It is an established law, GAP* style, that Aronimink Golf Club the course is solidly one of the top 10 courses in greater Philadelphia. Yes, that’s how good it is Donald Ross course, in Newtown Square, Pa., is. of 108th PGA Championship will be played there this week.
(* Golf Association of Philadelphia, founded 1897.)
For further proof of Aronimink’s high standing, I’d like to bring in an expert, Doug Borgerson. Borgerson is the city manager of nearby West Conshohocken, which has a Marriott, home to many of the players who are staying this week. But Borgerson’s expertise in this exercise is not in balancing a municipal budget. It stems from his side gig coaching boys golf at the elite Episcopal Academy, just down the road from Aronimink and closed this week for the tournament. Borgerson has an ideal job if you’re looking to play courses you can’t otherwise sniff.
I know this territory myself. In the late 1980s I was a member of the Philadelphia Journalists Golf Association and it was through the PNGA that I first got to play the sublime Merion West course. (Lee Trevino won a US Open at its sister course, Merion East, also good.) Merion West has a trio of holes called Oh Sh*t Corner, not mentioned by Herbert Warren Wind.
This corner of the course includes No. 6, an insanely downhill 120-yard par-3; No. 7, a 280 par-4 where your only goal is to finish with the ball you started with; and no. 8, a 240-yard par-4 on a suburban hillside. Some of the local high schools play their events at Merion West. It’s perfect. Herb Wind, you may know, He did coin the phrase Amen corner for that corner of Augusta. The same Herb Wind once told me that the US has three major golf capitals: Chicago, New York and Philadelphia.
Golf is an essential part of Philadelphia’s sports culture, along with squash, court tennis (don’t ask) and (of course) the Flyers. Most high schools have girls’ and boys’ golf teams, many of the clubs still have thriving programs, and there is excellent public golf and private club golf for almost any budget. Borgerson, who has lived in and around Philadelphia for all of his 47 years, knows all this well. In between his training and recreational play, he has been playing golf EVERYWHERE in the region. I asked him to name his top 10 courses in Philadelphia. It was a struggle, limiting myself to 10. Without further ado:
1. Valley of the Pinesopened in 1919, designed by George Crump, et al.
“More British than anything in Britain,” Nick Faldo said once. Wonderful, in an Old Spice kind of way.
2. Merion Golf ClubEast Course, 1912, Hugh Wilson.
Justin Rose, the 2013 US Open winner there and a member, plays it every year. Lee Trevino, after winning the Open there in 1971: “I just fell in love with a girl named Merion and I don’t even know her last name.” It mixes speeds like some other courses, starting with six holes of drama, followed by six holes of comedy and ending with six holes of tragedy.
3. Huntingdon Valley, 1928, William Flynn.
“A symphony of a golf course that never plays the same, one day to the next,” says Borgerson, a former member there.
4. Rolling Green, 1926, William Flynn.
When the US Open was played at Rolling Green in 1976, Sandra Palmer and JoAnne Carner tied for first with eight over 72 holes. Carner won the 18-hole playoff by two – with a Monday 76. It’s tough. Also great.
5. Philadelphia Cricket ClubWissahickon Course, 1922, AW Tillinghast.
(Full disclosure: I’m a member.) Borgerson’s fifth course is my first, favorite course in Philadelphia: in strange places, with beautiful bunkers, with mysterious theater, with your approximate ball and a beautiful call at home, on a screened porch overlooking a winding tail 18 ashes spread.
6. Aronimink, 1926, Donald Ross.
“Great ballpark,” Borgerson says. Big in every way and big enough for the PGA Championship or any other event. Gary Player won the ’62 PGA there. A course in perfect condition, with a rich membership. The club had a nice pool. The club moved to build an outdoor event space. Country star Luke Bryan performed there the other night.
7. Saucon Valley, Weyhill Course, 1966, William Gordon, David Gordon.
Just 50 eagle miles from the Liberty Bell in downtown Philadelphia, a stunning and often overlooked Philadelphia course that was once a haven for Bethlehem Steel executives. “My favorite of the three Saucon courses,” Borgerson says, and all three Saucon Valley Country Club courses are really good. “So dramatic.”
8. Applebrook, 2001, Gil Hanse.
“It’s my home course,” Borgerson says, “but I liked it before I joined it. It doesn’t hit your feet and it has three par-3s on the back nine.” It reminds me of something else Herb Wind once said: You can sooner insult a man’s wife than his home course. Or (as the phrase is translated today) you might sooner insult a person’s life partner than his or her home course. Playful and playable.
9. Atlantic City, 1897, John Reid and many others since, including Tom Doak.
The wind, wonderful. “You have to hit every shot,” Borgerson says. In 1901, Walter Travis, an Australian, defeated Walter Egan, an American, in the American Amateur. Battle of Walters. People are still talking about it, along with grill room floors littered with spike marks.
10. Gulph Mills, 1919, Donald Ross.
It’s been said before and it’ll be said again: “You know the Duke brothers, Randolph and Mortimer Duke of the mercantile firm Duke & Duke, featured in the Philadelphia classic ‘Trading Places.’? They would be members of Merion, of course. But they would play their golf at Gulph Mills.” Very charming, from start to finish, with a letter from Bob Jones to members hanging on a club wall, inviting gentlemen to board a private train southbound to see his new course, in Augusta, Ga., in case anyone was looking for a winter club to join.
“Nice list,” I said to Borgerson when he finished. “But what about Jeffersonville?”
“Jeffersonville!” the coach said, followed by many others. A real muni, owned by West Norriton Township. Borgerson regularly sings about Jeffersonville to the West Norriton township manager. Borgerson says that if he could play Jeffersonville – Donald Ross, 1931 – without a hitch (it can get crowded and slow), he’d put it in his top 5.
We walked around and around.
We also talked about Merion West; nine-hole course St. Martins at the Cricket Club; the LuLu Country Club course; Manufacturers; Whitemarsh; Philadelphia Country Club; Wilmington, or one of its courses; Stonewall, or one of its courses. Somehow, one of the best did not grow – Lancaster. Lancaster!
Doug Borgerson could have worked the PGA this week. His club, Applebrook, is building the 9th hole, a 600-yard par-5 where a lot can go wrong. But Borgerson isn’t working on the event. There is no way. He wants to they look He wants to hang out, see the action on a course he knows well. The boys are coming to town. They are playing a very, very good course. One of our best.
Did I mention Llanerch? Oh, it’s special. Dow Finsterwald won the 1958 PGA Championship there, the first in stroke play, and people are still talking about it. Some people really are.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.
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