Aronimink Golf Club
Encyclopedia
Aronimink Golf Club is a private country club
located in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Its championship golf course is consistently rated among the top 100 golf courses in the United States
. In 2010, Aronimink was ranked #4 among the toughest courses on the PGA Tour
by Links Magazine. The club has been host to multiple USGA and PGA
championships in its history. Additionally, Aronimink has numerous indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a trap shooting lodge, three pools, a fitness center and a clubhouse with superb dining facilities.
and Philadelphia Cricket Club
to form the Golf Association of Philadelphia
, the first sectional golf association in the United States. By 1897 the BGA had a full nine holes in play at 52nd Street and Chester Avenue, its first location, in what is today the heart of West Philadelphia. Playing to a length of 3,070 yards, par for the course was established at 36½. In that same year, the BGA was the first and only founding club to host its own championship. The tournament was won by Hugh Wilson
who designed Merion’s golf courses.Byrod, Fred. "One of The Founding Four: A History of Aronimink Golf Club". Aronimink.org. February 2005 (URL last accessed June 29, 2010).
History has it that Aronimink was named after the chief of the Lenape
tribe who once occupied the small farmhouse being used as the original clubhouse. From inception to the mid-1920s, as the City of Philadelphia continued to expand, Aronimink operated from three different sites. Finally, in 1926 the club sold its Drexel Hill location and purchased a large 300 acres (1.2 km²) tract in Newtown Square, 15 miles (24.1 km) from the center of Philadelphia.
Scottish-born Donald J. Ross, at the time one of the country’s most respected golf course architects, was commissioned to design the new course, which opened for play on Memorial Day in 1928. The greens, fairways and hazards of his championship course design are the same today as they were in 1928. The Club’s impressive British-inspired clubhouse was designed by architects Charles Barton Keen and Franklin D. Edmonds, a member of the club.
Aronimink has been home to many accomplished golfers in its history. The first American-born winner of the U.S. Open
, John McDermott
, was an Aronimink caddie who learned to play golf from Aronimink’s long time head golf professional, Walter Reynolds. Notable members from the modern era of golf include: Gary Player
(an honorary member since 2003), Sean O'Hair
(PGA professional and home-town favorite) and Jay Sigel
(the distinguished amateur and senior professional golfer). Currently, Aronimink’s head golf professional is Jeff Kiddie.
Aronimink gained media notoriety when it withdrew itself from plans to host the 1993 PGA Championship because it didn't have any current or prospective African-American members or applicants before the start of the tournament. The club has since met all of the PGA's minority membership requirements and has hosted both a PGA and USGA event since 1993.
In 2003, Ron Prichard, a noted golf architect from the Philadelphia area and the foremost authority on Ross’s design philosophy, completed a restoration project at Aronimink that recaptured classic Ross features that had been diminished and/or lost over time. Panoramic views were restored by eliminating overplanting. Based on Ross’s original drawings for the course, greens were restored to their original shapes and sizes, and his unique bunkering style was reestablished. Length was added to neutralize the effect technology has had on golf and brought Ross’s unique design features back into play in quite an effective fashion.
With the restoration, Donald Ross’s Aronimink plays as he intended it to. As he said in 1948, two decades after the course opened, “I intended to make this my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize built better than I knew.”
Ross’s design rewards well executed shots and strategy for golfers at all skill levels. Framed by hardwoods and evergreens, the course is a test of long-hole and short-hole skills, as well as the execution of sound course management. With 75 bunkers and numerous slopes, valleys and doglegs, the course tests a player’s patience and endurance. Ross meant Aronimink to be a “supreme test” for the best golfers. From the championship tees, Aronimink’s course is 7,237 yards long and plays to a par of 70.
Aronimink’s opening hole is one of the most memorable in golf. The intimidating first hole plunges down into a valley, then rises steeply, playing long and uphill to a well-guarded undulating green.
On the front nine there are a number of challenging doglegs, particularly the par four #7. Although not a long hole, the approach must carry a yawning bunker guarding the front of a green with several difficult pin locations. Then there is #8, perhaps the hardest par three on the course, playing 237 yards downhill to a narrow green bisected by a large mound.
The turn for home at Aronimink begins with #10, a 454-yard par four that is considered by many the most demanding on the course. The narrow fairway is guarded by a bunker on the right and deep rough on the left. A successful approach shot must avoid the water hazard protecting the front left of the sharply terraced green.
In 2003 John Jacobs
birdied the last two holes to win the Senior PGA Championship
. The 17th is a 187-yard par three. An errant tee shot often finds the lake guarding the green. The finishing hole is a 436-yard uphill par four, requires a precise tee shot and the approach shot is to a winding and sloped green with a numerous challenging pin locations.
