Chip Harp, Sports Feature Writer

Charlotte – The 99th PGA Championship will tee off Thursday from Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Valdosta Today will be on hand to share impressions and comments from the year’s final major.

The field will include the best 156 players eligible for the championship of the PGA of America, the championship of club professional golfers.  The tournament will be broadcast by both CBS and TNT nationally, beginning on Thursday.

Quail Hollow Club, in Charlotte, was designed by course architect George Cobb in 1961 and will be the third course in the Tar Heel State to host a major golf championship.  The course has undergone a series of improvements since its introduction including modification to several holes by Arnold Palmer in 1986 and a redesign by Tom Fazio in 1997. Quail Hollow hosts a PGA TOUR event annually, the Wells Fargo Championship.

Rory McIlroy, winner of both the 2010 and 2015 Wells Fargo Championship, had this to say about recent 2017 improvements made to the course.

“Nice visit to Quail Hollow. New changes…look great. Always good to get some inspiration too!”, said McIlroy after seeing his photo accompanying his course record 61 shot during the 3rd round of the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship.

The course can play up to 7,600 yards as a par 71.  This is the first-ever major championship held in Charlotte. However, the course will also host the Presidents Cup in 2021.