Merion Golf Club

Lore & Background

The Merion Golf Club came into being in 1896, when members of the Merion Cricket Club (founded in 1865) opened a golf course in Haverford Township, Pennsylvania. In 1910, the membership decided to build a new course and chose thirty-two-year-old club member Hugh Wilson to design it. Merion East opened in September 1912, and the original course was closed. The West Course, also designed by Wilson, opened in May 1914. The Merion Golf Club did not officially separate from the Merion Cricket Club until 1941. Hugh Wilson had never designed a golf course, so he went on a seven-month trip to Scotland and England to study British courses. Several features of Merion East are derived from famous British courses, including the distinctive Scottish-style bunkers known as the 'white faces of Merion' (named by top amateur player Chick Evans). Wilson's layout covers only 126 acres of land. The club was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992 for its contribution to innovations in the sport. Merion has held twenty United States Golf Association (USGA) championship tournaments, more than any other course. The first two, the 1904 and 1909 U.S. Women's Amateurs, were held at the original Haverford course. The first USGA men's tournament held at the East Course was the 1916 U.S. Amateur, won by Chick Evans. This was also the first time Bobby Jones appeared in a national championship; he was fourteen years old. Jones would win his first U.S. Amateur in 1924, also held at Merion. In 1930, the U.S. Amateur returned to Merion, where Bobby Jones completed the Grand Slam by defeating Eugene Homans 8 & 7. Merion's 1950 U.S. Open was the site of Ben Hogan's comeback, sixteen months after a near-fatal car accident. Hogan hit a famous 1-iron shot on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, which he won. The U.S. Open in 1971 at Merion resulted in a playoff between Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino, won by Trevino. Following David Graham's win at the U.S. Open at Merion in 1981, the course was lengthened to nearly 7,000 yards. After hosting the U.S. Amateur in 2005, Merion held a fifth U.S. Open in 2013, won by Justin Rose.

In Their Own Story

The afternoon light hits the seventeenth at Merion and turns the rough to gold. A young caddie, his bag heavy with irons, watches his player line up a three-iron down a fairway no wider than a country lane. The crowd is sparse—this is a private club, and the spectators are members, their voices low, their attention total. The ball finds the middle. A small murmur. Then the player looks left, where the bunker sits like a dark mouth, and shakes his head. 'Good,' he says, not to anyone in particular. The caddie nods, adjusts the strap on his bag, and they walk on toward the eighteenth, where the green sits small and green and patient, waiting to see if the next shot is honest enough to land.

Reader's Guide

The East Course has been consistently rated in the top 10, #5 in 2015, by Golf Digest. Jack Nicklaus has said of Merion East, 'Acre for acre, it may be the best test of golf in the world.' The West Course in particular is relatively little altered from Wilson's design, while the East Course has had alterations made to accommodate the widening of Ardmore Avenue. On the East Course, all pins are topped with wicker baskets instead of the usual flags (which are used on the West Course). The baskets have been used since at least 1916. The pin markers at Merion East are 7 feet 6 inches tall, including the 14-inch-high baskets, and are 6 inches taller than standard flagsticks. The poles are solid metal, and the baskets are colored red on the first nine holes and orange on the second nine. The 1950 U.S. Open was the only USGA championship held at Merion East in which the pins were marked with flags instead of wicker baskets; the reason is unclear.

Did You Know?

• The East Course covers only 126 acres of land, a very small area for a golf course.
• The distinctive wicker baskets on the East Course pins are said to have been inspired by Scottish shepherds' staffs, though the exact origin has never been fully verified.
• The point on the 18th fairway where Ben Hogan hit his famous 1-iron shot in the 1950 U.S. Open is commemorated with a plaque.
• Bobby Jones completed the Grand Slam at Merion in 1930, winning the U.S. Amateur 8 & 7.