Wyndham Championship 2025

Course: Sedgefield Country Club

Location: Greensboro, North Carolina

Designer: Donald Ross (1926), Kris Spence renovation (2007)

Length: Par 70; 7,131 yards

Hazards: Water comes into play on 6 holes

Fairways: Bermuda-grass, averaging 29 yards wide

Rough: Bermuda-grass, 2.5 inches

Greens: 6,000 square feet, featuring Champion Bermuda-grass & running 12 on the stimp.

The Wyndham Championship has been a staple of the PGA Tour since 1983 when it was founded as the Greater Greensboro Open.

It had been annually played in April or May until a schedule change in 2003 moved it toward the end of the season. The tournament has been hosted at a number of courses over the years before a permanent move to the Donald Ross designed Sedgefield Country Club in 2008.

The Wyndham Championship is the final PGA TOUR event before the FedEx Cup playoffs, meaning it will be the last chance for players to crack the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings and continue their season next week in Memphis.

We are in the midst of a bit of a Donald Ross portion of the schedule, with Detroit Golf Club in the rearview mirror & Sedgefield & East Lake both on the horizon in the next month, Sedgefield features all of the staples of a true Carolina course & the slick Bermuda grass greens should provide a worthy challenge this week if conditions remain dry. Last year, Sedgefield ranked 23rd out of 38 courses in scoring difficulty, and it usually ranks middle of the pack to be on the easier side in this category.

Sedgefield is the 3rd shortest course on the PGA Tour & it features the 4th shortest set of par 4s & par 5s on the schedule, While 2 of the par 3s play over 220 yards & rank as the 6th & 5th hardest holes on the course, Sedgefield still featured the 4th easiest set of par 3s on the PGA Tour last year.

Both of the par 5s are incredibly benign as well, featuring over a 50% birdie rate and playing as the two easiest holes on the course. They played as the 3rd easiest set of par 5s on the schedule last year & The 5th hole is truly more of a long par 4 yielding a scoring average of 4.36, featuring a 56.1% birdie rate & a 6.3% eagle rate.

Sedgefield also features a stack of short to medium length par 4s, which explains why nearly two thirds of all approach shots come from 125 to 200 yards. A whopping 8 par 4s measure between 400 & 450 yards on the scorecard. I would imagine that there will be a temptation to look at par 4 scoring (400-450 yards, What we can say is that short to middle iron play will be of the utmost importance this week.

With an absence of truly long par 4s, players will have a maximum of about 5 long iron approaches on this course, Even the par 5, 5th hole is a middle iron for most pros these days.

Webb Simpson, the #1 player in SG (strokes gained) total at this event over the last decade, described the course aptly,  “It goes back to the point of the golf course. Bay Hill, Tiger won so many times. Akron (Firestone) produces long hitters winning there. Depending on the golf course, you can kind of create your own pool of winners that are usually going to win there, whereas this course, like I said, favors nobody. Most everybody in the field has a legitimate chance to win whereas you know, maybe you go to San Diego, I can’t remember the last time somebody who didn’t bomb it won there. That’s a place where you take out 50% of the field from the start of the week.”

Simpson is not wrong, Sedgefield falls into the category of other short, positional, often Bermuda golf courses such as Harbour Town, Waialae, Sea Island, TPC Sawgrass, TPC River Highlands etc in that the shortest players have a far easier time competing at than the aforementioned Firestone, Bay Hill, or Torrey Pines. 

There is always an added element of drama with the Wyndham being the last opportunity for players to qualify for the lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs with players who have struggled this season stamp their ticket to the playoffs with a strong performance in Greensboro. 

