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    Philadelphia Golf: Playing 5 of the Best Golf Courses in Philly

    Sean OgleBy Updated:12 Comments
    Merion Hole 13

    For a long time now I’ve been hearing that Philadelphia is the second best golf city in the country (behind New York).

    I know what you’re thinking right now: Philly? Golf? Huh?

    It’s totally a sleeper city with dozens of good golf courses. The reason the general public has little knowledge of the city as a golf destination is for two reasons in my mind.

    1) Most of the good stuff is private. Philadelphia is one of those super old school cities with lots of private clubs, so access is difficult there.

    2) Aside from the US Open at Merion in 2013, the BMW Championship in 2018l, and a handful of other events there hasn’t been a huge Tour presence.

    That said, my buddy Patrick had a friend who was a member at Merion that invited him out – and he was kind enough to extend an invitation to me.

    See his recap of the trip here.

    What transpired was a phenomenal golf trip where we got to play some of the city’s best courses and meet some incredible people along the way.

    Here was the itinerary, click for an individual recap of each course:

    • Merion Golf Club (East)  – Top 5 in the country, top 15 in the world depending on the list
    • Gulph Mills Golf Club –  The toughest tee time in Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia Cricket Club – Host of the 2016 Senior Players
    • Rolling Green Golf Club – A fantastic William Flynn design, and host of 2016 US Women’s Amateur
    • Aronimink Golf Club  – Donald Ross course ranked #100 in America

    While officially, Merion was the only major course I crossed off my quest to play the Top 100 in the world, this is a lineup I’ll gladly fly across the country for, list or no list.

    This post shares some of my favorites from the trip, and you can click above to read about the individual courses.

    Best of Philadelphia Golf

    I should preface this by saying, there was nothing bad on this trip. All of the courses we played were first rate, and Philly lived up to it’s billing as a city with phenomenal golf.

    But I get asked a lot about my favorites, so I figured I’d put together a little list for your enjoyment.

    Again, this isn’t necessarily a list of what I think is actually architecturally better, but rather what I personally enjoyed the most.

    Favorite Philadelphia Golf Courses:

    The 16th at Merion
    The 16th at Merion
    1. Merion
    2. Philly Cricket
    3. Rolling Green
    4. Aronimink
    5. Gulph Mills

    Best Philadelphia Par 3s:

    The par 3 9th at Merion
    The par 3 9th at Merion
    1. Merion
    2. Aronimink
    3. Rolling Green
    4. Gulph Mills
    5. Philly Cricket

    Best Philadelphia Set of Par 4s

    Exactly where you don't want to be after your approach on the all world 16th at Merion.
    Exactly where you don’t want to be after your approach on the all world 16th at Merion.
    1. Merion
    2. Philly Cricket
    3. Rolling Green
    4. Aronimink
    5. Gulph Mills

    Best Philadelphia Set of Par 5s

    The 4th at Philadelphia Cricket Club
    The 4th at Philadelphia Cricket Club
    1. Philly Cricket Club
    2. Merion
    3. Rolling Green
    4. Gulph Mills
    5. Aronimink

    Best Caddies: Merion

    Favorite Par 3s

    Merion Hole 13

    #13 Philadelphia had some of the very best par 3s I’ve ever played. Choosing favorites was pretty tough 🙂

    1. #13 at Merion
    2. #14 at Rolling Green
    3. #17 Aronimink
    4. #9 at Merion
    5. #4 at Gulph Mills
    6. #3 at Philly Cricket Club

    Favorite Par 4s

    The par 4, 15th at Merion
    The par 4, 15th at Merion

    Merion probably had the best collection of par 4s I’ve ever played. It had such a good variety between short/strategic, and long/challenging it kept the round really interesting.

    1. #16 Merion
    2. #11 Merion
    3. #12 Rolling Green
    4. #8 Philly Cricket
    5. #16 Gulph Mills

    Favorite Par 5s

    The 7th at Philly Cricket
    The 7th at Philly Cricket

    It’s worth noting that we didn’t play a single par 72 course, so there were fewer par 5s to choose from, as compared to your typical golf trip.

