Classic venue with 'major feel' serves as temporary AT&T host

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When the decision was made to return a PGA TOUR event to the Washington area, officials were aware of the sign that said "Caution: Bump in Road Ahead." It turns out there was really no need to be concerned about a potential venue problem.

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The AT&T National, when it was added to the schedule in 2007, would be played at Congressional Country Club. The club was famous for having hosted two U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship, as well as regular TOUR event from 1980-86. The Blue Course is generally ranked among the top 100 courses in the country.

The trouble with scheduling a regular TOUR event at Congressional was a conflict with the club's selection as host of the 2011 U.S. Open. The choice of Congressional meant the TOUR would not be able to hold its event there for two years, since there must be time allowed to make course adjustments and properly prepare the venue according to USGA standards.

Fortunately the PGA TOUR had thought this all through. They had another world-class course in mind and in 2008 it was announced that in 2010 and 2011 AT&T National would move to the Philadelphia area and be hosted by Aronimink Golf Club. Not a discouraging word was heard and the golf world rejoiced a bit that professional golf would be returning to Philly for the first time in eight years and would be revisiting another classic venue.

"It's got a major championship feel here," said Robert Garrigus, who was second at the St. Jude Classic three weeks ago. "I was telling everybody, you could hold a U.S. Open here tomorrow."

The Aronimink Golf Club's executive board was happy to accept the offer to host the tournament. They're eager to show off the facilities and the fans are pleased to see it. Club president David Boucher told the Philadelphia Inquirer that more than $30,000 worth of shirts and hats were sold to members during a two-hour preview party on Monday.

"It's hard not to be excited," Boucher said. "You watch the infrastructure get built and you see how big the event is, and all the excitement that goes with it."

Aronimink has hosted big events in the past. Gary Player won the PGA Championship, his third of nine major titles, there in 1962. John Jacobs won the Senior PGA Championship in 2003 when he birdied the final two holes. John Fought won the U.S. Amateur there in 1977, taking the final match 9 and 8. Jason Allred won the 1997 U.S. Junior Amateur, beating Trevor Immelman 1-up in the championship match.

The club's history dates back to 1896, where the first nine holes at the original location played to par 36˝.The club moved three times before settling in Newtown Square, its current location. The great Donald Ross was selected to build the new club and opened it on Memorial Day in 1928. Ross, who also designed Pinehurst No. 2, Seminole, Scioto, Inverness and Oak Hill, is said to have put some additional effort in Aronimink after another Philadelphia club reportedly rejected his design.

When Ross returned to Aronimink nearly 20 years after it opened, he said, "I intended to make this my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize that I built better than I knew." That quote is engraved on a marker that commemorates the Ross design.

The routing, greens, fairways and hazards that visitors and television viewers will see this week is the same that Ross built. After allowing others (including A.W. Tillinghast and Robert Trent Jones) to tinker with the layout, the club decided on a restoration project that would coincide with the Senior PGA Championship. Aronimink hired Philadelphia architect Ron Prichard, one of the top authorities on Donald Ross design. Prichard was able to restore greens to their original size and shapes thanks to original drawings left by Ross. The results were well-received by all.

The course will play 7,237 yards to par 70. There are plenty of long par 4s and the ninth hole is 605 yards. There is plenty of elevation change and the 18th hole is a dandy that plays uphill to the club's spectacular clubhouse.

Among the fans are Tiger Woods, who was the host of the event for the first three years it was played in D.C. Woods is back in the field, partially because he's the defending champion and largely because the Tiger Woods Foundation is the major beneficiary of the event. He's been pleased with the course (which he said was in "phenomenal shape") and the way people have embraced the event.

"The participation, the enthusiasm, the support we've gotten from the whole Philly area has just been unbelievable," Woods said. "This is a great sporting town, period, and for us to have an opportunity to come here and play on another great golf course and then have the support we've had, it's a really warm feeling."

After this two-year run, the tournament will return to Congressional. Until then, sit back and admire another piece of the Ross genius. You don't get that chance very often.

Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.