Why Aronimink Gave Up Hosting The 1993 PGA Championship

The best golfers in the world have descended on Aronimink Golf Club this week for the latest edition of the PGA Championship.

It's the second men's Major of the golfing season, with plenty of prestige and money on offer, as well as the famous Wanamaker Trophy.

This is actually the first time the event has been hosted by Aronimink since way back in 1962, when Gary Player won the tournament.

It's a revered and challenging course, and players this year are going to need to be at their very best if they want to triumph come Sunday.

With long holes and tricky greens, the course record at Aronimink stands at an eight-under 62, which is impressive given the nature of the course, but it's unlikely we'll ever see anyone hit double figures there.

We know that Aronimink won't be among the future venues for the PGA Championship, either — at least not for the next nine years.

However, it's not like Aronimink hasn't had the chance to host more often. In fact, the venue was lined up to be the host of the PGA Championship back in 1993, but things didn't go to plan at all.

In 1988, the Philadelphia club was awarded hosting duties for the 1993 tournament. A couple of years later, a complicated chain of events changed everything.

Pat Rielly became the 26th President of the PGA of America in 1990, and he was determined to make a difference in the game of golf.

Rielly recalled witnessing racial exclusion during his involvement in his high school basketball team during the 1960s, and he did not want to see the same thing happening in golf under his leadership.

At the time, Shoal Creek Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama, was scheduled to host the PGA Championship; however, when Rielly insisted golf clubs around America change their policies on membership and inclusion, venues lined up to host big events like the PGA Championship were told they must allow women and racial minorities to join their club or be excluded from the biggest tournaments.

Interestingly, Aronimink Golf Club decided to pull out of hosting duties as a result of these rule changes.

Jim Awtrey, the PGA’s executive director at the time, said: "The discussion was that we have a contract 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."

While the club had Black junior members, representatives insisted the players would not be ready to move up to a full membership by 1993 and the club was not prepared to jump them ahead of other players on the waiting list.

Aronimink, therefore, asked to be relieved of hosting responsibilities and the agreement was instead handed to Inverness Club in Ohio.

Around the same time, both Butler National in Oak Brook, Illinois, and Cypress Point in Pebble Beach, California also gave up their hosting rights after declining to conform to open membership policies.

On the tumultuous period of upheaval, Awtrey also said: "The game was changing and the public image was changing. Nobody questioned the new standard we set; they questioned the timing."

Thankfully, all of that is very much a thing of the past now and this great venue is back among the Major tournaments once more.