10 things fans should know

Newtown Square, a leafy community just west of Philadelphia, sits in a golf-rich region, within ready striking distance of several famous courses, including Merion, Pine Valley and Philadelphia Cricket Club. Then there’s the layout in Newtown Square itself: Aronimink, where practice rounds are underway in advance of the 2026 PGA Championship. While the pros do their homework, here’s a study guide for the viewing public, with 10 things about the club every fan should know.

1. What’s in a Name

Aronimink takes its name from a chief of the Lenape, the Indigenous people who inhabited this region long before golf arrived. Legend holds that the chief once resided in a farmhouse that later served as the club’s original clubhouse.

2. Third Time’s the Charm

Like many storied clubs, Aronimink didn’t always call its current address home. Founded in 1896 as the Belmont Golf Association — itself an offshoot of the Belmont Cricket Club — the membership eventually purchased 300 acres in Newtown Square, following two relocations, where the club remains today.

3. A Ross Original

Opened on Memorial Day, 1928, the course was designed by the most prolific architect of his era, Donald Ross, who brought his full toolkit to bear: bold, crowned greens that punish imprecision, reverse-cambered fairways, demanding and varied approaches, and a routing that makes the most of rolling former Pennsylvania farmland.

4. A Caddie Who Made History

John McDermott was an Aronimink caddie, but he is better remembered for what he accomplished on the other side of the bag. The Philadelphia native became the first American-born golfer to win the U.S. Open, claiming the title in back-to-back years, in 1911 and 1912. He was 19 when he won the first of them, the youngest player ever to claim the championship. More than a century later, that record still stands.

5. “Better Than I Knew”

Two decades after Aronimink opened, Ross offered a flattering appraisal of his own work. “I intended to make this my masterpiece,” he said, “but not until today did I realize I built it better than I knew.” Ross, it should be noted, could be liberal with such language. He bestowed the same “masterpiece” label on Dunedin, a municipal course he designed in Florida, and deemed his “crowning achievement” to be Pinehurst No. 2. At some point, somewhere, he was being hyperbolic. But no matter. By any label, Aronimink has proved itself a worthy stage.

6. A Championship Résumé

Aronimink has welcomed an impressive roster of elite events: the 1962 PGA Championship, the 1977 U.S. Amateur, the 2003 Senior PGA Championship, the 2010 and 2011 AT&T National, and the 2018 BMW Championship. When the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship was held here, the club became the first venue ever to host all three of the PGA of America’s rotating major championships.

7. Restored to Glory

Since its birth, Aronimink has been altered on multiple occasions, most notably in a 2017 restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, who leaned on aerial photos of the original course. As part of their work, the architects revived upwards of 100 bunkers that ornamented the course on opening day.

8. The Hole Story

Ross gave each of Aronimink’s 18 holes an Indigenous name, connecting the routing to the land’s deeper past. The course measured 6,600 yards at opening — long by the standards of the time — and stretches to roughly 7,400 for this week’s championship, with 174 bunkers arranged in clusters that are as visually striking as they are strategically demanding. Every shot counts here, but certain holes figure to be pivot points in the competition, among them a par-4 1st hole that is more of a gut-punch than a friendly handshake; the par-3 5th, its green ringed island-like by bunkers; the short par-4 13th, which tempts players into aggression they may regret; and the bruising 18th, an uphill par 4 with a new back tee that stretches the hole to 490 yards.

9. Gary Player’s $13,000 Payday

When Gary Player won the 1962 PGA Championship at Aronimink, edging Bob Goalby by a single shot, he collected a winner’s check of $13,000, the largest purse in the tournament’s history at that point. The first-place prize in 2026 will exceed $3 million, which means the caddie on the winning bag stands to make some 20 times more than what Player pulled in.

10. A Major Championship Withdrawal

Aronimink was scheduled to host the 1993 PGA Championship, but the club opted to withdraw rather than become a flashpoint in the growing controversy over discriminatory membership practices at private clubs. At the time of that decision, in 1990, Aronimink did not have any Black members. The 1993 PGA Championship wound up being hosted at Inverness instead.