The 2024 BMW PGA Championship is the 40th consecutive edition of this event to be held at the prestigious Wentworth Club. Here’s the take of Billy Foster, caddie to Major Champion Matt Fitzpatrick, on how players may look to tackle the West Course this year.
Hole One:
Par 4 | 473 Yards | 433 Metres
There’s two ways of playing the first hole and it depends on the wind conditions. You can hit a 3-wood to the top of the hill between 280-290 yards which will leave an elevated second shot down to the green with a 5-iron. The second option is to be a bit more aggressive and hit driver over the top, but the fairway slopes dramatically left to right and the ball normally ends up in the right-hand rough. Getting onto the green with that second shot from the rough isn’t as easy as you think, so the sensible play is to hit the 3-wood off the tee and leave yourself a 5-iron into the middle of the green. It’s a challenging hole so take your four and move on to the second.
Hole Two
Par 3 | 154 Yards | 141 Metres
Usually playing around 155 yards so a 9-iron is typically the club of choice. The wind can be tricky here and normally plays from the left quite a bit. There’s a massive false front so if you’re landing it front-edge of the green it’s going to spin off 20-25 yards short which leaves a blind uphill chip shot. There is a big bunker short right which gobbles up a lot of tee shots and a big tree there as well. You want to be in the middle of the green which will always leave you a birdie putt. It’s a tricky little hole.
Hole Three
Par 4 | 459 Yards | 420 Metres
This one is up there with one of the toughest holes on the golf course. It’s an uphill tee shot with traps up the right which you can’t really carry. Basically, you try and hit a driver at the right edge of the left-hand bunker off the tee which leaves you in the region of a 5-6 iron for the second shot uphill. The green has a false front so if you’re short it will roll off the front, you’ve also got deep bunkers left and right as well as plateau at the right-hand side, the front and another one middle-left at the back. It has three different levels so it’s a tricky green but a lot easier if you get it on the right level. If you don’t, you’re facing a very tricky two-putt and if you miss the green you’ve got those deep bunkers so it’s quite difficult to get your chip close to the pin because of the three different levels. It’s one of the most challenging holes on the golf course.
Hole Four
Par 5 | 552 Yards | 505 Metres
The fourth hole is a blind tee shot par five – if you get your drive away it should be a great birdie chance, possibly eagle chance. It’s all about the tee shot, you have to draw the tee shot and probably move the ball in the air around 10 yards to hold the fairway because it slopes left to right. There’s a ditch around the 380-yard mark, which sounds a lot, but if it’s firm and severely downhill, the ball can run towards that ditch so some days you may have to hit a 3-wood, especially off the front tee. The second shot is about 10 yards downhill so you want to be hitting a 4, 5 or 6-iron to the green. You’d be disappointed if you didn’t make birdie here.
Hole Five
Par 3 | 203 yards | 186 Metres
A par-three that has two or three different levels on the green and a downslope on the middle of the green which feeds the ball to the back-right. It’s a mid-iron, 5-iron sort of shot from the tee – depending on the wind it can be tricky getting the right club in your hand. You’re looking to pitch it front half of the green or middle of the green at the most if the pin is at the back because it will feed down to that back-right pin. If you land it too far it’s going over the back of the green and if you miss the green it’s a tricky up-and-down.
Hole Six
Par 4 | 418 Yards | 382 Metres
The sixth hole has been extended a lot over the years. They took the tee back about 60 yards 10 years ago so now you’ve got a bunker on the left which is 265 to carry and a big bunker on the right which is 285 to reach. A lot of guys will probably hit a 3-wood off the tee and try and leave it short of the right-hand bunker. Fitz being Fitz will be more than happy to hit driver past all the trouble, even if it finishes in the left-hand rough it’s only going to be a sand wedge or gap wedge to a fairly flattish green. Again, if you get your tee shot away it’s a birdie chance.
Hole Seven
Par 4 | 396 Yards | 362 Metres
The seventh hole all depends on the firmness of the fairway. You’ve got the top of the hill at 220 yards and there’s a ditch that runs across the middle of the fairway at 290 so you’re not looking to pitch it more than 230-240 off the tee at the most. A lot of guys will hit a 5 or 7-wood off the tee and leave it down at the bottom, which will leave a 9-iron to an elevated green. It’s a difficult green to get it close because there’s a very severe slope in the middle which is an extra 15 yards carry on the right and 22 yards carry in the middle to a fairly shallow back shelf. So, you’re probably hitting a 9-iron which plays around five yards uphill against tricky winds – it’s hard to get it on that back plateau. It’s easier to one bounce it or you can leave yourself a tricky chip. If you land it in the middle of the green it spins back down to the front.
Hole Eight
Par 4 | 400 Yards | 366 Metres
The guys will probably hit a 4-iron off the tee to around 240-250 yards because there’s a bank that runs across the fairway at 260. You can fly it over the bank with a 280-yard carry but then you have water at 310 so if it’s playing firm it can bounce along into there. The best way to play the hole is a 4-iron off the tee, leaving you 7 or 8-iron into a narrow green, which is probably only 15-18 yards wide, with water on the left and a fairly steep slope to the right. You’re always happy to make par here and move on to the next.
Hole Nine
Par 4 | 449 Yards | 411 Metres
Ninth hole is usually a driver or 3-wood off the tee downwind with bunkers out wide left and right. The left one is more in-play than the right as you can fly it past that one. You’re better off being a bit more aggressive off this tee and getting it out there 300 yards or so, leaving yourself an 8-iron to the green. It’s sort of a semi-blind shot to the green with a big bunker short left, run off to the right and run off back left so you want to get it in the middle of the green. If you aim for the middle, you’re never going to leave yourself that long of a birdie putt.
