The 2026 PGA Championship is heading to Aronimink Golf Club, and the stage is set for something truly special. Nestled in the Philadelphia suburbs, this historic course isn't just any venue—it's the course that legendary architect Donald Ross once called his "masterpiece." And after a painstaking restoration, it's ready to shine on golf's biggest stage.
Ross designed nearly 400 courses in his lifetime, but only Aronimink earned such high praise. When he returned in 1948, two decades after its completion, he was stunned by what he saw. "I intended to make this course my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize I built better than I knew," he said. For a man of few compliments, that meant everything.
The course itself is a rugged beauty. Built on former farmland in Newtown Square back in 1926, it stretched 6,619 yards—one of Ross's longest designs at the time. The holes charge across rolling depressions, bank off natural slopes, and rise over upland plateaus. Every turn brings a nest of bunkers ready to snag an errant drive, while the canted greens feature those signature Ross shoulders and slopes that send balls swirling around the edges.
But Aronimink's story is one of evolution. After Ross finished in 1928, the club brought in William Gordon in the 1950s to remove fairway bunkers and shift others closer to the greens. Later renovations by Dick Wilson, George Fazio, and Robert Trent Jones left their mark too. The course we'll see in 2026, however, is the result of a thoughtful restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner—architects who live nearby and studied aerial photos of the original design. They've brought back the bold, scatter-shot bunkering that Ross likely imagined but scaled down during construction.
Like many classic courses, Aronimink once suffered from heavy tree planting that choked fairways and greens. That's all changed now. The restoration has opened up sightlines and restored the strategic drama Ross intended. For fans and players alike, the 2026 PGA Championship promises to be a reverie—a return to the golden age of golf architecture, reborn for a new generation.