Five things to know: Quail Hollow Club

Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club adds to its legacy with the playing of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship, which returns after a one-year absence necessitated by the Presidents Cup.

Here are five things to know about Quail Hollow:

1. IT WAS A DAIRY FARM

On June 3, 1961, the Charlotte News uncovered what had been one of the great hidden secrets of the South. Columnist Ronald Green (whose son, Ron Jr., followed him into the golf-writing business) got an early glimpse and called Quail Hollow “a magnificent golf course that has all the qualities to be a great one.” As the legend goes, tee times at nearby Charlotte Country Club were getting scarce, necessitating another top-notch facility in the Charlotte golf lineup.

Quail Hollow sits on what once was the largest dairy farm in North Carolina and was named for the abundance of quail that could be found on the property (Quail Hollow club president Johnny Harris used to hunt there). The course was designed by George Cobb and constructed upon 270 acres once owned by Cameron Marsh. Marsh gave it to his daughter, who was married to James J. Harris, Johnny’s father, who would become one of the club’s founding members.

There was no clubhouse when Quail Hollow opened in 1961, but there was a pool – James Harris’ wife wanted it to be a family club – and a small golf shop. Cobb was a South Carolina architect who had completed a nine-hole par-3 course at Augusta National. According to a club historian, Cobb was not on the grounds for the completion of Quail Hollow; members helped finish the course for its opening in 1961.

2. THE AUGUSTA COMPARISONS

Quail Hollow is a stately, private facility of roughly 350 members and features a big, brawny course and some of the biggest, most majestic trees you’ll ever see. The beautiful, southern-style clubhouse has oak floors, 15 fireplaces, a grand ballroom and a card room for rainy days.

The club loves its traditions and generously salutes its champions. The overall feel of the property conjures thoughts of a special club down the road a few hours in Georgia – Augusta National. Still, Quail Hollow, in its earliest days, seemed to shy away from early comparisons to Augusta National Golf Club, home to the Masters since 1934.

Jack Crist Jr., Quail Hollow’s first Greens Chairman, tried to dispel some myths as the club opened in 1961. He told the Charlotte News that it would have a local, not national membership, and would stand on its own. “Augusta National is the best example in the South to follow in many ways, but we have not attempted to make our course another National,” Crist said.

3. IT HAS A RICH HISTORY

Fans know Quail Hollow as the host of the Wells Fargo Championship each spring since 2003, but its history of professional events with golf’s biggest names traces back decades.

In 1969, Quail Hollow began hosting a fledgling second-year TOUR event called the Kemper Open. Dale Douglass was the venue’s first champion. Victors across the decades at Quail Hollow would include Tom Weiskopf (three times), Raymond Floyd, Doug Sanders – who collected his 20th and final PGA TOUR title in 1972 – and long-hitting Andy Bean, among others.

Quail Hollow was home to the Kemper for 10 years before the tournament moved north to Congressional C.C. in the nation’s capital in 1980. Quail Hollow then hosted the World Seniors Invitational for 10 years, with winners like Gene Littler (twice) and Gary Player.

Tom Fazio oversaw course changes in the 1990s, and as a new century neared there was a growing desire to show off the property and stage another PGA TOUR event. Enter the 2003 Wachovia Championship, which became the Wells Fargo Championship.

4. HISTORY FOR RORY

Rory McIlroy earned his first PGA TOUR title at Quail Hollow and is the most recent winner at the club, claiming his third Wells Fargo Championship in 2021 (last year’s event was moved to TPC Potomac as Quail Hollow prepared to host the Presidents Cup).

McIlroy is the only three-time winner at Quail Hollow, and he has set the course record twice in the process. The first time came in 2010 when he shot a final-round 62 to win by four shots after making the cut on the number. He shot 61 in the third round of the 2015 Wells Fargo en route to a seven-shot win. His 2021 win at Quail Hollow was his first on TOUR in 553 days.

He’s not the only star with a happy history at Quail Hollow.

Max Homa notched his first PGA TOUR win at the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail, then went 4-0-0 at the Presidents Cup last fall (He also picked up a second Wells Fargo win at last year’s event). Justin Thomas won the club’s first major, the 2017 PGA Championship – Quail will host the 2025 PGA, too – and went 4-1-0 at the Presidents Cup. His partner Jordan Spieth went 5-0-0 and vowed to be back for the Wells Fargo.

Another player who should love North Carolina is Tom Kim, who, at the tender age of 20, was the heartbeat of the International team at Quail and thrives in the Tar Heel State. Last August, in Greensboro, Kim closed with a round of 61 to win his first PGA TOUR title at the Wyndham Championship. He was the second-youngest winner on TOUR since World War II, secured his TOUR card for two years and won again at the Shriners Children’s Open.

5. THE GREEN MILE IS TREACHEROUS

Quail Hollow has one of golf’s most well-known signature finishes in holes 16-18, the so-called “Green Mile.” The 16th hole is a 506-yard, dogleg-right par 4, the 17th a 223-yard par 3 with water, and the finishing hole is a 494-yard par 4 with a creek down the entire left side. The hole demands precision off the tee (a creek on the left must be avoided) to leave a good angle into a green protected by water on the left and bunkers.

The 18th hole is a beast, and at the inaugural Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) Championship in 2003, David Toms stepped to the tee at the closing hole in complete command – or so it seemed – with a six-shot lead. He pushed his tee shot 50 yards right; punched back into play but through the fairway, short of the creek; hit his third shot short of the green; and hit a poor pitch to the green, some 45 feet from the hole. Four putts later, Toms had made a quadruple-bogey 8.

He still won by two shots but was somewhat dizzy when the trophy ceremony rolled around.

“They’re going to stick it to me a little bit for the way I finished,” Toms said. “But that’s fine. I can take it. I got the trophy and that big check.”