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Epoch Times
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Epoch Times
PGA Tour Returns to Philly, First Time Since 2018: Community Connections at Cobbs Creek
Commentary FLOURTOWN, Pa.—Two major golf storylines are happening this week in the City of Brotherly Love. First, the PGA Tour returns for the first time since 2018 when the BMW Championship was played at Aronimink. The Truist Championship is being played at one of the area's most historic clubs—Philadelphia Cricket Club in Flourtown—located 15 miles from Center City. The club's founding dates back to 1854. This week, the 72 best players will be competing in the sixth of eight signature events conducted by the PGA Tour. The 72-hole event is being played on the Wissahickon Course, which was designed by the gifted architect A.W. Tillinghast in 1922. Interesting side note: Tillinghast was a member of the club in his early years as a golfer, and his ashes were said to have been spread at the course when he died. In 2013, architect Keith Foster updated the layout of the course, which is named for a meandering stream that winds through the area. The staging of elite-level pro golf in the Philadelphia metro area used to be an annual occurrence. Between 1963 and 1980, the IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic was hosted by nearby Whitemarsh Valley Country Club. The event got off to a rousing start as Arnold Palmer was the initial winner and was followed the next two years with victories by Jack Nicklaus. Related Stories 5/6/2025 5/1/2025 Philadelphia's pedigree in the golf world is led by Merion Golf Club in Ardmore. The club has hosted 19 USGA championships—the most by any club in America. Most notably, the club's East Course has been the venue for five U.S. Opens—with a sixth planned for 2030—celebrating the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Grand Slam by Bob Jones. Arguably, with the exception of the New York-New Jersey metro area, no American city has a deeper roster of superior private clubs than the metro Philadelphia area. During the golden age of golf architecture in the 1920s, Tillinghast, William Flynn, George Crump, George Thomas, and William Fownes placed their fingerprints on an array of stellar courses. But the interesting commonality was that all the key clubs are private and off limits to all but members and their guests. The public side of the ledger, in comparison, pales in terms of quality, but one specific course engendered a deep love for the pathway provided to the broadest number of aspiring golfers. The logo for the Cobbs Creek Foundation. Courtesy of Cobbs Creek Foundation Cobbs Creek opened for play on Memorial Day in 1916 and was a landmark gift to the City of Philadelphia. Located in West Philadelphia, the 18-hole Olde Course was designed by Hugh Wilson—a Princeton graduate and the man responsible for the creation of Merion's East Course. Cobbs Creek was hosting important exhibitions almost as soon as it opened. The club served as the site for the USGA Public Links Championship in 1928. The PGA Tour would visit in 1955 and 1956. Cobbs Creek served as a meaningful destination for inclusion—welcoming women and people of color at a time when private clubs remained segregated. At Cobbs Creek, if you loved golf, you were always welcome. During its heyday, the municipally-owned Cobbs Creek was the key venue for those with modest incomes to begin their introduction to the game of golf. The most acclaimed black golfer to call Cobbs Creek home was Charlie Sifford—the first African-American to play on the PGA Tour. Sifford won twice on the PGA Tour but was denied an invitation to be the first black to play in the Masters. Lee Trevino noted Sifford's journey and hailed him as golf's Jackie Robinson—the first black player to integrate major league baseball. When Sifford was no longer able to compete, his journey served as inspiration for a young aspiring talent named Tiger Woods. It was Woods who cited Sifford as the grandfather he never had. The schematic of the 9-hole short course. Courtesy of Cobbs Creek Foundation Cobbs Creek went through a number of years where the City of Philadelphia invested little into the property, and the layout suffered the consequences. Years of environmental damage and chronic flooding, in concert with haphazard maintenance efforts, prompted a serious demise of the property. In 2022, the Cobbs Creek Foundation was established. A 70-year lease agreement was signed with the City of Philadelphia. The Foundation is leading a historic revitalization effort, preserving the site's legacy while building a premier golf and education campus for the next generation. Among the key features of the updated Cobbs Creek campus are a full restoration of the Olde Course to its original 1916 design. Architectural services will be provided by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. Both men live in the immediate area, and the design duo has been active in updating a number of established clubs—some of which have served as hosts to the U.S. Open. The design duo will also be responsible for the creation of the Karakung 9-hole course. In addition, there will be a two-story driving range and par-3 short course designed by TGR Design, led by Woods. A Fall 2025 opening is likely for both. Just opened is the TGR Leaning Lab, which will have a comprehensive education center providing a STEAM-based afterschool enrichment program for more than 4,500 students annually. Tiger Woods speaks with Charlie Sifford, the first African American inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, during a practice round of the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, on Aug. 5, totality of the property will also include a history museum, community event space, and restaurant. A planned fall opening in 2027 seems likely for the 18-hole Olde Course. 