Hole 10
Par 3 | 184 Yards | 168 Metres
The tenth hole is normally a 6 or 7-iron off the tee. The green sort of runs front left diagonally to the back right so you’re hitting it across the green a little bit which makes it an extra 15-16 yards to carry to the right half of the green. Quite often you’ll see the guys in the bank coming up short right to some of the pins. If you miss the green left, it’s not an easy shot as you’re chipping over a bank and the green runs away from you from the left. You’re looking to get the ball left half of the green and the middle of the green is always a good play.
Hole 11
Par 4 | 408 Yards | 373 Metres
On the 11th you’ve got a couple of bunkers on the left that you can’t carry and a couple of bunkers on the right that you can’t get past so you’re forced to hit a good drive. If you tug it a little bit there’s heather and ferns up the left so you can get some really bad lies. It’s a demanding tee shot but if you hit the fairway it’s a birdie chance as you’re only hitting a pitching wedge to an elevated green. It’s a two-tier elevated green which normally spins quite a bit, it’s quite severe back to front.
Hole 12
Par 5 | 520 Yards | 475 Metres
You’d be disappointed not to make a birdie here because you basically just need a driver and a long iron. The green has quite a steep false front so if the ball is five yards onto the green, it will back off. The green does slope from front to back so you’re looking to land it on the front and the ball will feed back from there to some of the pins. It’s a smallish green with two big bunkers on the right which gobble up a lot of second shots, but you’d be disappointed not to pick up a birdie here.
Hole 13
Par 4 | 470 Yards | 430 Metres
There’s a bunker at the left at 310 yards and a big bunker down the right at 270 carry, but in the modern game most of the guys will be flying over that nine times out of ten. Fairway is a bit of a dog-leg right to left with the blind second shot playing six or seven yards uphill – you’d probably want to be playing a 7-iron. The green tends to bounce either way from right or left – you’d be disappointed to miss it with a 7-iron. Just get yourself in the middle of the green and you’ll never have that long a birdie putt.
Hole 14
Par 3 | 174 Yards | 159 Metres
The 14th can be a tricky par-3 up the hill. Players are probably going to opt for a 7-iron, maybe a 6-iron sometimes. It plays 10-11 yards uphill with another massive false front with the slope starting at five yards onto the green so anything a few yards onto the green, you’re going to land 30 yards short. It’s a two-tier green with a plateau back left and back right. Try and fly it in the middle of the green and you’ll give yourself a decent birdie chance but it’s all about distance control and controlling your ball flight because it plays severely uphill and the wind can be swirling a lot down there.
Hole 15
Par 4 | 491 Yards | 449 Metres
The 15th hole is usually quite a demanding tee shot that is usually a driver. If it’s downwind you can possibly hit a 3-wood depending on how firm it’s playing. There’s a ditch that runs tight to the right edge of the fairway and across the fairway at 340 yards. You normally try and hit a driver down the left half of the fairway to obviously take that ditch out of play. The second shot is around a 6-iron to a green that plays three of four yards downhill. The green runs away from you front to back and slopes right to left, so you try and land it middle-right half of the green to let the ball feed into right to left to the flags. It’s one of the toughest finishing holes so you take your four and get out of there.
Hole 16
Par 4 | 383 Yards | 350 Metres
You’ve got two traps up the right that are in-play between 240 and 270 yards, so it’s a 7-wood every day off the tee, leaving a 9-iron second shot. The green is narrow and slightly elevated so you have to be very precise with your second shot as there’s also big bunkers short right and short left. Get the ball in the middle of the green and give yourself half a chance of making a birdie.
Hole 17
Par 5 | 610 Yards | 558 Metres
The 17th requires quite a demanding tee shot which plays about 15 yards downhill with a fairway that slopes severely left to right. You want to hit it right to left to hold the fairway and get it around the corner. If you hug it too much on the left side there’s big trees which you can hit and the out of bounds is very close to there so it’s a difficult tee shot – you’ll see a lot of guys bail out towards the right-hand trees. If you can keep it on the edge of the fairway, right half of the fairway, then you can get home in two but it’s still a long second shot. It will be a wood for most guys which is blind over the top of the hill. You want to land it 20 or so yards short of the green and hopefully it will run down there. It’s a very narrow entrance to the green with a big run-off to the right-hand side. It’s a good shot to hit the green in two but it’s a hole you’re really looking to make birdie on.
Hole 18
Par 5 | 523 Yards | 478 Metres
The 18th is the opposite to the 17th as you’ve got to hit a big cut off the tee or a big bomb right over the big trees on the right-hand side of the fairway. If it’s firm it can run out to 325 yards and there’s a ditch that runs right across the fairway so some guys will hit 3-wood off the tee. There’s a couple of big bunkers up the left-hand side and if you hit a straight tee shot it will run out to them which leaves a wedge over the creek and a wedge for your third shot. If you can get your tee shot away you can give yourself a great chance of birdie and outside chance of eagle. The green is quite small which does run away from you and there’s more to short and to the left-hand side of the green so you’ll see a lot of players bailing out to the right-hand bunker. But if you do go over the back right you’ve left yourself a demanding chip shot as you’re chipping downhill towards water. It’s all about getting a nice yardage in your hand on this hole so you’re not stuck in between clubs.