Stats 

• Off the Tee
  • Last year, 21.0% of strokes gained at Sedgefield OTT (came off the tee) which is well above the Tour average of 15.3%. The event average falls closer to 18.4%, which is still well above Tour average.
  • Last year, Sedgefield ranked 28th out of 38 courses in SG (strokes gained) OTT & each of the last 5 years it has ranked on the easier side in terms of strokes gained off the tee difficulty.
  • Driving accuracy at Sedgefield has been historically right around Tour average (62%), while driving distance has been a touch lower than Tour average. The Ross design features the 7th most narrow fairways on the PGA Tour & it is not a golf course where a driver is required. There is very little benefit to bombing away with the big stick, as the unpredictable Bermuda rough has been known to present problems, Henrik Stenson won on this golf course without even carrying a driver!
  • Last year, Sedgefield ranked 4th out 38 courses in missed fairway penalty, 8th out of 38 courses in fraction rough penalty & 12th out of 38 courses in fraction of missed fairways that result in a penalty stroke. There is not a ton of water or true hazards on this course but Sedgefield did rank 2nd out of 38 courses in re-loads per round.
  • It’s fairly important to play from the fairway here, as it is far more challenging to control out of Bermuda rough than Blue-grass. This eliminates a lot of the value in a bomb & gauge strategy and explains why we’ve seen so many shorter hitters and fairway finders experience success at this golf course. That is not to say that hitting a driver often is an ignorant strategy but accuracy still reigns over power. On shorter courses with a large delta between scoring from the fairway & the rough, I always find it valuable to identify the players who gain the most strokes off the tee on shorter, positional golf courses.  
  • Playing from the rough at Sedgefield is far from ideal but being in the trees or pine straw is an abject disaster, While there is not a tremendous amount of water in play at Sedgefield, the trees at Sedgefield seem to act as their own hazard.
  • I was able to find a large correlation between success at Sedgefield and driving accuracy, While it’s still possible to play well here without hitting a stack of fairways, players who find the short grass on a consistent basis have proven to gain a huge edge. In 2019, Webb Simpson and J.T. Poston ranked 1st & 2nd in driving accuracy percentage and finished 1st & 2nd on the leaderboard. In 2020, Jim Herman won this event ranking 4th in driving accuracy, 3rd place finisher Doc Redman ranked 3rd in driving accuracy only & Sam Burns was able to crack the Top15 that year with below average driving accuracy & In 2021, Kevin Kisner broke a bit of the trend by ranking middle of the pack in accuracy but 5 of the top 10 on the leaderboard still ranked in the Top 10 in that category. History tells us Nine of the last 11 winners of the Wyndham Championship have ranked inside the Top 15 in driving accuracy percentage. 
• Approach
  • Last year, 32.0% of SG (strokes gained) at Sedgefield came on approach, which is below the Tour average of 34.7%. The event average number falls to 31.2% historically.
  • Last year, Sedgefield ranked 34th out of 38 courses in SG (strokes gained) approach difficulty & the prior year it was the easiest course on the PGA Tour in approach difficulty. Sedgefield is absolutely one of the most straightforward approach courses on the schedule.
  • It featured the 3rd easiest greens to hit on Tour last year & it ranked 32nd out of 38 courses in approach difficulty inside 150 yards and 34th out of 38 courses in approach difficulty from greater than 150 yards.
  • Considering Sedgefield is so easy on approach does that deem iron play non-essential? Not entirely, There is an incredible amount of mid to short irons on this golf course & it is nothing like a St. Andrews where it’s a lot of driver-putter either, However the degree of difficulty on most of these approach shots is incredibly low, so I do believe that worse iron players might feel a little more comfortable approaching the greens. The sheer volume of short-iron approaches on this course leads me to value wedge play greatly, but I do not believe that one must be an elite iron player to win at Sedgefield, especially if they can putt.
  • Still, in 2020, every single player in the Top 15 of the leaderboard gained over a stroke on approach the & the winner does generally have a very strong iron week. Tom Kim was rock-solid on approach last year but his putter still remained his #1 key to success. Kevin Kisner was even less impressive with his irons, but the prior 5 Champions all ranked in the Top 5 on the week in SG (strokes gained approach).
  • The proximity range that we really want to focus on at Sedgefield is 125 to 200 yards. Last year, 20.6% of (APG) approach shots came from 125-150 yards, which is above the Tour average of 17%. 21.0% of approach shots came from 150-175 yards, which is above the Tour average of 20.3%, and 20.9% of approach shots came from 175 to 200 yards, which is above the Tour average of 17.5%. . 
• Around the Green
  • Last year, 13.8% of SG (strokes gained) @ Sedgefield came ARG (around the greens) which is below the Tour average of 14.5%. The event average falls even further to 12.5%.
  • Last year, Sedgefield ranked 2nd out of 38 courses in ARG (around the green) difficulty & it has actually ranked inside the Top 10 in this category each of the last 5 years. Sneakily, Sedgefield has proven to be one of the most challenging short game courses on the PGA Tour.
  • Last year, Sedgefield ranked 3rd out of 38 courses in ARG (around the green) difficulty from the fairway, 1st out of 38 courses in ARG (around the green) difficulty from the rough, and 15th out of 38 courses in around the green difficulty from the bunkers.
  • Like all courses that feature a high GIR (greens in regulation percentage, players who are relying on their short game at Sedgefield are unlikely to be in contention to win the tournament. In 2020, the top 3 players on the leaderboard were slight losers ARG (around the green), In 2021, 6 of the Top 10 players on the leaderboard lost ARG & last year, Tom Kim lost over a stroke around the green en route to victory. With that being said, much of what makes Sedgefield so tricky around the greens is the unpredictable Bermuda rough and closely mown Bermuda short-grass. 
• Putting
  • Last year, 33.1% of SG (strokes gained) @ Sedgefield came with the flat-stick, which is below the Tour average of 35.5%. The long-term event average, however, is higher than Tour average.
