Inside the course: Bay Hill Club and Lodge

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Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club and Lodge is a popular stop on TOUR.

Mar. 22, 2010

The TOUR hits its next Florida stop this week for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla. Learn more about this venue.

How to play Bay Hill Club & Lodge

Todd Jones, head instructor for the TOUR Academy at TPC Sawgrass, analyzes this week's course.

The PGA TOUR is rounding out its Florida swing this week with the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The tournament is contested on the masterpiece that is the Bay Hill Club. This par 72 layout will challenge the best players in the world as they gather at the home of golf's "King", Mr. Arnold Palmer.

After the 2009 event, Palmer gathered his design team to tweak a Bay Hill course that was already a great golf course. The specific goals of the renovation were focused in three distinct areas: agronomic/maintenance, playability and aesthetics. To improve turf conditions on the greens Emerald Bermuda grass was installed, resulting in a putting surface that is easily maintained. The design team also called upon PGA TOUR ShotLink data to properly place bunkers, resulting in a test that reflects the modern game. The new bunkering has also improved the course aesthetics by visually defining both tee and approach shots.

Palmer has also introduced firm and fast playing conditions on the slopes around the greens in hopes of adding creativity to recovery shots. Look for the players that have incredible imagination when it comes to the short game to contend for the title come Sunday afternoon. An early favorite should be the most recent champion on TOUR, Jim Furyk. Furyk's world-class short game is made up of multiple shots, allowing him to use his imagination to call upon the best shot for any given situation. This will be a great week to watch and learn as the best players in the world will demonstrate that scoring around the greens means using different clubs for different situations.

For more information about the PGA TOUR Academy golf schools, click here

Fast facts

Course Superintendent	Matt Beaver
Original architect	Dick Wilson, Joe Lee (1961)
Redesign	Arnold Palmer (2009)
Par value	72
Number of TOUR events as host venue	32 (including 2010)
Course ranking	Ranked 4 (out of 51) in difficulty on the PGA TOUR in 2009
Yardage history	7,400 (present)
	7,239 (2009)
	7,157 (2008)
	7,137 (2007)
	7,267 (2005-2006)
	7,239 (2002-2004)
	7,208 (2000-2001)
	7,207 (1997-1999)
	7,196 (1996)
	7,114 (1990-1995)
	7,103 (1979-1989)
Grass	Bermudagrass overseeded with perennial ryegrass (Tees, fairways, rough); Bermudagrass overseeded with Poa trivialis (Greens)
Tournament Stimpmeter	10.5 ft
Sand bunkers	103
Water hazards	7
Course tour	Click here

Course record

Player
Andy Bean
Greg Norman

Year
1981
1984

Round
2nd
2nd

Finish
Won
T6

Holes-in-one

There have been 13 aces recorded at Bay Hill Club and Lodge

Player	Hole	Year
Vaughn Taylor	7	2009
Webb Simpson	17	2009
Pat Perez	2	2008
Marc Turnesa	7	2008
Dean Wilson	2	2007
Andrew Magee	2	2005
Steve Lowery	17	2000
Kenny Perry	14	1991
Fulton Allem	2	1990
Mark Lye	14	1990
Don Pooley	17	1987
Hal Sutton	17	1985
Hale Irwin	17	1983

2009 Rankings

Easiest Hole

	The par-5 580-yard 12th Players can step on the gas at the 580-yard, par-5 12th hole. Even though the landing area for drives is hidden from the tee by an elevated bunker and a slight dogleg right, the lay-up shot sets up an approach with a wedge. The green is heavily protected by bunkers to thwart off any thought of running the second shot up. 2009: 9 eagles, 142 birdies, 212 pars, 21 bogeys, 0 double bogeys, 0 others.
Most difficult hole
	The par-4 485-yard 16th The 16th hole is the beginning of a three-hole stretch to the clubhouse that is among the best in golf. This hole was shortened to a par 4 for the 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational. 2009: 0 eagles, 26 birdies, 190 pars, 140 bogeys, 20 double bogeys and 8 others.

Bay Hill Club and Lodge			2009 rankings		Last 25 years
Hole	Par	Yards	Avg. Score	Rank	Avg. Score	Rank
1	4	441	4.182	7	4.226	5
2	3	218	3.115	10	3.181	6
3	4	425	3.99	16	4.048	12
4	4	460	4.305	2	4.298	2
5	4	384	4.049	13	4.025	14
6	5	558	5.081	12	4.880	17
7	3	197	3.018	14	3.033	13
8	4	459	4.242	4	4.155	8
9	4	467	4.237	5	4.155	9
10	4	400	4.008	15	4.006	15
11	4	438	4.091	11	4.090	11
12	5	580	4.638	18	4.771	18
13	4	364	3.969	17	3.904	16
14	3	206	3.273	3	3.167	7
15	4	425	4.169	8	4.108	10
16	4	485	4.466	1	4.389	1
17	3	219	3.229	6	3.227	4
18	4	441	4.128	9	4.230	3

Course origins

The Bay Hill Club has hosted 27 annual PGA TOUR events. The club also hosted the 1991 U.S. Junior Amateur. Bay Hill, owned by Arnold Palmer, is among the five most enjoyed stops on the PGA TOUR and is rated in the top 100 courses in America. The course has everything Palmer admires in a golf course; wide open fairways that provide plenty of room to swing the driver, risk/reward options that will tempt the go-for-broke player and multiple rows of bunkers protecting spacious and well-defined greens. The breathtaking course sweeps across 270 acres along the shores of the Butler Chain of Lakes.

Bay Hill underwent a four-month renovation after the 2009 event that repositioned every bunker, moving fairway bunkers farther from tees, greenside bunkers closer to collars and making the half-blind bunkers clearly visible with sand faces pulled to the tops of mounds like cresting waves. Greens were regrassed with Emerald Dwarf bermudagrass, their corners squared off and edges flattened, creating more than 40 new pin positions. New tees stretch the course to 7,381 yards with a par of 72, as holes No. 4 and 16 are now par 5s. --Source: Golf Course Superintendents Assocation of America

Tournament course history

Course	Location	Years
Bay Hill Club and Lodge	Orlando, Fla.	1979-present
Rio Pinar Country Club	Orlando, Fla.	1966-1978

This week's Kodak Challenge hole

HOLE: The par-4, 449-yard 18th at Bay Hill Club and Lodge
LAST YEAR: The 18th played to a stroke average of 4.128, with players recording 0 eagles, 50 birdies, 259 pars, 53 bogeys, 20 double bogeys and 2 others
DESCRIPTION: The finishing hole looks simple on paper. It's straight away to a wide fairway, but that's where simple ends. The large, kidney shaped green is fronted by rocks and water, requiring a longer carry to the right half. The bunkers left of the green await errant shorts of the hydrophobic.(Click here for Bay Hill tour)