'I know Charlie Sifford had talent and a tremendous work ethic, and what he needed was an opportunity. Cobbs Creek provided that opportunity. I also know that the restored course and Learning Lab will do the same for this generation on and off the course,' Enrique Hervada, chief operations officer for the Cobbs Creek Foundation, told The Epoch Times in an email. The Cobbs Creek Foundation has made tremendous strides, but more remains to be done. The Truist Championship provided a $750,000 donation, and Jordan Spieth made a sizeable $250,000 contribution through his foundation and was on hand this past Monday to see firsthand. 'A commitment to giving back,' Truist Tournament Executive Director Joie Chitwood told The Epoch Times in an email. The Cobbs Creek connection is one that showcases how golf can be an invaluable connector on multiple fronts. The genesis of Philadelphia golf centered initially on the very few and their privileged playgrounds. The storyline is now far broader—more impactful—with seeds planted for even more growth and opportunity. The City of Brotherly Love is reinforcing its motto in the golf lane with a clear eagle effort.
Fox Sports
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Mitchell shoots 61 for 1-shot lead at Truist Championship; McIlroy shows rust in 66
Associated Press FLOURTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Keith Mitchell led a birdie spree at the Truist Championship on Thursday, shooting a career-best 9-under 61 to shatter the course record at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. The previous Wissahickon Course record of 65 was shared by Colin St Maxen, Zac Blair and Angus Flanagan. The 7,100-yard A.W. Tillinghast design with modest par 4s and gettable pin placements fell victim to the long hitters and aggressive shots with short irons and wedges. Mitchell was bogey-free and had an outside chance at 59 on his second shot from 102 yards on the ninth hole, his 18th. He hit his approach to just over 9 feet and settled for a closing par and a one-shot lead over Denny McCarthy. Colin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Sepp Straka and Akshay Bhatia shot 63. Rory McIlroy, making his first individual start since completing the career grand slam at the Masters, had a 66 and was one of 64 players who beat par on the seemingly defenseless Wissahickon layout in the sixth signature event of the PGA Tour season. Mitchell led the way despite a ho-hum start of five straight pars on the back nine. Things started to heat up for the 33-year-old with a birdies on the stout 17th and 18th holes. His run continued with birdies on two of the first three holes on his back nine before a four-birdie run for a 6-under 29 on the inward nine. Mitchell said he has a buddy who is a member at Philly Cricket and received some intel ahead of his arrival. But, he credited the work he and his caddie did early in the week studying the greens for setting the stage for his success. 'I just plotted my way around Monday and Wednesday to figure out what to hit and where to kind of try to put the ball on the green,' said Mitchell, who has one career win and six top-25 finishes this year with one missed cut. 'If you get above the hole really pin high on the wrong side, you can have a really fast putt and have a ton of breaks.' The 32-year-old McCarthy, who has lost twice in playoffs and is winless on tour, was aided by a fast start that included five straight birdies at Nos. 11-15. He opened his inward nine with back-to-back birdies and added two more for a satisfying, but not surprising to him, opening round. 'I've been playing really well lately, so it doesn't really surprise me,' he said. 'There's still a lot of golf left. This is a really nice start. I'm excited for how my game has been trending lately.' McIlroy, the defending champion and four-time winner of the event, stayed with his aggressive gameplan of trying to overpower the layout with driver off the tee. He had two stumbles along the way: a three-putt at the par-4 11th and a bogey at the 570-yard, par-5 15th, where he scrambled after missing the fairway with his drive and the green with his approach from 243 yards. McIlroy quickly moved past his first-round errors. 'I think it worked out fine,' McIlroy said of his round of six birdies and two bogeys. 'I drove the ball pretty well. I missed it in a couple of spots, but was sort of able to get away with it." McIlroy is playing for the first time in about two weeks after celebrating his slam-clinching win at the Masters and 12th-place finish in New Orleans, where he and fellow Irishman Shane Lowry were defending champs. He acknowledged his game is not in top form. 