Aronimink’s pin locations — and whipping winds — wreak havoc on PGA Championship field
Fears that the player hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy would reach 20-under or lower seem to be unfounded. The par 3s are a big reason why.
Patrick Reed finished tied for 19th here at Aronimink Golf Club when the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship rolled through in 2018. It was his lone time on the 300-acre Donald Ross-designed complex, and the only thing he remembered about the course before this week’s PGA Championship was the eighth hole, a par 3 that played 245 yards on Thursday.
“I thought it was a dumb hole then and I still think it’s a dumb hole now,” Reed said after a two-over 72 on Friday that left him at even par heading into the weekend.
Reed’s comments came even after the field had some respite with the length of the eighth hole moved up to 173 yards for Friday’s round. Sure, the 72 yards made it so that players didn’t have to hit woods into the green, but the hole was cut on the front right of the green, guarded by a bunker and “right on a ridge.”
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The eighth played more than a half shot over par Thursday, the hardest hole on the golf course. And while it played mildly easier Friday, the pin location there was emblematic of why low scores have been difficult to come by through two rounds of the PGA Championship. Cold temperatures and whipping winds were the story of the morning tee times Friday, and while the wind died down throughout the afternoon, several difficult pin locations on the course’s difficult green complexes made sure the field stayed pretty tight.
South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter was in the lead at 5-under Friday afternoon. Alex Smalley was one shot behind him and one shot ahead of a group of players at 3-under, which was the leading score after Thursday’s first round.
Chris Gotterup was among the players at 3-under after shooting 65 on Friday, the low round of the day. But that number was an outlier.
“When you grow up the rough, you have the greens this fast and slopey, and you have it cold and the wind blowing, the golf course is going to play tough,” Reed said.
“I honestly would prefer a major championship playing like this than 20-something over par winning. You want them to play hard. You want them to be a good test. That’s what they have here, a great test.”
Fears that the player hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy would reach 20-under or lower, and that the short Aronimink, built in the golden age of golf, would be the story for the wrong reasons, seem to be unfounded. The par-3s are a big reason why.
The 14th was officially playing 215 yards on Friday, but wind blowing toward the tee made it more like 250 yards. That hole was cut on the back right of the green and also guarded by a front-right bunker.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who scrambled his way to a 1-over 71 and enters the weekend 2-under for the tournament, called the 14th hole location “probably the hardest pin that I’ve seen in a long time.”
Why?
“There’s literally just like a spine and they’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll just put the pin right on top of it,’” Scheffler said. “And you’re like, all right, well, I’ll see what I can do. … It’s just challenging.”
The two groups that came through around 10 a.m. Friday — Scheffler’s among them — proved that to be true.
Tommy Fleetwood flew the back-middle portion of the green and then hit his pitch long and watched it roll to the collar. He chipped to five feet and two-putted for double bogey.
In the next group, Justin Rose, playing with Scheffler, missed his tee shot to the right, pitched on well short of the hole, then, like Fleetwood, made double. So did Matt Fitzpatrick … after hitting his tee shot on the front-left portion of the green, some 68 feet from the cup. He lagged it to seven feet, hit the next one past the hole, then missed a 3-foot comeback putt.
Scheffler, meanwhile, came away clean with a par. Later, on the par-3 17th, moved up to 214 yards from 241, Scheffler stuffed his tee shot inside of two feet and made birdie on a day where the scoring average on 17 was over par.
“It’s funny,” Scheffler said. “Sometimes I feel like the thing in our game right now, which I do enjoy, I love hard tests of golf, but it’s also the hardest game in the world and we’re trying to make it harder. ”There’s different ways you can do that. You can do that on a golf course like this. I mean, I truly believe they could have the winning score be whatever they want it to be. It could be over par if they want it to be, just based purely upon pin locations."
Scheffler at one point got to thinking.
“This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on tour, and that includes U.S. Opens, that includes Oakmont,” he said.
But Scheffler is just 29 years old, so he sought the expertise of Rose’s longtime caddie, Mark Fulcher, and his own caddie, Ted Scott, who has been on pro bags for nearly 30 years.
“Have you seen anything like this before?” Scheffler asked them.
“They said maybe Shinnecock is the only place they have seen that has pins that could compare to this.”
Don’t tell Scottie where the U.S. Open is next month.
The 108th PGA Championship returns to Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square for the first time in over six decades.
You can watch Marcus Hayes and Jeff Neiburg preview the tournament on Gameday Central from Aronimink, and be sure to check out the PGA Championship Range Show from 12-2 p.m daily, starting Wednesday.
Whether you're going, watching from home, or just curious about what all the fuss is about, we've got you covered with our PGA guide and stories on everything from Aronimink's history and design, to what the players have to say about returning to the Philly area. We even made a golf video game so you can play the course and learn its secrets.
Get it all with our full PGA Championship preview. And follow the latest news and action from the course, right here.