  • Last year, Sedgefield ranked 7th out of 38 courses in putting difficulty & each of the last 5 years, it has ranked as one of the most challenging courses on the PGA Tour from a putting standpoint. Sedgefield is actually a fairly easy course from T2G (tee to green) & a very challenging course on and around the greens.
  • Last year, Sedgefield ranked 24th out of 38 courses in putting difficulty inside 5 feet, 14th out of 38 courses in putting difficulty from 5 to 15 feet & 3rd out of 38 courses in putting difficulty greater than 15 feet, so Sedgefield actually remains one of the toughest lag-putting courses on Tour, not entirely unexpected for a Donald Ross course. Look for the best approach putters in this field to convert birdies this weekend. 
  • In 2019 the entire Top 22 on the leaderboard gained strokes in putting. In 2020 under easier scoring conditions the entire Top 25 on the leaderboard gained strokes. In 2021, 17 of the Top 20 players on the leaderboard gained strokes putting & last year, under more challenging T2G (tee-to-green) conditions, the Top 3 players on the leaderboard still gained over 4 strokes putting. Sedgefield walks the line of a putting contest in the sense that there is an extremely high GIR (greens in regulation) percentage & weaker T2G players can absolutely compete here. Sedgefield still gives players more of a challenge from tee to green than Detroit Golf Club, a Donald Ross design we saw just a few weeks ago. Experience on similar short, positional courses, accuracy OTT (off the tee) & middle to short iron play is incredibly important here, but it is also undeniable that the putter will need to cooperate as well. Sedgefield features particularly fast Bermuda-grass greens, a far cry from what we saw last week in Minnesota, After a bit of a Bent grass swing, we are back to identifying players who specifically raise their baseline on Bermuda-grass greens. 
• Scoring Stats
  • I’ll cover this more in the Summary/Analysis of selections but Sedgefield is one of the shortest, most strategic courses on Tour where all types of players can compete. Course History stats all important here this weekend.
  • Sedgefield is also a Bermuda course from head to toe and features very similar agronomy to what we have grown accustomed to in Florida and the South East United States. There are some players who are simply more comfortable with this type of rough and green style than others who are more prone to success on Bent-grass and Poa.
  • Sedgefield features easy enough scoring where I still want to identify players who can make birdies back to back. Despite somewhat more challenging scoring conditions over the last 2 years, the Donald Ross design is still a course where players need to be in the mindset of getting themselves to 20 Under par. 
  • On any course that features easy scoring conditions & a great deal of short iron approaches, I want to identify players who generate the most birdies per round. We will look @ players in this field who give themselves the most birdie looks per round inside 15 feet, not normally I stat I care too greatly about but this course is tricky.
• Comp Course/Course History
  • Sedgefield does feature some of the more predictive course history on the PGA Tour. It’s not as predictive as Waialae or Harbour Town but there is certainly some nuance to these Donald Ross green complexes & the same players seem to always perform here year after year. On the other hand, it is worth noting that Tom Kim did win last year on his debut appearance, while Ben Griffin, Taylor Moore & Max McGreevy all finished in the Top 5 on debut as well. I would certainly not discredit talented 1st timers. 
  • Sedgefield falls right into the bucket of short, positional golf courses where accuracy trumps power. Two of the most accuracy biased golf courses on Tour are TPC Potomac, former host of the Wells Fargo Championship and Quicken Loans, and TPC River Highlands, host of the Travelers Championship. While both courses differ from Sedgefield in their agronomy they do a solid job (particularly TPC Potomac) of emphasizing the importance of precision on the 1st shot.
  • TPC Sawgrass host of the Players Championship, immediately comes to mind as another shorter Bermuda course where finding the fairway is imperative. It should not come as a surprise that players such as Webb Simpson, Si Woo Kim, Kevin Kisner, Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama have all finished Top 3 at both tracks. 
  • East Lake host of the Tour Championship, is another obvious reference point given the Donald Ross connection and similar agronomy. East Lake is more challenging than Sedgefield but both courses emphasize accuracy OTT (off the tee) & feature tricky green complexes. There’s a strong leaderboard crossover here as well, with Ryan Moore, Adam Scott all finding success at both tracks. 
  • Sea Island host of the RSM Classic, also checks the box of a Bermuda course that places an emphasis on accuracy OTT (off the tee) with wedge play & similar scoring conditions. Once again, scanning through the leaderboards at the RSM Classic, and it’s many of the same names. The best players in this field at Sea Island have been Webb Simpson, Denny McCarthy, Adam Svensson, Chris Kirk, Luke List & Taylor Pendrith. 
  • Harbour Town host of the RBC Heritage, is a bit more visually claustrophobic but it asks the same type of question OTT as all of the aforementioned courses above. Looking at the 10 best players in this field over the last five years at Harbour Town, none of these names should surprise us. The best players in this field at Harbour Town have been Matt Kuchar, Cameron Davis, J.T. Poston, Webb Simpson, Alex Noren, Sam Burns and Joel Dahmen. 
  • There are still many other accuracy biased courses that deserve mention (Waialae, Innisbrook) but I did not find as strong of a connection with the aforementioned courses Ultimately, identifying the players who raise their baseline on this style of golf course remains absolutely paramount.

 With all this in mind we still stick to our own Parameters and we do go on instinctive choice as to what Players may be peaking for this but obviously flying under the radar.

Last week we had 7 of the 8 Players make the CUT, that in itself is a win and we still had Sam Stevens give it a nudge and we had others like Alex Noren zooming up the leaderboard to fade on Day 4 but we still made Profit with the 7 Players.Our total weekend still was good with a 

Profit of 58% ROI.