September 6, 2018
“I intended to make this my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize that I built better than I knew.”
— Donald Ross
The quote sits on a plaque right by the first tee but what does it mean? Was Donald Ross in awe of his design or was he being sarcastic? It's often debated among golf historians as to whether Aronimink is even a Donald Ross design or a J.B. McGovern design. I think what everyone can agree on is Donald Ross was responsible for the routing, but after that is in question.
Donald Ross designed over 400 courses during his career and couldn't be present to supervise his work everywhere. JB McGovern was his supervisor at Aronimink during construction. Some believe the work Ron Prichard (Architect who had a long term contract with Aronimink up until Gil Hanse did a redesign) did was what Ross intended and the famous statement is sarcasm and was said out of anger as Donald had come back to Aronimink to find JB had gone rogue on his design and split up bunkers making the course harder and what he thought more visually intimidating. Ron had been working at Aronimink, restoring Ross features, for decades. Why the sudden change? Gil Hanse was hired for a complete renovation of the course in 2016 and some believe this was for a few purposes. 1) To continue staying relevant in terms of a tour host. The tour players just keep getting better and the host courses must evolve to defend themselves against the modern player. It is said the club felt they needed major change to stay on the tour circuit. 2) On a local level The Philadelphia Cricket Club had gone through a successful restoration with Keith Foster and seemed to be the new "it" place. They soared up virtually every ranking list and it is believed Aronimink felt threatened and had to make a statement.
Perhaps we will never know if Ross intentions are what is there now, or what was restored in the past by Ron Prichard. I am sure as modern golf evolves and if Aronimink wants to stay in the tour circuit, we will see the course change. Again. Hopefully in the years to come more evidence is found supporting either design.
— Donald Ross
The quote sits on a plaque right by the first tee but what does it mean? Was Donald Ross in awe of his design or was he being sarcastic? It's often debated among golf historians as to whether Aronimink is even a Donald Ross design or a J.B. McGovern design. I think what everyone can agree on is Donald Ross was responsible for the routing, but after that is in question.
Donald Ross designed over 400 courses during his career and couldn't be present to supervise his work everywhere. JB McGovern was his supervisor at Aronimink during construction. Some believe the work Ron Prichard (Architect who had a long term contract with Aronimink up until Gil Hanse did a redesign) did was what Ross intended and the famous statement is sarcasm and was said out of anger as Donald had come back to Aronimink to find JB had gone rogue on his design and split up bunkers making the course harder and what he thought more visually intimidating. Ron had been working at Aronimink, restoring Ross features, for decades. Why the sudden change? Gil Hanse was hired for a complete renovation of the course in 2016 and some believe this was for a few purposes. 1) To continue staying relevant in terms of a tour host. The tour players just keep getting better and the host courses must evolve to defend themselves against the modern player. It is said the club felt they needed major change to stay on the tour circuit. 2) On a local level The Philadelphia Cricket Club had gone through a successful restoration with Keith Foster and seemed to be the new "it" place. They soared up virtually every ranking list and it is believed Aronimink felt threatened and had to make a statement.
Perhaps we will never know if Ross intentions are what is there now, or what was restored in the past by Ron Prichard. I am sure as modern golf evolves and if Aronimink wants to stay in the tour circuit, we will see the course change. Again. Hopefully in the years to come more evidence is found supporting either design.
Donald Ross
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JB McGovern
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Ron Prichard
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Gil Hanse
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