When the PGA Championship was held here in 1962, Gary Player prevailed as he posted a score of 278 (−2) for the championship. In 1977, John Fought won the U.S. Amateur – 9 & 8 – over Doug Fischesser. In the 1997 U.S. Junior Amateur, Jason Allred defeated Trevor Immelman
in the final match, one-up. In 2003, John Jacobs won the Senior PGA Championship with a score 276 (−4). Justin Rose won the 2010 AT&T National with a final score of 270 (−10) for the tournament, after needing pars at both the 71st and 72nd holes to win. Nick Watney defeated the field with a bogey free round on Sunday – after setting the course record of 62 (−8) on Saturday – for a tournament score of 267 (−13).
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
located in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Its championship golf course is consistently rated among the top 100 golf courses in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 2010, Aronimink was ranked #4 among the toughest courses on the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
by Links Magazine. The club has been host to multiple USGA and PGA
Professional Golfers' Association of America
Founded in 1916, the Professional Golfers' Association of America is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and is made up of more than 28,000 men and women golf professional members...
championships in its history. Additionally, Aronimink has numerous indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a trap shooting lodge, three pools, a fitness center and a clubhouse with superb dining facilities.
History
The club’s roots can be traced to 1896 when the Royal and Ancient game made its way to America and the Belmont Golf Association (BGA), the forerunner of the Aronimink Golf Club, spun off from the Belmont Cricket Club. A year later, the Belmont Golf Association teamed up with Philadelphia Country Club, Merion Cricket ClubMerion Cricket Club
Merion Cricket Club is a private club in Haverford, Pennsylvania, founded in 1865. The current clubhouse is its sixth, the last four having been designed by Philadelphia architect Frank Furness and his partner, Allen Evans .-History:...
and Philadelphia Cricket Club
Philadelphia Cricket Club
The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and Flourtown, Pennsylvania.-History:...
to form the Golf Association of Philadelphia
Golf Association of Philadelphia
The Golf Association of Philadelphia is the oldest regional Golf Association in the United States. Better known as the GAP, the Golf Association of Philadelphia was founded in 1897 by members of Aronimink Golf Club, Merion Cricket Club, Philadelphia Country Club and Philadelphia Cricket Club. Its...
, the first sectional golf association in the United States. By 1897 the BGA had a full nine holes in play at 52nd Street and Chester Avenue, its first location, in what is today the heart of West Philadelphia. Playing to a length of 3,070 yards, par for the course was established at 36½. In that same year, the BGA was the first and only founding club to host its own championship. The tournament was won by Hugh Wilson
Hugh Wilson
Hugh Wilson is an American director, writer and actor. He is best known as the creator and executive producer of the TV series WKRP in Cincinnati and Frank's Place....
who designed Merion’s golf courses.Byrod, Fred. "One of The Founding Four: A History of Aronimink Golf Club". Aronimink.org. February 2005 (URL last accessed June 29, 2010).
History has it that Aronimink was named after the chief of the Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
tribe who once occupied the small farmhouse being used as the original clubhouse. From inception to the mid-1920s, as the City of Philadelphia continued to expand, Aronimink operated from three different sites. Finally, in 1926 the club sold its Drexel Hill location and purchased a large 300 acres (1.2 km²) tract in Newtown Square, 15 miles (24.1 km) from the center of Philadelphia.
Scottish-born Donald J. Ross, at the time one of the country’s most respected golf course architects, was commissioned to design the new course, which opened for play on Memorial Day in 1928. The greens, fairways and hazards of his championship course design are the same today as they were in 1928. The Club’s impressive British-inspired clubhouse was designed by architects Charles Barton Keen and Franklin D. Edmonds, a member of the club.
Aronimink has been home to many accomplished golfers in its history. The first American-born winner of the U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
, John McDermott
John McDermott (golfer)
John J. McDermott Jr. was the first U.S.-born golfer to win the U.S. Open, in 1911 and 1912, and he remains the youngest-ever champion of that event, at age 19. He was the first player to break par over 72 holes in a significant event, which he did at the 1912 U.S. Open...
, was an Aronimink caddie who learned to play golf from Aronimink’s long time head golf professional, Walter Reynolds. Notable members from the modern era of golf include: Gary Player
Gary Player
Gary Player DMS; OIG is a South African professional golfer. With his nine major championship victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six...
(an honorary member since 2003), Sean O'Hair
Sean O'Hair
Sean M. O'Hair is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.-Early life:O'Hair was born in Lubbock, Texas...
(PGA professional and home-town favorite) and Jay Sigel
Jay Sigel
Robert Jay Sigel is an American professional golfer. He enjoyed one of the more illustrious careers in the history of U.S...
(the distinguished amateur and senior professional golfer). Currently, Aronimink’s head golf professional is Jeff Kiddie.
Aronimink gained media notoriety when it withdrew itself from plans to host the 1993 PGA Championship because it didn't have any current or prospective African-American members or applicants before the start of the tournament. The club has since met all of the PGA's minority membership requirements and has hosted both a PGA and USGA event since 1993.
