Pennsylvania is full of highly ranked private clubs, while Pete Dye left his imprint at the top of the state’s public-access golf scene.
Want to play the best public-access golf courses in Pennsylvania? The legacy of legendary architect Pete Dye has you covered. Want to play the best private courses in the Keystone State? You have some of the top classic layouts in the country from which to choose, but for most of us, good luck getting a tee time at those ageless beauties.
Dye designed Mystic Rock at Nemacolin, a sprawling resort 90 minutes southeast of the Pittsburgh airport. Mystic Rock opened in 1995 and underwent an expansive renovation in 2021 by longtime Dye associate Tim Liddy. Built on beautifully rolling terrain, Mystic Rock is No. 1 in the state on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for public-access layouts. It also ties for No. 10 among all courses owned or operated in conjunction with casinos in the U.S.
Nemacolin is also home to Shepherd’s Rock designed by Dye and the No. 5 public-access course in the state.
On the private side, Oakmont Country Club and Merion Golf Club steal much of the limelight, each having hosted multiple national championships. But they are hardly alone as outstanding private clubs in Pennsylvania. Each of the top 20 private courses in the state ranks among the top 150 on either Golfweek’s Best Modern or Classic course lists, with 1960 being the year that splits those two prestigious lists.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960 (c): Classic course, built before 1960
Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses.
At historic Aronimink, a taxing test from start to finish, Jennifer Kupcho carded a flawless 5-under 65 to vault to the top of the board.
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Jennifer Kupcho’s recent surge can, in part, be traced back to a couple changes made before the ANA Inspiration. Kupcho finished runner-up to Mel Reid at last week’s ShopRite LPGA Classic and now co-leads with World No. 3 Danielle Kang midway through the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
It was Kupcho’s parents who came up with the idea of switching back to the irons she played with in college, the Ping i210s.
“I picked up right where I left off with them,” said Kupcho, who was the top-ranked amateur in the world after winning the August National Women’s Amateur.
Kupcho also picked up a new caddie, Kyle Alexander, and said they immediately clicked. At historic Aronimink, a taxing test from start to finish, Kupcho carded a flawless 5-under 65 to vault to the top of the board at 3-under 140. Lydia Ko and Kelly Tan are tied at 2 under.
This isn’t Kupcho’s first run at a major. Not long after the Wake Forest grad turned professional midseason last year, Kupcho fired a 66 in the final round of the Evian Championship and tied for second.
The results of these past two weeks certainly wouldn’t point toward someone who felt unprepared. However Kupcho said she felt like her game wasn’t ready for this type of golf course at the start of the week. She played each nine only once before Thursday because being in contention at ShopRite took so much out of her.
She also saw the tour physio for a back injury that flared up last week but has thankfully disappeared.
“I think not being prepared brings another challenge for me,” she said, “and I think that’s what helps me play well.”
Kang, who shot 1-under 69, also relishes a good challenge. There’s simply no time to let her mind rest at Aronimink, where she’s the top-ranked player after No. 2 Nelly Korda withdrew with a back injury.
“There is no right shot,” she said of the creative options, “but there are wrong misses.”
Speaking of imagination, Kang pretended she was in a putting contest with her brother, Alex, on the 12th hole and drained a 15-footer for birdie. Earlier while walking down the fairway, Kang pictured her putts on the previous 11 holes and determined that she’d missed it short and low on every hole. She decided to hit the next one long and high and immediately converted.
“I never try and fix anything,” she said, “but if there’s a consistent mistake then I need to kind of adjust. I think the greens were running a little bit slower than yesterday.”
Kang often turns to Google to map out golf courses before she sees them for the first time. The homework typically continues throughout the week. When hole locations come out around 9 p.m. each night, she plugs them in and checks the wind.
On Wednesday evening, Kang said she played the difficult par-3 eighth hole probably seven times in her mind trying to decide if she needed 4-iron or hybrid.
Two-time major winner Brittany Lincicome won’t be checking out any hole locations tonight.
“That’s just too much,” she said, laughing.
She’ll step on the first tee and take it from there, with a mind to be more aggressive.
