Aronimink Golf Club, designed by renowned course architect Donald Ross, opened a century ago in 1926 on the current Newtown Square plot. This year, the Philadelphia suburb layout is hosting the men’s second Major on the calendar, the PGA Championship.
It is the 108th edition of the Championship, and the first time in 64 years Aronimink plays host.
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Aronimink is a par-70 on the card with just two par-fives, the ninth and 16th, making it harder for pros to go low, forcing the game’s best to be aggressive on the two-shotters.
Moreover, there is just one par-four under 400 yards off the championship tees, and three of the four par-threes stretch out to over 200 yards. This makes it even more impressive when someone goes low around the Pennsylvania course.
So who holds the course record, for both the men and the women, and what scores have been posted?
Aronimink Course Record
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The men’s course record at Aronimink Golf Club is 62, eight-under par.
However, this is not held by just one golfer; it has been recorded six times, including twice by the same player in consecutive rounds.
Nick Watney was the first to shoot the remarkable total back in 2011 when the AT&T National was played there on the PGA Tour. 30-years-old at the time, Watney fired the course record in the third round en route to victory. The Sacramento native notched five career PGA Tour wins and made over 500 starts on the US circuit.
Watney would hold the record on his own for seven years, until the PGA Tour returned to Aronimink for the 2018 BMW Championship, as the penultimate event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
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On that weekend in September eight years ago, the elusive 62 was shot five times. In the opening round, it will come as no surprise that Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, two generational talents, fired eight-under to get their tournament underway.
American Kevin Na then followed suit on Friday, before Tommy Fleetwood also matched them not just once but twice. The Englishman shot back-to-back 62s on Friday and Saturday, but all were unable to surpass Watney’s original mark.
PGA Championship lowest 18-hole score
In terms of the PGA Championship, 62 is also the benchmark for the single-round course record.
This occurred twice at Valhalla in 2024, where Xander Schauffele (first round) and Shane Lowry (third round) both achieved the lowest score ever in a PGA Championship round, carding nine-under-par 62s.
Expect this year’s PGA Championship at Aronimink to show its teeth, as a Major always plays tougher than a regular PGA Tour event. This makes the course record 62 seem out of shot, but with the power and prowess of the modern golfer, nothing is off the cards.
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Women’s Course Record At Aronimink
On the women’s side, there is a smaller sample size, as the only professional tournament that has been held at Aronimink was the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The tournament was moved from July to October due to the ongoing pandemic, but the course record remains a special one.
Sei Young Kim went into the final round with a two-shot lead over Brooke Henderson and Anna Nordqvist. The South Korean then blew the field away with a majestic 63 (7-under) to sail to her first Major title by five strokes.
Her 14-under winning score was one of just eight under-par for the week.
For the course record holder to shoot the lowest ever score, in the final round, to win her maiden Major title, is pretty special.
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The question is, will anyone come close to the course record this year at Aronimink, or will Watney et al’s 62 stand the test of time and remain the elusive figure everyone at the club is yearning to match or beat?