Newtown Square, PA. The PGA Championship returns to the famed Aronimink for the second time. The inaugural took place in 1962 and was won by Gary Player.
It’s been 13 years since the last major was hosted in the Keystone State when Merion did the honors.
The Donald Ross course is no stranger to hosting top tier competitions. The top male professionals last came to the club in 2018 when staging the second leg of the FedExCup Playoffs that was won by Keegan Bradley in a playoff over Justin Rose.
The course the field will face this week has been recently updated by architect Gil Hanse. The par-70 layout will play 7,394 yards. Hanse is no stranger to updating venues for major championships with successful efforts at Winged Foot, The Country Club, Oakland Hills, Los Angeles CC, and Oakmont, to name a few.
Aronimink was founded in 1896. Ross designed the present layout in 1928. The renowned Scotsman stated: “I intended to make this my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize I built better than I knew.” Given that Ross created such distinguished courses as Pinehurst No. 2 and Seminole – his unabashed fondness for Aronimink is notable for his unreserved feelings.
The original 1928 Donald Ross layout at Aronimink Golf Club featured over 190 bunkers. While Ross’s initial drawings proposed roughly 80, the as-built course, often attributed to his associate J.B. McGovern, featured a much higher count– utilizing distinctive clusters of three to five small bunkers.
Hanse reduced that number to 174.
The scale of the property is one of the club’s strengths. Ill-informed massive tree plantings that took place not long after the Ross design opened only choked the views the layout presented. Many have since been removed or cut back.
The putting surfaces feature an array of engaging and vexing movements with different sections mandating exemplary approach play to secure reasonable birdie opportunities.
The metro area of Philadelphia has one of the deepest roster of top tier designs in the United States — many originating during the classic period of golf course construction in the 1920’s.
One specific man has had personal experience in achieving success via his golf clubs at Aronimink. His name — John Fought. The Portland, OR native won the 1977 US Amateur at the Pennsylvania club and after achieving modest success on the PGA Tour opted for a career in designing courses throughout the United States. Those efforts produced an array of various successes.
Fought’s comments below outline the genius of Ross and how Aronimink remains among the upper echelon of clubs capable in staging such elite events.
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The PGA Championship returns to Aronimink after hosting the event in 1962. The greater Philadelphia area is also hosting its first major since the 2013 US Open at Merion. What makes the area so compelling from a design standpoint given the range and depth of facilities located there?
Philadelphia has wonderful classic golf courses and a rich history of championship golf.
Bobby Jones won the 1930 US Amateur at Merion which was one of his grand slam events. Ben Hogan’s famous shot on the 18th at Merion in the 1950 US Open after his near fatal car accident the year before. What pure golf history!
The area is also home to some very iconic golf courses, including Pine Valley (NJ) rated the #1 course in the world.
Donald Ross was a renowned architect, and his fingerprints are found on a number of outstanding courses. How do you see Aronimink stacking up against the likes of his other stellar courses such as Pinehurst No. 2, Seminole, Oakland Hills / South and Oak Hill / East?
Donald Ross said he intended Aronimink to be his greatest design. I’ve played many of his treasures and I think Aronimink is one of his best Championship courses.
The rolling natural topography makes the site exceptional. I’m obviously a bit prejudiced but I think this course is exceptional.
It does not have the history of Merion but I think it is a better golf course from start to finish. And it certainly is a great tournament venue.
The greatest strength of Aronimink from a design perspective is what?
It has all the types of golf holes. It has some difficult long fours, great par fives and interesting par threes. The mix of holes makes this course a challenge for tournament players and everyday amateurs.
There is really no weakness in the golf course and very few classic courses have the mix of holes and the spacious property that Aronimink has. It is a great modern test of golf.
What do you think Ross would say regarding how golf has evolved since his passing in 1948?
I think he would be concerned about the length the golf ball travels. It is making many of our national treasures obsolete.
While he liked challenging tests for championship golf I think he would be concerned about how the game has evolved into a slugfest. I think he would love the golf course conditioning and how it shows off the best landscape features but remember, he wasn’t a fan of overspending and how the game has become so expensive.
It makes it difficult for the masses to afford the game.
What design aspect that Ross generally included on many of his courses still resonates today?
His strategic thought-provoking design elements.
He was a master of creating a set of obstacles that could make even the best players have to think their way around his golf courses. His designs are never boring or monotonous.
He got the most out of every property without having to spend millions of dollars reshaping the existing landscape. He was truly a master architect. And his courses have stood the test time.
If you could ask Ross a specific question — what would you ask him?
How did he create so many wonderful courses with very few on site visits?
He was detailed in his approach but rarely visited the courses he designed multiple times during construction. I think he did visit Aronimink multiple times however.
Philadelphia served as the home base of a number of clearly talented architects with the likes of A.W. Tillinghast, William Flynn and George Thomas, Hugh Wilson, George Crump and in modern times Tom Fazio. How do you explain such an impressive grouping coming out of the immediate area?
They worked together on projects and I believe learned from each other.
They were making the game great. Pine Valley is a perfect example.
Their projects were often more collaborative than competitive.
A number of classic courses have updated themselves in recent years. Does a stellar course designed by an extraordinary architect mean the architect chosen to do such updating has a responsibility to return the course to its original roots or is creative license acceptable?
In my opinion, the game has changed so much over the last 100 years that you have to modernize the courses built especially from the Golden Age.
However, I try to study the original design to discover the intent of the original designer. Then adjust the course to modern standards. Fairway bunkers at 200 yards do not challenge players the way Golden Age designers intended.
You must restore shot values and utilize the theory of the original design. But you have to modernize their courses which creates the need for some creative license.
Among the four major championships where would you rate the PGA ?
It’s hard to rate one against another. The PGA is a wonderful event that pits the best professional golfers against one another.
Keep in mind the best players in today’s game are all professionals so it should rank very high.
At the end of the event who takes home the Wannamaker Trophy ?
Aronimink is a ball strikers’ paradise, so Scottie Schefler has to be my pick.
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John Fought
Scottsdale, AZ
John Fought culminated a successful college golf career at Brigham Young University by winning the 1977 U.S. Amateur. After graduating with a degree in accounting, he turned pro, joined the PGA Tour the following year and won two events in 1979.
After several years, he turned to golf course architecture as a career, and in the late 1980s began working with Bob Cupp, eventually running a branch office in Portland, Ore. and serving as Cupp’s primary West Coast designer. In 1995 John started John Fought Design in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Some of his most recognized designs include The Gallery South Course in Tucson, Ariz; Langdon Farms in Portland, Ore.; The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Portland, Ore.; and Rush Creek in Minneapolis, site of a 1997 LPGA event.
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