Golf Course: Design & Layout
Aronimink embodies many of the principles that guided Donald Ross’s approach to golf course design, which was rooted in the linksland golf of his native Scotland. To Ross it was important that the lay of the land have an effect on the ball being played – adding an element of chance to the game and enhancing the golfer’s sense of excitement and anticipation. He incorporated hazards to present challenges and risks, and to protect par he was particularly clever around the greens with his bunkering and designs for the greens, which offered numerous challenging pin positions.In 2003, Ron Prichard, a noted golf architect from the Philadelphia area and the foremost authority on Ross’s design philosophy, completed a restoration project at Aronimink that recaptured classic Ross features that had been diminished and/or lost over time. Panoramic views were restored by eliminating overplanting. Based on Ross’s original drawings for the course, greens were restored to their original shapes and sizes, and his unique bunkering style was reestablished. Length was added to neutralize the effect technology has had on golf and brought Ross’s unique design features back into play in quite an effective fashion.
With the restoration, Donald Ross’s Aronimink plays as he intended it to. As he said in 1948, two decades after the course opened, “I intended to make this my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize built better than I knew.”
Ross’s design rewards well executed shots and strategy for golfers at all skill levels. Framed by hardwoods and evergreens, the course is a test of long-hole and short-hole skills, as well as the execution of sound course management. With 75 bunkers and numerous slopes, valleys and doglegs, the course tests a player’s patience and endurance. Ross meant Aronimink to be a “supreme test” for the best golfers. From the championship tees, Aronimink’s course is 7,237 yards long and plays to a par of 70.
Aronimink’s opening hole is one of the most memorable in golf. The intimidating first hole plunges down into a valley, then rises steeply, playing long and uphill to a well-guarded undulating green.
On the front nine there are a number of challenging doglegs, particularly the par four #7. Although not a long hole, the approach must carry a yawning bunker guarding the front of a green with several difficult pin locations. Then there is #8, perhaps the hardest par three on the course, playing 237 yards downhill to a narrow green bisected by a large mound.
The turn for home at Aronimink begins with #10, a 454-yard par four that is considered by many the most demanding on the course. The narrow fairway is guarded by a bunker on the right and deep rough on the left. A successful approach shot must avoid the water hazard protecting the front left of the sharply terraced green.
In 2003 John Jacobs
John Jacobs (American golfer)
John Alexander Jacobs is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the Champions Tour. Jacobs is the younger brother of professional golfer Tommy Jacobs....
birdied the last two holes to win the Senior PGA Championship
Senior PGA Championship
The Senior PGA Championship is one of the five major championships in men's senior golf. It is administered by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and is recognized as a major championship by both the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour. It was formerly an unofficial money...
. The 17th is a 187-yard par three. An errant tee shot often finds the lake guarding the green. The finishing hole is a 436-yard uphill par four, requires a precise tee shot and the approach shot is to a winding and sloped green with a numerous challenging pin locations.
Previous Tournaments
| Year | Tournament | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship... |
 Gary Player |
| 1977 | U.S. Amateur Championship |  John FoughtJohn Fought John Fought III is an American golf course architect and professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour.... |
| 1997 | U.S. Junior Amateur U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship The United States Junior Amateur Championship is one of the thirteen U.S. national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association. It is open to amateur boys who are under 18 on the last day of the competition and have a USGA Handicap Index of 6.4 or less. The competition was... |
Jason Allred |
| 2003 | Senior PGA Championship | John Jacobs |
| 2010 | AT&T National AT&T National The AT&T National is a professional golf tournament held in the Washington D.C. area during the Fourth of July weekend. The PGA Tour event is hosted by Tiger Woods and benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. The first AT&T National was held July 5–8, 2007, at the Blue Course of the Congressional... |
 Justin RoseJustin Rose Justin Peter Rose is a South African-born English professional golfer who plays most of his golf on the PGA Tour while keeping his membership on the European Tour... |
| 2011 | AT&T National AT&T National The AT&T National is a professional golf tournament held in the Washington D.C. area during the Fourth of July weekend. The PGA Tour event is hosted by Tiger Woods and benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. The first AT&T National was held July 5–8, 2007, at the Blue Course of the Congressional... |
Nick Watney Nick Watney Nicholas Alan Watney is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. The highlight of Watney's career to date is his victory at the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship.... |
When the PGA Championship was held here in 1962, Gary Player prevailed as he posted a score of 278 (−2) for the championship. In 1977, John Fought won the U.S. Amateur – 9 & 8 – over Doug Fischesser. In the 1997 U.S. Junior Amateur, Jason Allred defeated Trevor Immelman
Trevor Immelman
Trevor John Immelman is a South African professional golfer and winner of the 2008 Masters Tournament.-Early years:Immelman was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Born into a golfing family , he took up golf at the age of five. He attended Hottentots Holland High School...
in the final match, one-up. In 2003, John Jacobs won the Senior PGA Championship with a score 276 (−4). Justin Rose won the 2010 AT&T National with a final score of 270 (−10) for the tournament, after needing pars at both the 71st and 72nd holes to win. Nick Watney defeated the field with a bogey free round on Sunday – after setting the course record of 62 (−8) on Saturday – for a tournament score of 267 (−13).