Oak Hill Country Club East Course Stats and Facts
If you fancy betting on the upcoming PGA, then it is always a good idea to familiarize yourself with course specs. Naturally, the East Course will provide plenty of action for those that enjoy the water hazards!
Combining the knowledge of ranked players and courses puts you in a stronger position to know when is the best time for you to make a bet and when best to avoid one. This is one of the best ways of finding a value bet in golf.
If you are armed with more knowledge than other punters, you will instantly be in a better position to choose your best bets. The Oak Hill course has a few very distinctive holes that stand out and it is useful to assess these and consider how a player may deal with these testing challenges.
The Opening Hole
Many players prefer a gentle opening hole, as they want to ease into a round and they are usually fighting competition nerves. Generally, those players don't like the extreme challenges presented on the first hole at the East Course. At about 460 yards, it doglegs right to left with a row of massive trees on left side. This left side is still better than missing it right because it is all too easy to go out of bounds!
The water hazard that intersects the fairway some 50 or 60 yards short of the green means forgetting about running up any approach shots from the rough. It's not really not permissible here.
The 13th hole
The 13th hole at the East Course is a classic par 5 design. It certainly has risk-rewards, as it can be as hard as you make it if you don't play it properly. There is a creek that divides the fairway, situated around 300 yards from the tee-off. Players that opt to try to hit over the water will have a chance to make an eagle if they succeed.
The 17th hole
There is, naturally, much discussion as to which hole is the toughest, at the East Course, there is no real debate! The answer given by most experts is without doubt the 17th hole. From 500 yards or so from the back tees, this hole bends smoothly to the right and penalizes players who don't keep to the right side of the fairway. The problem at number 17 is that if a right-handed player blast one up on the left side, their only reward will be finding their ball in the deep rough!
The Final Hole
The last hole at Oak Hill Club is anything but simple. Despite Shaun Micheel's miraculous shot on the 72nd hole of the 2003 PGA Championship, this is a problematic golf hole.
Playing at about 500 yards from the back tees, the dogleg to the right is a wonderful way to close out the round. The two bunkers pinch the right side of the fairways, obscuring the line for those players hoping to cut the corner and knock off some distance.
The second shot shoots towards a raised putting surface that may appear to be wide but is very shallow from front to back. There's a large false front at the entrance to the green, surrounded by long rough. Less-than-stellar approach shots wind up in the collection area short and represent a gruelling up and down.
Betting on a winner can come down to holding back the nerves all the way to this final nail-biting finish!
Oak Hill Country Club Course Summary
Oak Hill Country Club is a Par 70 course and 7360 yards (6730 metres) in length:
Front 9, 3760 yards, Par 35:
- Hole 1 - 460 yards, Par 4
- Hole 2 - 405 yards, Par 4
- Hole 3 - 230 yards, Par 3
- Hole 4 - 615 yards, Par 5
- Hole 5 - 180 yards, Par 3
- Hole 6 - 500 yards, Par 4
- Hole 7 - 460 yards, Par 4
- Hole 8 - 430 yards, Par 4
- Hole 9 - 480 yards, Par 4
Back 9, 3600 yards, Par 35:
- Hole 10 - 430 yards, Par 4
- Hole 11 - 245 yards, Par 3
- Hole 12 - 400 yards, Par 4
- Hole 13 - 595 yards, Par 5
- Hole 14 - 320 yards, Par 4
- Hole 15 - 160 yards, Par 3
- Hole 16 - 460 yards, Par 4
- Hole 17 - 500 yards, Par 4
- Hole 18 - 490 yards, Par 4
PGA Championship Favourites, Champions and Trends
Let's consider the last winners of the PGA Championship as an excellent guide to which type of players make it through to the big prize money.
Some would say that the current favourites to win the 2023 PGA Championship would be the defending champion, Justin Thomas. He is undoubtedly a popular choice in the PGA Championship with the bookies. Justin Thomas has won two PGA Championships beating Will Zalatoris in what was a stylish playoff, and his first PGA Championship success came in 2017 at the Quail Hollow course. With his astonishing win at the PGA Championship, he became the 64th player to win 15 times on the PGA Tour. He was the sixth since World War II to do so before turning 30 years old, joining the ranks of; Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
The very much in-form John Rahm is also topping the bookies tables, followed by the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Speith and Collin Morikawa.
Scottie Scheffler is naturally in the running as a favourite and the Masters champion is really taking the golf world by storm right now!
Ten Year Trends to Consider!
Before placing those bets it is also helpful to see the PGA Championship Ten Year Trends for Europe, America and the Rest of the World!
Europeans
1 out of 10 - Northern Ireland's Rory McIlory accounted for the European win.
Americans
8 out of 10 - PGA Championship winners were from the USA, including the last seven.
Rest Of The World
1 out fo 10 - Australia's Jason Day won in 2015, he also finished runner-up in 2016 and South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen has twice shared 2nd.
World Ranking Stats :
7/10 were ranked in the top 14 in the Official World Rankings at the time of winning.
5/10 were ranked inside the World's top ten.
Former World Number One Phil Mickelson was the lowest ranked winner at 116 in 2021.
Current Form :
8/10 had a top 5 finish within their last 6 events prior to winning the PGA.
5/10 had a top 5 finish in their previous event.
3/10 had won within their last three tour events.
Enjoy what will be a thrilling PGA Championship and place those bets early while the price is right !