Pure Golf: Nick Watney & Aronimink Win the AT&T National

Did you see that?

Where did that ball finish?

Does he have a shot?

Can he advance the ball?

Recovery, from there?

This lie doesn't look good.

This was a U.S. Open course, two weeks after the U.S. Open.  

Actually, this was the substitute course for the AT&T National, that used to be at Congressional Country Club, the host of the U.S. Open.  They moved the AT&T to Aronimink Golf Course because they needed to change Congressional to be a staunch test to the best players in the world.  

That course was just outside Philadelphia.

Aronimink was a tough playing field.  As tough as Congressional?  Tougher than Merion?   Probably not—because Merion was chosen as the site of the 2013 U.S. Open.  That's kind of like choosing the Philadelphia restaurant that serves the best cheesesteak.  Still confused?

Donald Ross hopes so.  He was somewhere Sunday.  It would have been great for him to see the shots hit the par-three eighth and slowly topple over the back of the turtle-back green.  On the eve of July 4th, this was kind of like watching Captain America deflecting bullets off his shield with regularity.  Ross probably would have had a wry smile as Nick Watney claimed the championship. A great Sunday leaderboard had two winners, Watney and his course.

First, the playing field.

It all started with the purchase of 300 acres in 1926 in Newton Square, Penn.  The blank slate.  It needed a carpenter and a designer—one with a vision.  One of the founding members telephoned Ross, at home in Pinehurst, to come visit the trees and topography just outside Philadelphia.  

Their goal was simple; they just wanted 18 holes.  It took two years to carve the earth, position the layout and it opened in 1928.  A classic old-fashioned golf course.  A course where good shots were rewarded and bad shots were either punched out to the fairway or penalized by another swing at the dimpled sphere.

In 1962 it hosted a PGA Championship.  Gary Player won, donned in black with the exception of a wide white belt.  The winning score, two-under par.

At Aronimink, Ross used the natural terrain to his advantage, that is what Jack Nicklaus said he does best.  Greens with false fronts, undulations, and pin options that make the course a true test of endurance.  No signature hole, but eighteen unique chapters of page-turning brilliance.  

This was not a novella, it was a novel.

It may be difficult to absorb, but in this era of 300-yard high-technology golf equipment, and fitness-wise players—that was a golf tournament.  No dispensable mounds behind greens so that the gallery could gain a better viewing advantage.  Not one bunker tricked up so severe, that getting out with a shovel and a sand wedge is nearly impossible. Aronimink is a golf course that offers mature fescue off the fairway to capture off-target shots, and spectacular subtle angles to difficult greens.  Some holes bending left, others right, some elevated greens and others that would accept shots that land in front.  And, the errant shot was rejected the way Ross would have wanted.

Just before he died in 1948, Ross said, “I intended to make this my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize built better than I knew.”

Watney survived Aronimink.  Sure, it was a birdie fest on Saturday when the scores plummeted into red numbers.  He shot a course-record 62.  Not on Sunday.  The tournament committee did little more than move pins to more difficult places.  That's kind of like Fenway Park moving the Green Monster.  

But, in the end, check the box score.  There were two winners: Watney and Aronimink Golf Course.