-lined fairways, demanding greens and a reputation for testing the world’s best players, Hazeltine has become synonymous with championship golf and iconic moments in the sport’s history.
Here is a breakdown of the yardages and strategic hole-by-hole insight.
Par 72 | Yardage: 6,760
Hole 1 | Par 4 | 417 Yards
The opening hole offers a clear introduction to the challenges of Hazeltine. The driving area is narrowed by fairway bunkers on both sides, and shots played from the rough will struggle to hold the green. The green, which is protected by bunkers on every side but long, features three tiers, making precision on the approach essential.
Hole 2 | Par 4 | 384 Yards
A bold drive around the corner of this dogleg-left can leave a short approach, but a fairway bunker left makes that line demanding. A conservative tee shot leaves a longer second, particularly challenging when the wind is at the player’s back and the hole is placed behind the imposing bunkers guarding the front-left of the green. Bunkers right limit the opportunities for playing safe.
Hole 3 | Par 5 | 568 Yards
The tee shot must avoid two large bunkers along the left side of the fairway while avoiding the thick rough on the right. Players laying up will hope to find the flat landing area 130 yards short of the green, leaving an easier approach; going for it means hugging the left side of the fairway, where any miss risks finding rough well below the green. The large putting surface offers a number of demanding hole locations.
Hole 4 | Par 3 | 165 Yards
The green is large but presents all manner of trouble: bunkers all around, two distinct tiers (the back shelf is only around 10 yards deep while the front right is a challenging yet very small area and calls for a very precise tee shot), and a pronounced slope between them. Finding the green is no guarantee of a good score.
Hole 5 | Par 4 | 402 Yards
Long hitters may attempt to carry the three fairway bunkers inside the bend of this slight dogleg-right, but even good drives can run into the thick rough on the left. The narrow green is well guarded by deep bunkers in front and on both sides.
Hole 6 | Par 4 | 402 Yards
Trees line both sides of the narrow fairway, while the green is long and narrow, with bunkers on the right and a pond on the left. Laying back off the tee won’t make these any easier, leaving a longer approach that still must contend with the surrounding hazards.
Hole 7 | Par 5 | 516 Yards
The shortest par-five on the course turns left to right and offers several strategic options. Reaching the green in two is possible but risky, as a large pond guards the left side, and the green can be challenging to hold, particularly downwind. Expect to see many players lay up and rely on their wedge play to score.
Hole 8 | Par 3 | 152 Yards
Despite its modest yardage, this hole demands the player’s full attention. The long, small green is book-ended between sand on the left and water on the right, leaving little margin for error. Look for the most excitement when the hole is cut in the front part of the green.
Hole 9 | Par 4 | 394 Yards
A series of three bunkers on each side of the fairway make this an especially demanding drive. The approach is uphill to a partially obscured green with sand short-left and all along the right. Missing long or left will likely leave a difficult recovery.
Hole 10 | Par 4 | 412 Yards
A good drive will avoid the bunkers on both sides of this dogleg-left. The hole runs downhill toward Hazeltine Lake, with back-left hole locations particularly challenging as they bring the lake into play. Players also will want to be on the correct side of a prominent ridge that divides the green.
Hole 11 | Par 5 | 555 Yards
Attempts to reach the green in two on this long, dogleg-right will have a lot of sand to carry on the right side. This is another hole where many players are likely to lay up and trust their wedge play.
Hole 12 | Par 4 | 429 Yards
A deceptively difficult hole, this long par-four is often affected by the wind. Three fairway bunkers on the right side shouldn’t be a factor, but the tee shot is usually into the prevailing wind, adding pressure to the approach. The elevated green is shallow and firm, full of subtle breaks and difficult to hold due to the elevation and length of the approach shot.
Hole 13 | Par 3 | 178 Yards
This long par-three also is usually into the wind to a green sporting nearly every kind of hazard: A pond guards the left side, trees line the right, and bunkers sit short-left and short-right.
Hole 14 | Par 4 | 337 Yards
This is an interesting driving hole, with trees and bunkers on both sides. The natural tendency would be to stay left, where there’s a little more room, but then an angled cross-bunker short of the green on the left side comes into play. The small green features subtle contours and exacting hole locations.
Hole 15 | Par 5 | 530 Yards
A challenging tee shot to a left to right sloping fairway brings left-side fairway bunkers into play. The second shot also provides the players with a decision regarding more fairway bunkers that you have to either play short of or carry. The hole becomes particularly challenging when played into the wind, and more than half-a-dozen more bunkers—including around all four sides of the squarish green—lurk in the last 100 or so yards.
Hole 16 | Par 4 | 370 Yards
The panoramic tee shot overlooks Hazeltine Lake down the right side while avoiding the creek running down the left side of the fairway. Players need as much control as possible on the approach as the elevated green angles away and is surrounded by the Lake and is difficult to hold. Hole locations along the right again bring the lake into play.
Hole 17 | Par 3 | 159 Yards
This green is one of the most challenging on the course. It’s large and deep, surrounded by bunkers and water, and features a bowl front-left that will collect shots that miss the narrow shelves on the right and in the back. Expect to see a lot of lag putting.
Hole 18 | Par 4 | 412 Yards
Like many holes before it, the finisher calls for threading the tee shot between bunkers on both sides of the fairway. The approach demands a different kind of accuracy as the green features three distinct tiers front to back. Holes toward the left side of the green will prove extra challenging because of the trees on the left side of the fairway and the left bunker that eats into the green.
