A way to join Aronimink Golf Clubthis week’s host The PGA Championshipis to win a major on the course, then wait.
For 63 years.
so Gary Player did it.
In 1962, the last time Aronimink hosted the PGA, The Player beat Bob Goalby by a single stroke to claim the Wanamaker Trophy. More than six decades later, in the fall of 2025, the club recognized that achievement by making the player an honorary member and naming a room in the clubhouse after him.
An overdue tribute? Of course. But it also belongs to a club that does not move very quickly.
Founded in 1896 as the Belmont Golf Association, and located at its current West Philadelphia address since 1926, Aronimink is an old-fashioned enclave that adds to its ranks the old-fashioned way: methodically. You can’t just cash a check and join, said a source with knowledge of the club GOLF.com. As with many prestigious clubs, the application process is opaque. There is a waiting list to join, which isn’t so much a list as it is a pool.
“You can only wait six months before you get in,” the source said. “Or you might as well wait 10 years and never get in. It’s not like they’re working their way through a list, one candidate at a time.”
Once you are accepted, the next step will cost you. Aronimink has long been ranked among the most expensive clubs in the area. The start is $150,000 (more than double what it is Philadelphia Cricket Club), plus about $1,800 in monthly dues.
Membership has its own privileges. Along with access to a Donald Ross design – restored by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner in 2017 and ranked 84th Top 100 GOLF Courses in the USA — Members enjoy a full complement of amenities: swimming pool, driving range and tennis courts, shuttlecock and a historic Tudor-style clubhouse with a porch overlooking the course.
In 1962, Player won a first-place check for $13,000. This year’s winner will receive more than $3 million. That’s a lot of moolah. But she alone won’t get you through the door.
