Aronimink Is About to Punish These Golfers, and 174 Bunkers Is Just the Start

The PGA Championship is rolling into Philadelphia this week, and unlike some major championship layouts that get picked apart by tour pros, Aronimink Golf Club is built to make these guys suffer. We're talking a par 70 at 7,394 yards with more sand than a beach volleyball tournament. This course doesn't mess around.

A Classic Northeast Beast Gets a Brutal Makeover

Aronimink was founded way back in 1896, and the Donald Ross design went up in 1928. Fast forward to 2016-17, and Gil Hanse gave it a complete restoration ahead of the 2018 BMW Championship. That's when things got serious. The bunker count? 174. They're everywhere. Some of them line the fairways, others actually cross them to force real decisions off the tee. The rough is up, the greens are tiered, and narrow fairways mean you can't just bomb it and figure it out from there. You need accuracy, precision, and smart course management. If you're not hitting fairways, you're dead in the water.

Recent PGA Championship winners have shown us that length matters, and Aronimink checks that box too. The greens might not be as firm as they would be in August since we're talking May in the Mid-Atlantic, but that doesn't mean they're going to be easy. The setup screams control and positioning.

The Par 3 That Could Change Everything

The 17th hole is where drama lives. It's a 229-yard par 3 that plays downhill and sits right there late in the round when every shot counts. The green is big enough to give you options, but the water runs down the entire left side, and the pin placements will be designed to torture you. Back left brings the water into play hard. Short right of the bunker? Nightmare fuel. Middle-right on the back knob? Still plenty of trouble. Even the "safe" middle of the green leaves you with a tough two-putt. This hole is built for Sunday drama.

The Format and the Field

This is stroke play, 72 holes, 156 golfers in the field. The PGA Championship sticks with a Top 70 and ties cut, different from the PGA Tour's 65-man standard. If it goes to a playoff, you're playing a 3-hole aggregate at holes 10, 17, and 18, with 18 repeating if needed. The field is stacked with the world's best on merit, past PGA Championship winners, and 20 PGA professionals who qualified through their own process. Realistically, you're looking at around 125 competitive golfers once you factor out the guys who won't make the weekend.

ESPN and CBS have the coverage this week. Aronimink is ready to show why the PGA Championship deserves respect.

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