06-05-2025
The rich fabric of history and sports of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the oldest country club in the U.S.
The history of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the oldest country club in the U.S.
The history of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the oldest country club in the U.S.
The history of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the oldest country club in the U.S.
The Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon Course is more than a century old. It opened on the Fourth of July in 1922.
This week, it hosts the Truist Championship, one of the PGA Tour's Signature events, which starts another chapter in its history book.
"This is a city of history, right? Philadelphia is a city of history. It's central to the history of America, but this course and our club is actually central to the history of golf, as well," Chris Kallmeyer, a member of the Heritage Committee at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, said.
The Philadelphia Cricket Club is the oldest country club in the U.S., and it originally focused on cricket, then tennis, before golf entered the picture in the late 1800s.
"It was a farm, the Yeakle Estate. That was 1920, the club acquired the property. It was enough land to build two courses, but the club could only afford to build one at the time," Kallmeyer said.
A.W. Tillinghast designed the course. It became the club's second course in 1922.
"This course was considered one of Tillinghast's best courses, along with his work at famous courses like Baltusrol, Winged Foot, Bethpage, Quaker Ridge and many others all over the country," Kallmeyer said.
CBS News Philadelphia.
The farmhouse was turned into the clubhouse.
Truly, if walls could talk, the dozens of photographs, some in black and white, alongside the wooden plaques etched with dozens of names, would have stories for years.
"The club hosted many local and regional tournaments over those years," Kallmeyer said.
He notes the addition of the nearby Militia Hill course helped make renovations possible. While that happened in 2014, much of the original charm remains.
"This idea of hosting championships is certainly part of our pedigree, part of our present, and we believe it's part of our future," Kallmeyer said.
The future is unfolding now as crews feverishly ready the grounds for thousands of fans, and dozens of the world's top golfers to compete just outside the City of Brotherly Love. As for the man behind the course, Kallmeyer shares that Tillinghast loved this place so much, his ashes were spread here after he died.
In 2025, a new chapter is being written in Flourtown.
"A golf course, built over 100 years ago by Tillinghast, can once again be relevant to host the best players in the world and that we can be part of this incredible, rich fabric of the history of Philadelphia and the history of sports in Philadelphia," Kallmeyer said.
Three golf courses at the Philadelphia Cricket Club were opened in three different centuries, making the club the only one in the country to ever do that.
