For the first time in three years, the PGA Tour has returned to the Philadelphia area and there aren’t many better settings.
The Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon course hosts the PGA Tour’s Truist Championship this week as a one-week stand-in for Quail Hollow Club, which will host next week’s PGA Championship. Philly Cricket offers the rare chance to showcase the work of A.W. Tillinghast to the game’s best.
The course is unfamiliar to most of today’s PGA Tour and the global golf audience. The 1922 golden age track underwent a 2014 restoration by Keith Foster and has hosted several marquee events since, including the 2015 PGA Professional Championship, 2016 Constellation Senior Players and the 2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. The Cricket Club has three courses under its purview, and even hosted two U.S. Opens (1907 and 1910) at its original course, the now-9-hole St. Martins course in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood.
Having caddied and been a member at Philadelphia Cricket for 14 years, I’ve looped around the Wissahickon course hundreds of times and have played from just about every spot.
As Cricket gets ready for global golf spotlight for the first time in more than 100 years, here’s what I think will be the six most critical shots at this week’s Truist Championship.
Tee shot on No. 8 (Par-3, 240 yards)
Under its usual layout, I’d describe Wissahickon as six holes of getting punched in the gut, followed by six holes of no-BS (AKA the holes you need to score on), and finished by six more holes of getting punched in the gut.
Tournament organizers have elected to reroute Philly Cricket for the Truist, though, meaning players will start on the scoreable holes and then strap on the boots for the rest of the round. While holes 6 and 7 (13 and 14 for members) are no cake-walks, the gauntlet will really begin at the par-3 8th.
The 8th is a redan that will challenge players to hit anything from a long iron to a fairway wood, using the right-to-left pitch of the green to get a ball close. A massive left bunker, from which players cannot see the green, will get most of the attention, but the right side of the green is the important side. A small slope short of the green can funnel balls toward the right bunker and any shot played from that side will be difficult to stop with the green running away.
Tee shot on No. 10 (Par-4, 449 yards)
In my opinion, this is one of the two toughest tee shots on the course. This one goes right-to-left.
The two bunkers on the left side shouldn’t be a factor for longer players, seeing as a 294-carry takes them out of play with the prevailing wind helping off the right shoulder. However, the shape here is important because the right side of the fairway starts bending at 261 yards, and it would be very difficult to take on the tree on the left side. Start one a little too far to the right and you’ll run your ball straight through the fairway.
Approach on No. 11 (Par-4, 487 yards)
After another tee shot that favors a right-to-left shape, unless the fairways firm up and the wind picks up (typically downwind), most players will play their second shots from the top of the hill (pictured above). Their approach will overlook the clubhouse and Lorriane’s Run, the only water hazard on the entire property. This hole is the 18th for regular play.
The severe and sloping green is defined distinctly in two tiers with a knob that runs along the ridge line. No matter where the pin is, the prudent play is to aim for the knob and live with whichever direction the ball falls off.
The most dangerous flag is the middle left pin on the higher tier, as any short-sided miss (including in the left bunker) will prove a difficult up and down.
The shot plays about seven yards downhill from the top of the hill.
Approach on No. 15 (Par-5, 553 yards)
Both of the two par-5s will be reachable in two for almost everyone in the field, but the second one will be all carry on the second shot.
Tillinghast’s “Great Hazard” — a collage of bunkers that breaks up the fairway in two 340 yards off the tee — will get a lot of attention, but it will only come into play if someone misses the fairway.
Despite the green being 32 yards deep, anyone who wants an eagle putt will have to hit a high approach to hold the green. Short is better than long, as the green drops off behind. The front bunker isn’t a bad miss. Expect that sand to get a lot of action this week.
Tee shot on No. 16 (Par-3, 215 yards)
The last par-3 on the course will be the last hole where Lorriane’s Run comes into play. The real danger here, though, is the severity of the back-to-front sloping green.
The back three bunkers are deadly, and you don’t want to be past pin-high in the left or right bunkers, either.
Two shelves define this green on the back left and back right. I’d be shocked if pins on both those shelves aren’t used.
Tee shot on No. 17 (Par-4, 498 yards)
No. 17 is one of the most imposing holes on the card, and it’s no easier in person. The second-longest par-4 plays downwind typically, but that’s about all you have going for you.
The right bunker requires a 292-yard carry, while the front of the left bunker is 305. A tee shot that moves from left to right helps widen that corridor, but push it a little too far and you bring the old abandoned Reading Railroad trestle into play.
