The Wyndham Championship has been the regular-season finale on the PGA Tour for years, which has allowed Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, to showcase just how special thistrack can be when so many different things are up for grabs, whether it be a spot in the postseason or a player simply trying to keep his card for another year.
Sedgefield is a classic Donald Ross layout designed in 1926 during the Golden Age of golf course architecture.
At just over 7,100 yards, it is not long, and it is characterized by severely sloping greens that are difficult to navigate. Let’s take a look at the top five holes on this historic property.
5. 11th Hole – Par 4, 486 yards
The 11th hole is a long, straight, difficult par-4. The only two bunkers on the hole aren’t in play for the pros, but the fairway is very narrow and the tee shot is steeply downhill.
The green complex is what makes this hole such a test. There are massive shaved dropoffs left and behind the green; misses here will come to rest far below the putting surface, and players will have to chip back up off the grainy, tightly-mown Bermudagrass.
4. 14th Hole – Par 4, 505 yards
The 14th is another very difficult par-4 that undulates from tee to green. It’s a dogleg left with a bunker on the left side off the tee. The long second shot is uphill the whole way with a small bunker short and right of the green.
The most interesting feature of this hole is the slope around the green. Both the putting surface and the fairway leading up to it are pitched hard from right to left, so all approach shots will feed down to the left, and misses to the right are disastrous.
3. 7th Hole – Par 3, 223 yards
The seventh is one of four really good par-3s at Sedgefield Country Club. This difficult one-shot hole plays downhill, and while there are no bunkers, the plateau green is guarded by runoffs on all sides.
A small creek runs in front and to the left of the green, and there is a tiny protrusion in the front-left area of the putting surface that encroaches toward this creek. This little section creates hole locations that are extremely difficult to access, as any miss in this area will tumble down the runoff area and risk finding the water.
2. 12th Hole – Par 3, 235 yards
Another cool long par-3, the 12th is wonderfully unorthodox with a green shaped like half an oval, the straight side making up the front edge. There is a bunker on each side of the very front of the green, but the hole’s defining feature is the putting surface itself. It has two tiers with the back tier being significantly higher than the front.
Not only that, there is a severe false front sending any short shots down off the front of the green. This hole plays drastically differently depending on where the hole is cut on a given day.
1. 18th Hole – Par 4, 507 yards
The 18th is a par-5 for members but plays as a very difficult par-4 during the Wyndham Championship.
It is a beautiful hole with a tee shot plunging downhill to the very bottom of a valley containing a small stream. This stream crosses the fairway roughly 360 yards from the tee, so unless the tee shot is absolutely pounded by the Tour’s longest hitters, the ball will come to rest short of it and leave an approach shot steeply uphill from a downhill lie.
The green slopes severely from back to front with a bowl in the front-left section. This stunning finisher provides a great test at the conclusion of the round.
