Best golf courses near Phoenixville, PA

Merion East has long been considered the best course on the tightest acreage in America, and when it hosted the U.S. Open in 2013, its first since 1981, the present generation of big hitters couldn’t conquer this clever little course. They couldn’t consistently hit its twisting fairways, which are edged by creeks, hodge-podge rough and OB stakes. Additionally, players couldn’t consistently hold its canted greens, edged by bunkers that stare back. Justin Rose won with a 72-hole total of one-over-par, two ahead of Jason Day and Phil Mickelson. With Gil Hanse's extensive two-year renovation after that tournament, making even more improvements at Merion's East Course, the design should be even more polished and pristine when the U.S. Amateur returns in 2026 and the U.S. Open returns again in 2030.

The original 18 at Philadelphia Country Club, known as Spring Mill, was designed by William Flynn in 1927 (Tom Fazio later added an additional nine holes in 1990, called Centennial). The appropriate word to describe the course and the property is “grand,” especially after Jim Nagle’s 2023 and 2024 renovation work expanded fairways and greens, upscaled the bunkering to better match Flynn’s original hazards and opened up the remaining sight lines so the full scale of the land’s movements and vistas across the west Philadelphia horizon could be appreciated. The design is full of standout holes like the uphill, double-dogleg second, the sweeping downhill fourth and the par-3 seventh nestled in a cove. But the second nine stretch of holes, particularly from the par-5 12th walking along a high ridgeline through the powerful dogleg right 17th that banks through a valley corridor into a green sitting in a secluded hollow are in a class with the best of any course in the Philadelphia market. Philadelphia Country Club was the site of the 1939 U.S. Open, won by Byron Nelson only after an additional 36-hole playoff with Craig Wood and Denny Shute. The tournament may be most remembered, however, as Sam Snead’s best chance to win the Open. Playing the 72nd hole, he needed only par to win but thought he needed a birdie to tie Nelson. After driving the ball in a bunker on the par-5 18th, he elected to go for the green with his 2½ wood instead of laying up with an iron. That shot caught another bunker under the lip and he proceeded to make an 8. The infamous hole is now the par-5 third—the sequencing changed when the clubhouse was relocated to the other side of the course in the 1970s.

Aronimink is an object lesson in architectural evolution. After Donald Ross completed his design in 1928, he proclaimed, “I intended to make this my masterpiece.” That didn’t keep club members from bringing in William Gordon in the 1950s to eliminate out-of-play fairway bunkers and move other bunkers closer to greens. The course was later revamped by Dick Wilson, George Fazio and Robert Trent Jones. In the 1990s and into the 2000s, Ron Prichard, one of the profession’s original restoration specialists, began returning Aronimink back to Ross’ conception based on the architect’s drawings and field diagrams. But there was always a discrepancy between what Ross drew in plans and what was actually built in 1928. A more recent renovation by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, who live nearby, has put the course’s architecture more in line with what aerial photographs depict of the early design, particularly the bunkering that might have been imagined as larger in scale but built in smaller, more scatter-shot formations.

Stonewall’s Old course is a minimalist layout designed by Tom Doak, about 45 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The challenging layout has a good amount of elevation change, including at the par-4 finisher, where the approach plays dramatically downhill to a green set in front of the old stone clubhouse. There are five strong par 3s, including the downhill fifth, where the green is guarded by wetlands short and a creek to the right. The club hosted the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur and the 2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.

In just his second solo design, Gil Hanse’s Applebrook aims to provide a challenge with options for playability. With wide fairways and green complexes both subtle and intricate, Hanse allows for players of all levels the opportunity to try and put up a score. While bunkers are plentiful and varied, they do not overwhelm the golfer, and the water’s presence on nearly half the holes provides for manageable forced carries. The course is not long in comparison to some of Hanse’s championship renovations, and the wide fairways allow for aggressive tee balls. Accuracy is rewarded equally to avoid the 40-plus greenside bunkers and to deal with difficult hole locations.

Llanerch Country Club in Havertown is ranked as one of the best golf courses in Pennsylvania. Discover our experts' reviews and tee time information

Gulph Mills Golf Club in King of Prussia is ranked as one of the best golf courses in Pennsylvania. Discover our experts' reviews and tee time information

Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield is ranked as one of the best golf courses in Pennsylvania. Discover our experts' reviews and tee time information

Designed by Donald Ross in the late 1920s on an old steeplechase horse-racing loop, this rolling piece of land was restored in the 2000s and is one of the best public courses in the Philly area.

Philadelphia Cricket Club's Militia Hill course in Flourton is ranked as one of the best golf courses in Pennsylvania. Discover our experts' reviews and tee time information

Formerly The Ace Club, built by the Chubb Foundation back in 2003, Union League Liberty Hill is a Gary Player design sitting on 311 rolling acres. Liberty Hill was now acquired by the Philadelphia Union League as part of its growing golf portfolio.

The Golf Course at Glen Mills sits about 40 minutes from downtown Philadelphia, but the tumbling topography makes this public course one of the best options in the Philly area. “A beautiful escape from the hustle and bustle of Philly,” one panelist says. There is a nice mix of open holes and ones that require more precise ball-striking. The course is cut into a valley and presents a lot of elevation change. Sprawling bunkers add uncertainty to many shots, as the bunkers and elevation change can make depth perception difficult.

Situated just north of Philadelphia, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club was the first 18-hole course designed by George C. Thomas. Thomas designed the course, originally known as Mount Airy Country Club, on his family’s estate. The course is one of the few that Thomas created before heading to California, where he designed Los Angeles Country Club, Riviera and Bel-Air Country Club, among other notable layouts. At Whitemarsh, Thomas used sprawling bunkers with jagged thumbs to shape many holes, as he would come to do at his top designs. Many of the greens accept run-up shots, making Whitemarsh playable for the average golfer, though clever shaping requires precise shots to get close to many hole locations.

Stonewall's North Course in Elverson is one of the best courses in Pennsylvania. Check out our experts' reviews and how they rate the courses.