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. 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. In 1930, the U.S. Amateur returned to Merion, where Bobby Jones completed the Grand Slam. Merion's 1950 U.S. Open was the site of Ben Hogan's comeback after a near-fatal car accident.

The U.S. Open in 1971 at Merion resulted in a playoff between Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino. Following David Graham's win at the U.S. Open at Merion in 1981, the course was lengthened to nearly 7000 yards. After successfully hosting the U.S. Amateur in 2005, the USGA awarded a fifth U.S. Open to Merion, held in 2013.

Reader's Guide

The East Course covers only 126 acres, a very small area for a golf course. It was ranked fifth in Golf Digest's "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses" in 2015. Jack Nicklaus has said of Merion East, "Acre for acre, it may be the best test of golf in the world." Wilson's designs were the first courses designed to provide both significant penalties for deviation from lines of play and multiple possible means for reaching the pin from the tee.

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 pin markers at Merion East are 7 ft tall including the 14-inch baskets, 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.

Did You Know?

• Merion's distinctive Scottish-style bunkers are known as the 'white faces of Merion,' named by top amateur player Chick Evans.
• Ben Hogan hit his famous 1-iron shot on the 72nd hole of the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion, forcing a playoff he later won.