Lincicome, who stands a 1 under for the tournament, admitted to not sticking to the game plan on Friday, a round in which she had 16 pars and two bogeys. There was too much lolly-gagging Friday morning, as she tried to get a feel for how the day might go. She has vowed not to do the same over the weekend.
“I’m just going to go out guns blazing,” she said.
Aronimink is going to be a challenge for LPGA players at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Here’s why.
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – From the moment players walk on the property here at Aronimink, it feels like a major. Everything about the historic Donald Ross design, including its stately clubhouse and oversized greens, feels grandiose.
The view from the first tee alone is a stunner.
“I mean they’re kind of calling it the ‘lumber yard’ right now,” said Cristie Kerr, referring to the number of woods players are hitting into greens.
Danielle Kang called it “monstrous,” and said she’s thinking about taking out one of her wedges and putting an extra hybrid in the bag.
“This is a proper golf course for sure,” said 2018 AIG Women’s British Open winner Georgia Hall. “It’s what a major should be.”
No one in the field owns as many major titles as Inbee Park. She turned to her caddie, Brad Beecher, at one point during her first practice round and asked, “Is this a par 5? Because it looks like we’re not going to get there in two.”
Even Brittany Lincicome barely reached the par-4 10th with a 3-wood, and her nickname on tour is, “Bam Bam.”
If Nos. 1 and 10 are into the wind, Park said she can’t reach the greens in regulation if the tees are played back. A tough way to start any round.
“I’ve gotten probably a little bit shorter over the years,” said Park, “but it is definitely one of the longest golf courses that I’ve ever played.”
The official scorecard has the par-70 layout stretched to 6,577 yards. They’ll definitely move the tees around depending on the weather. And with a field of 132 players in October, officials can’t set it up for never-ending rounds.
“We don’t have enough daylight to mess around too much,” said Lewis.
For Lewis, the length of the par 4s should depend on where the hole locations are placed.
“If you set up these pins pretty funky and pretty tight on corners, you need to move the tees up,” she said. “If you’re going to put them more in the middle, let’s play it 430, let’s play it 440, I’m OK with that. But the 10th hole is a good example; your shorter hitters are hitting right into the hill and it’s hitting and stopping; your longer hitters carry it on top and then they get some roll over it. To me, the setup really isn’t fair because they’re getting double the advantage now that they weren’t. And I hit 3-wood into 10 today, by the way.”
Mel Reid won on a Donald Ross design just last week at the ShopRite LPGA Classic and knows that she’s in the minority in wanting the course stretched out. Carlota Ciganda told Reid she feels the same.
“It’s a beast,” said Reid. “It’s probably the toughest golf course I’ve played. … if it was the guys playing here it would be nearly 10,000 yards.”
Early TV windows on the weekend means players are going to be teeing off in the morning three of the four rounds in cooler temps. The golf course is playing softer this time of year, too. The winds are forecasted for 10 to 15 mph for the opening round.
“I’m hitting a lot of 5-woods and 3-woods into these greens,” said Park, “and the greens are big, fairways are big, so I hate to say it, but it is a really big advantage for the long hitters.”
Rookie Bianca Pagdanganan leads the tour in driving distance at 287 yards. Maria Fassi (282) Anne van Dam (281), Nelly Korda (272) and Nanna Koerstz Madsen (271) round out the top five.
Danielle Kang called the back nine “unbelievable” and said she had to go out for another look this afternoon to get a better grasp.
“The length of it, the protection around the greens, around the fairways,” she said. “Even if you want to hit the fairway, you might not be able to. You might have to play a mis-shot, and then from there you have to be able to hit a good 4-iron shot onto the greens. Just because you hit a good shot does not mean you have a good putt left, and there’s a lot of three-putt opportunities on the back nine.”
No. 11 at Aronimink. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)
To that end Hall, a recent winner in Portland, pointed to pace putting as key on the large and undulating greens.
“You can have four or five different slopes on a 40- or 50-footer,” she said.
Put Hall in the camp of keeping the tees back this week. It’s a major, after all.
One thing they can all agree on is that pristine Aronimink is about as good as it gets, and that it’s a shame fans can’t be in here in person to enjoy the show.
“When people hype up a golf course,” said Reid, “sometimes you come a bit disappointed, but not with this one. This one is pretty special.”
