Professional golf is unlike most other sports. In the NFL and NBA, stadium designs might vary, but the field’s playing dimensions never change. The Ravens aren’t allowed to innovate by using a longer or wider field — although that might serve them well with their offensive firepower.

Everything is standardized. That’s not true in professional golf.

Each week, golf courses on the PGA Tour can vary dramatically. Most courses are quite long to combat the increasing distance of the game’s best players, but everything from hole design to grass type can change weekly. Radical weekly change lends itself to course debates, as players, fans and media argue the merits of the top tracks on tour.

This week’s BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills — a venue that isn’t an annual PGA Tour stop and underwent renovations since hosting the 2021 event — has drawn plenty of analysis from fans and media members alike. Here’s a look at some of the reviews of the par-70, 7,600-yard private course, which has received mixed feedback:

Course conditions superb

There’s no debating the condition of Caves Valley, which is well-maintained and features picturesque views throughout the course.

“It’s in fantastic shape,” World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said Wednesday. “The greens are really good. Got a decent amount of rough, plenty of pitch on the greens. There’s definitely going to be some challenges out there. It’s a pretty strong test this week.”

With new PrecisionAire systems beneath the greens, Caves Valley is better equipped to handle rain than it was in 2021. In the simplest terms, PrecisionAire allows courses to blow air from underneath wet greens to help them dry more quickly than they would naturally.

A fair test, players say

Caves Valley requires good play to reach the top of the leaderboard, according to the players.

“It’s a tough course. You’ve got to drive it well. You’ve got to hit fairways. The fairway bunkers are quite penalizing with the big lips,” Ludvig Åberg said Friday. “So far, I’ve been keeping myself out of those, which has been nice. I think overall the greens are rolling nice, quite breaky putts, quite tricky and fast going down the hills, and you’ve got to leave yourself in the right spots, which is the way it’s supposed to be.”

Åberg shot 10-under par through his first three rounds. Scheffler, who was 12-under par through three rounds, said Wednesday that players want to see a fair test of golf.

“I think sometimes we get a little bit obsessed with score to par in terms of golf course design,” Schefler said. “What we look for as players always is rewarding good shots and punishing bad ones. So far, this golf course seems really challenging.”

Outside of the occasional pin placement, he’s been pleased by the test offered by Caves Valley.

BMW Championship at Caves Valley final rounds | PHOTOS

Course setup draws questions

Players have shared praise for the course publicly. Their only major complaints have come regarding course setup, rather than the course itself.

Denny McCarthy, a Maryland native and one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, was miffed by the difference between the practice putting green and the greens on the course.

“The putting greens have no slope here, and they don’t seem that fast, and then there’s a lot of slope out on the course and they’re really fast,” he said after Friday’s round. “So it was quite a dramatic difference, almost pointless to putt on the putting green to start your round. I don’t know what’s going on there.”

Scheffler was flummoxed by the pin placement on No. 11 during Thursday’s round. He hit a wedge shot that landed close to the pin on the short par 4, only for it to roll off the green and near the water in front of the green complex.

“Well, typically around most places when you hit it right of the pin, it kind of stays somewhat around there, but for some reason they decided to put that pin right on a mound in the middle of the green there,” Scheffler said after his first round. “Very interesting pin location, and I landed just behind it, and then it catches another slope. I stared at it for a while because I thought I hit a really good shot, and it almost went in the water, so I was just a little bit surprised at the result of the shot that I hit.”

There were also questions about the fifth hole, a short par 4, at the beginning of the week. Players suggested that trying to drive the green would be an unnecessary risk.

“It’s obvious they’ve tried to make it a risk-reward hole, but I just don’t know if the risk is worth the reward,” Rory McIlroy said Wednesday. “It’s just a very, very tough green to go for off the tee, and if you miss the green at all on the right in that rough, it’s going to be almost impossible to hit the green with your chip shot. I think you’re just going to see a lot of guys lay up there and take the 100-yard wedge shot and try to make 3 that way.”

Those questions seemed to be answered Saturday, with several players attempting to drive the green, including McIlroy. Tournament leader Robert MacIntyre missed the green left off the tee, hitting into a section of trees and bushes. He saved par by hitting out of the bushes onto the back of the green and two-putting. Saturday, the hole had risk and reward off the tee.

One scathing review

While most public critiques of the course have been minor, The Fried Egg’s Joseph LaMagna didn’t hold back in a recent newsletter about the course. The Fried Egg is a popular golf media entity with expertise in golf course architecture and design.

“In many ways, the Tom Fazio design and subsequent renovations represent some of the worst ideas that have taken hold in professional golf,” LaMagna wrote. “A par 70 measuring 7,600 yards, Caves Valley’s primary defense is length, narrow fairways, and thick rough.”

LaMagna’s biggest gripe with Caves Valley is that it doesn’t test multiple aspects of players’ games. Instead, he says it’s mostly asking if players can repeatedly hit the ball high, far and straight.

“I will suggest that the recent, expensive renovation missed the mark,” LaMagna continued writing. “When a golf course’s only defense is length, it results in a brutish, one-dimensional test. I’d like to have seen more of an effort to create strategic options on the ground instead of repeatedly providing narrow corridors and nondescript bunkers on just about every hole.”

He’s OK if the PGA Tour doesn’t return to Caves Valley, which has initiation fees upwards of $100,000 with annual dues of $10,000, according to Forbes.

“I’m sure the membership is lovely, but Caves Valley shouldn’t be hosting top-tier professional golf tournaments,” he said.

You’ll struggle to find other critiques quite as harsh, and LaMagna’s disdain for the course was shared before the event began. He doesn’t like Caves Valley as a course, but Saturday’s rowdy atmosphere suggests the region is starving for more professional golf.

Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin.

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Denny McCarthy of Rockville watches his ball from the teeing area of the 2nd hole during third round play in the 2025 BMW Championship golf tournament at Caves Valley Golf Club. (Kim Hairston/Staff)

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Originally Published: August 17, 2025 at 7:00 AM EDT