Pennsylvania is making a powerful play to become a premier destination for professional golf, and the numbers speak for themselves. Following a remarkable stretch of top-tier tournaments—including the U.S. Open, the PGA Tour’s Truist Championship, and the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open—the state is now setting its sights on securing a permanent PGA Tour stop.
The recent PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, just outside Philadelphia, showcased the region’s ability to host world-class events. But state officials aren’t stopping there. Their next big target? Cobbs Creek, a historic 110-year-old public golf course in Philadelphia that is nearing the end of a major restoration project designed to attract major competitions.
“I really do want the PGA Tour at Cobbs Creek,” says Pennsylvania Deputy Secretary of Tourism Anne Ryan. “I’m obsessed with it.”
Cobbs Creek isn’t just any course. With Tiger Woods’s foundation opening a TGR Learning Lab Philadelphia location there in 2025, the venue blends golf excellence with community impact. “Cobbs Creek has such a phenomenal story,” Ryan adds. “Tiger Woods is a partner in it. It has a huge youth education component, and it’s beautiful. If we could get the PGA Tour at Cobbs Creek to tell that story, I think that would be incredible.”
Philadelphia has been identified by PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp as one of the key markets the tour wants to visit annually—alongside Boston, New York, and Chicago. While the tour hasn’t yet named specific courses in the area for future events, Pennsylvania’s aggressive sports marketing and tourism program could tip the scales. The state offers up to $5 million annually in incentive funds for major events, and the PGA Championship alone received $2.5 million in state funding.
“There is a cost to host these events,” Ryan explains. “The state comes in, injects some dollars, because we know it’s a force multiplier in terms of economic impact. We invest $2.5 million in it, but this event alone is expected to generate $125 million.”
With that kind of return, Pennsylvania is clearly swinging for the fences—and aiming to make the Keystone State a regular stop on golf’s biggest stages.