Aronimink Golf Club was set to host the 1993 PGA Championship but withdrew due to new membership guidelines imposed by the PGA following racial discrimination charges. The club has not hosted the championship since 1959.
Key points
Aronimink Golf Club was awarded the 1993 PGA Championship
The club withdrew due to new membership guidelines
Guidelines were a response to racial discrimination charges
The last PGA Championship at Aronimink was in 1959
Jim Awtrey was the PGA's executive director during this time
NEWTOWN PLACE, Pa. – It’s been 64 years since the PGA Championship last visited Aronimink Golf Club, a private club west of Philadelphia. But that wasn’t always the plan.
Jim Awtrey, then the PGA’s executive director and later to assume the title of CEO, recalled meetings and sitting down with all of the future venues on the books, including Aronimink.
The 18th hole and clubhoues at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
The first hole at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
The seventh hole at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
Q&A
Why did Aronimink Golf Club withdraw from the 1993 PGA Championship?
Aronimink withdrew due to the PGA's new guidelines requiring open membership policies after racial discrimination charges at the 1990 Championship.
What were the racial discrimination charges related to the PGA Championship?
The charges stemmed from the 1990 Championship at Shoal Creek in Alabama, which prompted the PGA to adopt more inclusive membership policies for tournament venues.
When was the last time Aronimink Golf Club hosted the PGA Championship?
Aronimink Golf Club last hosted the PGA Championship in 1959, making it 64 years since the event was held there.
Who was the PGA's executive director during the 1993 withdrawal?
Jim Awtrey was the PGA's executive director at the time of Aronimink's withdrawal from the 1993 Championship.
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The clubhouse at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
“The discussion was that we have a contract with you and we plan to honor it but if you’re not willing to take in women and minorities as we’ve defined, you better be prepared for protesters to be camped out on your front door. Make sure you’re willing to face that and if not we’ll try to come back some day when we can. Aronimink chose to drop out.”
At the time, the club had taken in Blacks as junior members but it said it didn't think they would move up the waiting list to full membership by 1993 and it would not jump them ahead of others on the list. Unable to meet the requirement for minority members, it asked to be relieved of its agreement to host the 1993 PGA. Inverness Club, a private club in Toledo, Ohio, stepped in and Paul Azinger won the title, his lone major during his illustrious career.
The clubhouse at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
The clubhouse at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
Aronimink wasn’t alone. Butler National in Oak Brook, Illinois, and Cypress Point in Pebble Beach, California, relinquished PGA Tour tournaments after declining to conform to open membership policies. The USGA lost four sites for various championships, the most prominent of which was the Merion Golf Club in Philadelphia, which gave up the 1994 Women's Open. The Chicago Golf Club also gave up the 1993 Walker Cup. Both of those clubs were among the original founding members of the USGA in 1894.
“The game was changing and the public image was changing,” Awtrey said. “Nobody questioned the new standard we set; they questioned the timing.”
Aronimink, a Donald Ross gem restored by Gil Hanse in 2018, has hosted the 1997 U.S. Junior Amateur, 2003 Senior PGA Championship, 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and three PGA Tour events – the 2010-11 AT&T National and 2018 BMW Championship.
But six decades after Gary Player hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy here in 1962, a new champion finally will have that privilege again.