'I felt like I was a little rusty out there, just hadn't played in a week and I hadn't really done a ton of practice, especially like on and around the greens,' he said. 'I certainly can tidy a few things up, but overall a decent day.' Alex Noren made his return to the tour, playing for the first time since August due to neck and leg injuries. The 42-year-old Swede opened with a 67 and was happy to be back and looked forward to fine-tuning his game. 'It's weird not to play for so long,' he said. 'I've been looking forward to get some nervousness and some adrenaline flowing and just be a little sharper. You go around practicing your short game for a while. It's not so inspiring in the end when you don't really know when you can come back. Finally, the last two weeks, it felt good for two weeks in a row. The hamstring is holding up.' ___ AP golf:
NBC Sports
08-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Keith Mitchell shatters Philadelphia Cricket Club course record, leads Truist Championship
FLOURTOWN, Pa. — Keith Mitchell led a birdie spree at the Truist Championship on Thursday, shooting a career-best 9-under 61 to shatter the course record at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. The previous Wissahickon Course record of 65 was shared by Colin St Maxen, Zac Blair and Angus Flanagan. The 7,100-yard A.W. Tillinghast design with modest par 4s and gettable pin placements fell victim to the long hitters and aggressive shots with short irons and wedges. Mitchell was bogey-free and had an outside chance at 59 on his second shot from 102 yards on the ninth hole, his 18th. He hit his approach to just over 9 feet and settled for a closing par and a one-shot lead over Denny McCarthy. Colin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Sepp Straka and Akshay Bhatia shot 63. Rory McIlroy, making his first individual start since completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters, had a 66 and was one of 64 players who beat par on the seemingly defenseless Wissahickon layout in the sixth signature event of the PGA Tour season. Mitchell led the way despite a ho-hum start of five straight pars on the back nine. Things started to heat up for the 33-year-old with a birdies on the stout 17th and 18th holes. His run continued with birdies on two of the first three holes on his back nine before a four-birdie run for a 6-under 29 on the inward nine. Mitchell said he has a buddy who is a member at Philly Cricket and received some intel ahead of his arrival. But, he credited the work he and his caddie did early in the week studying the greens for setting the stage for his success. 'I just plotted my way around Monday and Wednesday to figure out what to hit and where to kind of try to put the ball on the green,' said Mitchell, who has one career Tour win and six top-25 finishes this year with one missed cut. 'If you get above the hole really pin high on the wrong side, you can have a really fast putt and have a ton of breaks.' The 32-year-old McCarthy, who has lost twice in playoffs and is winless on tour, was aided by a fast start that included five straight birdies at Nos. 11-15. He opened his inward nine with back-to-back birdies and added two more for a satisfying, but not surprising to him, opening round. 'I've been playing really well lately, so it doesn't really surprise me,' he said. 'There's still a lot of golf left. This is a really nice start. I'm excited for how my game has been trending lately.' Golf Channel Staff, McIlroy, the defending champion and four-time winner of the event, stayed with his aggressive gameplan of trying to overpower the layout with driver off the tee. He had two stumbles along the way: a three-putt at the par-4 11th and a bogey at the 570-yard, par-5 15th, where he scrambled after missing the fairway with his drive and the green with his approach from 243 yards. McIlroy quickly moved past his first-round errors. 'I think it worked out fine,' McIlroy said of his round of six birdies and two bogeys. 'I drove the ball pretty well. I missed it in a couple of spots, but was sort of able to get away with it.' McIlroy is playing for the first time in about two weeks after celebrating his slam-clinching win at the Masters and 12th-place finish in New Orleans, where he and fellow Irishman Shane Lowry were defending champs. He acknowledged his game is not in top form. 'I felt like I was a little rusty out there, just hadn't played in a week and I hadn't really done a ton of practice, especially like on and around the greens,' he said. 'I certainly can tidy a few things up, but overall a decent day.' Alex Noren made his return to the Tour, playing for the first time since August due to neck and leg injuries. The 42-year-old Swede opened with a 67 and was happy to be back and looked forward to fine-tuning his game. 'It's weird not to play for so long,' he said. 'I've been looking forward to get some nervousness and some adrenaline flowing and just be a little sharper. You go around practicing your short game for a while. It's not so inspiring in the end when you don't really know when you can come back. Finally, the last two weeks, it felt good for two weeks in a row. The hamstring is holding up.'
