PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW MAY 14-17
HOLE 1 PAR 4, 434 YARDS
careful tree re- moval, however, have allowed the architectural de- tails to shine, and a 2017 remodel by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner further re- turned the course to its opening-day
The club moved to several locations before it found its permanent home in Newtown Square in 1926 on a rugged piece of former farmland that gave Ross room to build one of his most serious de- signs, measuring 6 619 yards (6 052m), among his longest to that point. The muscular holes charge across depres- sions, bank off slopes and ride over up- land plateaus. Nests of bunkers ensnare drives at every turn, and the canted greens are full of wonderful little shoul- ders and slopes that slide balls around the *perimeter edges. Like most courses of its vintage, heavy-handed tree planting resulted in fairways and greens that were shad- owed in woods. More than 20 years of
BOX TOP The pedestal par-3 fifth hole surrounded in sand is a Donald Ross specialty, seen at clubs like Seminole and Oakland Hills.
Donald Ross suggested that beginning holes should give the golfer a chance to warm up, to get the “swing of his stroke” under control. The drive at the par-4 first appears to fit the prescription with an ample, upward-rising fairway that catches but also deadens drives. The script flips on the approach that is steeply uphill to a semi-blind green with deep bunkers left and right. The putting surface is the only one at Aronimink with defined upper and lower tiers, a formulation Ross used more liberally elsewhere, adding to the challenge of getting the ball on the correct level. Far from a gentle handshake.
foundation. Today, at par 70 and over 7 300 yards (6 675m), it joins Merion and Oakmont in Pennsylvania’s sto- ried triumvirate of championship layouts, hosting the 1977 US Amateur, a women’s and senior PGA Champi- onship, and the 1962 and 2026 PGA Championships.
98 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
MAY 2026
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