    1. #7 Philly Cricket
    2. #7 Gulph Mills
    3. #4 Merion
    4. #7 Rolling Green
    5. #2 Merion

    Best Showers in Philly:

    1. Merion
    2. Aronimink

    As much as I’d love to post a photo of them, the last thing I want to do is make enemies at any of these clubs for posting photos of the inside of the clubhouses or locker rooms 🙂

    Best Opening Hole at Philadelphia Courses:

    The beastly first hole at Aronimink
    The beastly first hole at Aronimink

    The opening hole at Aronimink was a total beast.

    1. Aronimink
    2. Merion
    3. Philly Cricket
    4. Gulph Mills
    5. Rolling Green

    Best Closing Hole in Philadelphia:

    The fantastic 18th at Philly Cricket Club.
    The fantastic 18th at Philly Cricket Club.

    There were a lot of good closing holes on this trip. But I’ve gotta give Philly Cricket the nod.

    1. Philly Cricket Club
    2. Merion
    3. Aronimink
    4. Gulph Mills (Really cool hole though)
    5. Rolling Green

    Most Unique Experience: Touring the Archives at Merion

    By the Numbers

    Holes played: 99 (9 Extra at Rolling Green)
    Birdies: 1 🙁
    Pars: 46
    Photos taken: 863
    Super touristy things done: 3 (Rocky statue, cheesesteaks, Phillies game)

    So that’s it in a nutshell! That was our Philadelphia golf trip, and what a trip it was.

    I’d like to give a special thanks to all of the people who helped make my time in Philadelphia so special: Patrick, Deb, Mary, Jill, Mark, John, Jeff, Mike, and Bill.

    Be sure to go check out the recaps of all of the courses we played!

    As the Founder of Breaking Eighty Sean has spent the last 10+ years reviewing the best golf products and golf courses in the world. He prides himself on only writing about products and courses he's experienced first hand, and helping others find exactly what they need to enhance their enjoyment of the game we all love so much.

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    12 Comments

    1. Graylyn Loomis on

      Really enjoyed the photos – awesome recap of the trip! Keep taking those showers at the great spots… it’s how the real connoisseurs judge golf courses. #PowerShowerRankings

      Reply
    2. Brady on

      Very cool trip! My girlfriend lives about 10 miles from the Wissahickon and I’m going up to play the U.S. Mid-Am qualifier there in August. Still working on getting on Merion and Gulph Mills but I have some contacts. Love the write up and hearing what you thought about these great classic courses!

      Reply
    3. Ed on

      Sean, I’m a caddy at a top 100 us golf course in south jersey and also a high school golf coach. Sorry you didn’t make it over to some of our top courses. I read your optishot review. I have a few questions. Please reach out.
      Thanks.

      Reply
    5. Mike on

      Sean, I’ve been enjoying your reviews for a couple of years now and have planned a few trips based on your write-ups! I had an opportunity to play Merion last summer with my father and your course review is spot on. You are also absolutely correct about the caddies – I’ve had caddies at a number of big courses around the country and our caddy at Merion was by far the best I’ve ever had.

      Definitely like how you highlighted the showers too, they are spectacular!

      Reply
    6. Jack on

      Great review. I live in the area and play them all at least annually. I would rank them as:

      1. Merion
      2. Gulph Mills
      3. Aronimink
      4. Cricket
      5. Rolling Green

      Exclusivity of membership is basically Gulph Mills at the top followed by Merion and then the same order.

      I’m curious as to what your scores were at each of the venues.

      Reply
      • Sean Ogle on

        I vaguely recall having two 84s on that trip and two 81s. Cant remember the 5th round or which one was associated to which course. For some reason I didnt have Arccos going on that trip.

        Reply
    7. Jeff on

      Gulph Mills has the same showers as Merion, but the best showers IN THE WORLD are at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia. They make Merion’s seem like a trickle.

      Reply
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