Winnipeg Free Press
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Mitchell shoots 61 for 1-shot lead at Truist Championship; McIlroy shows rust in 66
FLOURTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Keith Mitchell led a birdie spree at the Truist Championship on Thursday, shooting a career-best 9-under 61 to shatter the course record at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. The previous Wissahickon Course record of 65 was shared by Colin St Maxen, Zac Blair and Angus Flanagan. The 7,100-yard A.W. Tillinghast design with modest par 4s and gettable pin placements fell victim to the long hitters and aggressive shots with short irons and wedges. Mitchell was bogey-free and had an outside chance at 59 on his second shot from 102 yards on the ninth hole, his 18th. He hit his approach to just over 9 feet and settled for a closing par and a one-shot lead over Denny McCarthy. Colin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Sepp Straka and Akshay Bhatia shot 63. Rory McIlroy, making his first individual start since completing the career grand slam at the Masters, had a 66 and was one of 64 players who beat par on the seemingly defenseless Wissahickon layout in the sixth signature event of the PGA Tour season. Mitchell led the way despite a ho-hum start of five straight pars on the back nine. Things started to heat up for the 33-year-old with a birdies on the stout 17th and 18th holes. His run continued with birdies on two of the first three holes on his back nine before a four-birdie run for a 6-under 29 on the inward nine. Mitchell said he has a buddy who is a member at Philly Cricket and received some intel ahead of his arrival. But, he credited the work he and his caddie did early in the week studying the greens for setting the stage for his success. 'I just plotted my way around Monday and Wednesday to figure out what to hit and where to kind of try to put the ball on the green,' said Mitchell, who has one career win and six top-25 finishes this year with one missed cut. 'If you get above the hole really pin high on the wrong side, you can have a really fast putt and have a ton of breaks.' The 32-year-old McCarthy, who has lost twice in playoffs and is winless on tour, was aided by a fast start that included five straight birdies at Nos. 11-15. He opened his inward nine with back-to-back birdies and added two more for a satisfying, but not surprising to him, opening round. 'I've been playing really well lately, so it doesn't really surprise me,' he said. 'There's still a lot of golf left. This is a really nice start. I'm excited for how my game has been trending lately.' McIlroy, the defending champion and four-time winner of the event, stayed with his aggressive gameplan of trying to overpower the layout with driver off the tee. He had two stumbles along the way: a three-putt at the par-4 11th and a bogey at the 570-yard, par-5 15th, where he scrambled after missing the fairway with his drive and the green with his approach from 243 yards. McIlroy quickly moved past his first-round errors. 'I think it worked out fine,' McIlroy said of his round of six birdies and two bogeys. 'I drove the ball pretty well. I missed it in a couple of spots, but was sort of able to get away with it.' McIlroy is playing for the first time in about two weeks after celebrating his slam-clinching win at the Masters and 12th-place finish in New Orleans, where he and fellow Irishman Shane Lowry were defending champs. He acknowledged his game is not in top form. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. 'I felt like I was a little rusty out there, just hadn't played in a week and I hadn't really done a ton of practice, especially like on and around the greens,' he said. 'I certainly can tidy a few things up, but overall a decent day.' Alex Noren made his return to the tour, playing for the first time since August due to neck and leg injuries. The 42-year-old Swede opened with a 67 and was happy to be back and looked forward to fine-tuning his game. 'It's weird not to play for so long,' he said. 'I've been looking forward to get some nervousness and some adrenaline flowing and just be a little sharper. You go around practicing your short game for a while. It's not so inspiring in the end when you don't really know when you can come back. Finally, the last two weeks, it felt good for two weeks in a row. The hamstring is holding up.' ___ AP golf:
USA Today
07-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon Course is ready for Truist Championship close-up
Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon Course is ready for Truist Championship close-up A.W. Tillinghast's gem was restored by architect Keith Foster using aerial photographs from the early 1930s. PHILADELPHIA – A.W. Tillinghast built a handful of golf's greatest cathedrals but before he died in 1942, the famed golf architect known far and wide simply as 'Tillly,' requested that his ashes be scattered into the Wissahickon Creek, a stream that flows through one of his beloved designs, Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon Course. Why here and not at Quaker Ridge, Winged Foot, Bethpage Black or even on the west coast at San Franciso Golf Club? The Cricket Club, circa 1922, is where he wasn't just a designer but also a member. It's where he called home. As a plaque on the Wissahickon Course so succinctly put it, it's 'where he loved life the most.' This week, Tilly's gem, restored to past glory in 2013-14 by architect Keith Foster using aerial photographs from the early 1930s, will be tested by a 72-man field at the PGA Tour's Truist Championship, a signature event. "It's as old school as old school gets," said Lucas Glover. Foster removed more than 1,000 trees and rebuilt numerous bunkers including the iconic 'Great Hazard,' a 13-bunker waste area in the middle of the fairway on the par-five 15th (in this week's routing), highlighting the strategic bunkering (118 of them!), contoured greens and narrow fairways of Tillinghast's original design. Philly Cricket is pinch-hitting for one year as tournament host for Quail Hollow Club, site of next week's PGA Championship. So, players are faced with learning a new course — albeit a classic one — on short notice this week. What can they expect? 'It's very similar to a lot of these old-school courses that have been renovated over the past few years. A lot of trees have been taken out. The green complexes are, for me, the interesting thing about the golf course,' Rory McIlroy, the defending champion and reigning Masters champion, said. 'It sort of to me feels like a smaller version of Oak Hill, not a lot of strategy off the tee because there's no real hazards. There's some fairway bunkers, but if you avoid those, the rough's not that long so it's not a huge penalty.' McIlroy, who played nine-hole practices the last two days, later elaborated on his strategy to tee it high and let it fly. 'It's basically open season,' he said. 'I go back to Oak Hill a couple years ago at the (2023) PGA, and I tried to play the golf course strategically over the first couple of days, and I just realized that these new renovated old school courses, like the strategy is just hit driver everywhere and then figure it out from there. That's sort of the strategy of this place this week.' Rory McIlroy plans to hit driver a lot at Truist Championship Rory McIlroy: "These new renovated old school courses, like, the strategy is just hit driver everywhere and then figure it out from there." So, prepare for the pros to grip it and rip it and while 31 under, last week's winning score at TPC Craig Ranch, likely won't be sniffed on Sunday, Vegas is predicting a 72-hole aggregate that will threaten 20 under. 'It probably would have held up to the distances that were being hit, but even now 10 years on, I feel like every par 4 out there is like 430, 440. They sort of feel like they're 40 or 50 yards than what they need to be. Still, it's a cool track to play,' McIlroy said. Xander Schauffele seconded that notion. 'The course is awesome. It seems like hopefully the weather kind of stays away and the course gets a little bit firmer. For some reason, whenever courses seem to be really, really hard, guys seem to shoot low,' he said. 'I think this course is kind of the middle of the road in terms of difficulty. I think there's some hard holes on there and some holes that are really gettable. So I think scoring is going to be relatively low.' Schauffele is a fan of the par 3s, which range from 120 yards to 240 yards – and the shorter one may give players more fits. 'I think the par 3s on the property are probably, to me, if you want to talk about architecture, they're the coolest looking holes to me,' Schauffele said. Two things to note this week at Truist Championship All 18 holes of the course were rerouted for logistics to allow for bigger structures at the finishing holes so more fans can enjoy watching the action there. Also, internal out of bounds will be in use. While playing the 11th hole, the 12th hole is out of bounds. The boundary is identified by two small white stakes at each end of the boundary and will also include the edge of the fairway. A ball that comes to rest on or beyond the fairway of hole No. 12 is OB. 'It's to protect the integrity of the design of the golf hole,' explained Gary Young, the PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competitions. What other big events have been at Wissahickon Golf Course? Philly Cricket has hosted the 2015 Club Professional Championship, the 2016 Constellation Senior Players Championship, the 2024 U.S. Amateur Men's Four-Ball as well as the Big Ten Men's Championship. But here comes the best of the best with a plan to overpower a soft, 7,119-yard par-70 layout. Justin Thomas described the fairways as generous and the greens receptive, saying it was a shame that more inclement weather is expected Thursday night into Friday, which could leave the course even more defenseless to low scoring. 'I love these kinds of designs. They're fun,' Thomas said. 'It is meant to play firm and fast, especially the greens.'
