Aronimink's 174 Bunkers Are About to Make the World's Best Golfers Look Silly

It's finally here, folks. PGA Championship week is upon us, and this year the world's elite are heading to Aronimink Golf Club just outside Philly to battle one of the most brutally designed courses they'll face all season. Forget the narrative that the PGA is the red-headed stepchild of golf's majors. This week? This week is going to be a proper test.

The Course That Eats Scores for Breakfast

Aronimink is a classic Donald Ross northeast track playing at par 70 and 7,394 yards. Built back in 1928 and founded in 1896, this place has been overhauled multiple times. The most recent renovation was in 2016-17 by Gil Hanse ahead of the 2018 BMW Championship. But here's what you need to know right now: there are 174 bunkers on this property. One hundred and seventy four. And they're not just sitting there looking pretty either. Many line and even cross fairways to force decisions right off the tee box.

The rough is thick, the greens are tiered, and hitting fairways isn't just a suggestion anymore, it's survival. If you're not controlling your approaches and positioning yourself correctly on these greens, you're going to be scrambling all week. Length has been the calling card of recent PGA Championship winners, and Aronimink checks that box too.

The 17th Hole: Where Drama Lives

If you're going to remember one hole this week, it'll be the par 3 17th. At 229 yards playing downhill late in the round, this is the kind of hole designed for Sunday fireworks. The green is large, but don't let that fool you. Pin placements here are going to be absolutely brutal. Expect to see one back left that brings the water into play, one tucked short right, and one back middle-rightish on the backside of that knob. Any ball heading left finds the pond running down the entire left side. Play it safe to the middle and you're looking at a difficult two-putt. This is championship-deciding territory.

The Format and What to Watch

This is 72 holes of stroke play with 156 golfers. The PGA Championship sticks with a Top 70 and ties cut, not the 65-man format the PGA Tour uses elsewhere. If we go to a playoff, it's a 3-hole aggregate starting at holes 10, 17, and 18, with 18 repeating if necessary.

The field includes the world's best competing on merit, past PGA Championship winners, and 20 PGA professionals who are club pros. Realistically, only a couple of those amateurs make the cut, so you're looking at roughly 125 golfers in the true field.

Coverage is on ESPN and CBS this week. Buckle up. Aronimink is about to separate the contenders from the pretenders.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.