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BMW Championship: Ranking the best courses in tournament history

By Mike Randleman

NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA - JULY 02: A general view of golfers and spectators as they walk down the fiarway towards the green on the eighth hole during the second round of the AT
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA - JULY 02: A general view of golfers and spectators as they walk down the fiarway towards the green on the eighth hole during the second round of the AT /
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BMW Championship
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA – JULY 3: Fans walk down the first hole during the final round of the AT /

It’s surprising that Pennsylvania doesn’t host a regular PGA Tour stop, but when the Keystone state gets its hands on a golf tournament, it usually does it well. We all know about the lore of Oakmont and the bevvy of U.S. Opens it’s hosted, but Aronimink is a course worthy of praise, too.

Ranked No. 78 on Golf Digest’s list of best American courses, Aronimink has graced the Philadelphia area since 1928. The Donald Ross design currently upholds much of its original architecture, which was enhanced by a 2003 restoration project by Ron Prichard. Aronimink was ranked the No. 4 toughest course on the PGA Tour in 2010 by Links Magazine, the first of two years in a row in which it hosted the AT&T National.

Aronimink is a 7,237-yard, par-70 test from the tips and features a nice mix of short and long holes with sloped greens, doglegs and elevation changes that combine to provide a thorough test of a golfer’s game.

Aronimink has yet to host the BMA Championship, but is slated to get its first crack in 2018.  Gary Player won the PGA Championship here in 1962.

The course has also hosted the 1977 U.S. Amateur, the 1997 U.S. Junior Amateur and the 2003 Senior PGA Championship.

While Aronimink doesn’t get the attention of other, more iconic Ross courses like Pinehurst No. 2, he did declare it as his “masterpiece.” It be a worthy venue for next year’s penultimate FedEx Cup Playoffs event and is a good place to start as Pennsylvania makes its debut hosting the BMW Championship.

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