Red carpets and rare bourbon only take you so far. Landing major events for Louisville requires suitable venues and big bucks, essential ingredients frequently found at Valhalla Golf Club.
“When Valhalla was on the block to be sold, we were worried,” said Greg Fante, president and CEO of the Louisville Sports Commission. “What does that mean for the future of golf? It could have been sold to a private developer who wanted to see homes around this place, you never know. And when you’re not in the inner workings of those conversations, we were fearful that we were going to lose this asset.”
Instead, the 2022 sale of the club to a quartet of local investors has solidified Valhalla’s championship credentials and expanded its aim. Tuesday’s announcement that the 2028 Solheim Cup will be contested at the club adds the preeminent women’s team competition to a distinguished history that already includes four PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup.
Though May’s PGA Championship was marred by the awkward arrest of the world’s No. 1 player, Scottie Scheffler, the tournament set records in many of its monetary metrics. If Valhalla’s new ownership has treated some of its old members shabbily, demanding the sacrifice of their equity stakes in the club as a condition of continued membership, its pursuit of the Solheim Cup reflects its ambitious agenda, one more inclusive than that of the club’s previous ownership, the PGA of America.
The LPGA Bluegrass Invitational was staged at Hunting Creek Country Club in Prospect from 1965 to 1974, but the Solheim Cup will be the first women’s professional tournament at Valhalla. Named for PING manufacturing founders Karsten and Louise Solheim, the three-day match-play event mimics the Ryder Cup format, with a dozen U.S. women competing against a 12-woman European team. The U.S. has won 10 of the 18 Solheim Cups to date, Europe 7, with one tie.
The schedule for the 2028 tournament has not been set, but it figures to be a fairly big deal.
“We are very fortunate that there has been great interest from many of the country’s best clubs to host the Solheim Cup,” LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said. “Valhalla put together a great proposal, which, combined with a very strong fan base and a supportive corporate community, made this a natural choice.”
Unless a prospective WNBA owner steps forward with the funds necessary to secure an expansion franchise, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg’s stated goal of making Louisville the women’s sports capital of the world will remain a remote possibility. Interest in women’s sports is growing rapidly nationwide, and not only when Caitlin Clark comes to town. Still, enlisting Valhalla in the cause is a notable step forward, as are December’s NCAA Women’s Volleyball Final Four and the growth of Racing Louisville FC.
Greenberg’s commitment to the initiative is reflected by his guest list at the Kentucky Derby. Last year, the mayor hosted former WNBA President Donna Orender at Derby 149. Marcoux Samaan and her husband attended May’s 150th Kentucky Derby, an experience the commissioner described as “truly remarkable.”
“Attending the Derby allowed me to engage with Mayor Greenberg and other key local and state officials,” as well as the enthusiastic community and sports fans of Louisville,” Marcoux Samaan said. “I also placed a single bet on the Derby and hit the exacta.”
The Mystik Dan/Sierra Leone exacta paid $258.56.
Meanwhile, sports commission staff were hosting USA Gymnastics President and CEO Li Li Leung and Ironman Vice President Beth Atnip in a different section of Churchill Downs.
Those invitations were issued strategically and on the understanding that the Derby is a beguiling bucket list item, even among seasoned sports professionals.
“We continue to work that (USA Gymnastics) relationship because we aspire to one day potentially host an Olympic Trials at the Yum Center,” Fante said. “In probably a year or two, if we have the financial side of it figure out, (Leung) would be somebody we would be bringing back again and asking the mayor to entertain. For me, it’s about getting the right people at the right time in the cycle to close the deal.”
Since the 2028 Summer Games will be in Los Angeles, bidding for the Olympic Trials in high-profile sports is bound to be expensive and possibly prohibitive. With or without Simone Biles.
“There are some things to like about it,” Fante said. “Because the games are going to be in LA, the costs of hosting (trials) is going to be a big number. I’m not sure financially we’re going to have those resources. But I will also say you know you’re going to be able to sell your arena probably two-fold. The demand is going to be much greater than the number of seats you have, so the risk is less.”
Presumably, Louisville’s support of Valhalla’s previous tournaments portends strong demand for Solheim Cup tickets. The 2021 Solheim Cup at Toledo’s Inverness Club attracted 140,000 spectators. Penny Lee, chair of Robert Trent Jones Golf Course, has forecast crowds totaling 160,000-175,000 for this September’s tournament in Northern Virginia. Economic impact estimates have reached the $60 million range.
“We want to play in front of huge crowds with a proven track record for showing up like no others,” Marcoux Samaan said.
That sounds a lot like Valhalla.
