New Schedule, New Venues: PGA Tour Host Course Wish List

When the PGA Tour announced Tuesday that it was restructuring its schedule, introducing match play to the Tour Championship and hoping to bring Tour events to iconic venues it had not previously been to, one part of the report caught our eye. ESPN stated that the Tour will be leaving East Lake and bringing its season-ending Tour Championship to places “such as” Pine Valley, Cypress Point, and Seminole Golf Club. 

A lot of work is being done in that sentence by the clause “such as.” As our own Garrett Morrison put it on X: 

I will believe "Tour Championship at Pine Valley/Cypress Point" when I see it on the schedule, and not a moment sooner. 

In its release, the Tour said it has already identified 10 of the 15 markets where it will hold tournaments as part of its Championship Series, and is looking at larger markets to fill out the five remaining spots on the calendar. That’s an encouraging development, but forgive us if we remain a little skeptical that the Tour will be able to bring events to some of the best courses in the United States. We decided to put together a wish list, and also a reality check for some of the biggest cities. 

Boston

Where they should go: The International, The Country Club
Where they’ll likely end up: TPC Boston

Coore and Crenshaw recently renovated the International Pines Course and it looks outstanding. Pre-renovation it was one of the longest courses in the world. After Coore and Crenshaw’s rerouting and shortening of the course, it leaves a lot of space for infrastructure. The Country Club would obviously be a dream come true but the club has made it clear it’s only interested in hosting a U.S. Open every 20 years. It would be a pipedream for a regular Tour event. That leaves us with the most likely outcome, TPC Boston. 

Denver

Where they should go: Colorado Golf Club, Cherry Hills
Where they’ll likely end up: Castle Pines, TPC Colorado 

Colorado Golf Club has hosted some large amateur golf tournaments and is fantastic. Cherry Hills has tremendous history, but it’s often in the USGA discussion, much like the Country Club. I think one of these would be feasible, but I can see them going for Castle Pines, which fared well for the BMW in 2024. 

New York

Where they should go: Ridgewood, Plainfield, Bethpage Black, Westchester CC
Where they’ll likely end up: Liberty National 

A dream setup would be to rotate the tournament between New Jersey, Westchester County, and Long Island. Great news for the Tour, because there is a great venue in each area! Unfortunately, we have seen the Tour time and time again opt for the easy setup, which is Liberty National. That course is guaranteed to give us beautiful skyline views, a ferry ride to the course, and abominable golf course architecture.

San Francisco

Where they should go: Olympic Club (Lake), Lake Merced
Where they’ll likely end up: TPC Harding Park

Do you like rough-laden long par 4s with minimal topographical interest? Then I have a course for you — Harding Park. The 2021 PGA host is the obvious choice for the Bay Area. It’s already hosted Tour events in the past, like the match play. A tournament that rotated between Olympic and Merced would be great fun, I’m just not sure the latter has enough space. Olympic would probably prefer to focus on its upcoming major (2028 PGA Championship) and Ryder Cup (2032) duties. 

Seattle

Where they should go: Chambers Bay
Where they’ll likely end up: Sahalee 

It has to go to Chambers Bay. It just has to. The PNW is too good a market and Chambers is too good a host for it to go to the claustrophobic Sahalee. No course in America deserves the opportunity to redeem itself as a professional golf venue more than Chambers. 

Washington, D.C.

Where they should go: Congressional Country Club 
Where they’ll likely end up: TPC Potomac or Caves Valley

D.C. is a great golf city with not a lot of great golf options. Congressional is wonderful after its Andrew Green redesign; whether it is willing to host the Tour year in and year out is doubtful. Did I hear that TPC Potomac music? Or they could just say they are hitting the D.C. market and go to Caves. 

Philadelphia

Where they should go: Aronimink, Philadelphia Cricket Club, Merion
Where they’ll likely end up: Wilmington CC or Caves Valley

Let’s start with Merion — which isn’t hosting — by acknowledging how cool it would be. Instead, I would like to focus on whether Aronimink and Philly Cricket Club would alternate years of hosting. Maybe you could throw in Wilmington and have a rotation where each club hosts once every three years. Of course, the Tour may just go the easy route and go to Caves Valley. Much like Quail Hollow, Caves always seems eager to host. It’s also not in Philadelphia, but close enough in the Tour’s eyes.