Philadelphia Cricket Club

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Template other Template:Template other The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded Template:Time ago in 1854 in southeastern Pennsylvania, is the oldest country club in the United States. Its two locations are in Chestnut Hill and Flourtown, north-northwest of downtown Philadelphia.

History

File:Philadelphia Cricket Club.jpg

First building, designed by G. W. & W. D. Hewitt, (1883–84). The building was destroyed by fire in 1909.

Founded on February 10, 1854, the Philadelphia Cricket Club is the oldest country club in the United States. As the name indicates, the club was formed by a group of young men of English ancestry who had played the game of cricket as students at the University of Pennsylvania. With the wish to continue to play together after their graduation, they formed the club under the leadership of William Rotch Wister.

For the first 30 years of the club's existence, the club did not own any grounds and thus played cricket on any grounds available, such as at Camden, New Jersey. Then, in 1883, the club “came home” to Chestnut Hill due to the generosity of a benefactor, Henry H. Houston. Houston arranged for them to settle down at the club's present location on West Willow Grove Avenue in the St. Martins section of Chestnut Hill.

One of the most respected bibliographers of golf literature was a long-time member. Joseph S.F. Murdoch was an American golf bibliographer, author, and collector. He was a co-founder of the Golf Collectors Society (now the Golf Heritage Society) and a life member of the British Golf Collectors Society. His work in cataloging golf literature, particularly The Library of Golf (1968) and The Game of Golf and the Printed Word, 1566-1985 (1987), remains foundational in the field.

Location

The Philadelphia Cricket Club has two locations. The original location in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia where the main offices are located, along with the tennis courts, squash facilities, an eight-lane twenty-five meter swimming pool, and a short nine-hole golf course. The second location is ten minutes away in Whitemarsh Township, near Flourtown, which has two 18-hole golf courses.

File:Philly Cricket Club.JPG

Chestnut Hill in December 2010

Sports

Golf

When the Golf Association of Philadelphia was organized in 1897, the club was one of four founding members with Merion, Philadelphia Country Club, and Aronimink. Both the Wissahickon and Militia Hill courses have been recognized for their outstanding layouts and course conditions over the years. (Wissahickon was ranked #98 in Golf Magazine’s top 100 United States course rankings for 2024-25 and Militia Hill is ranked as a top-25 golf course in Pennsylvania).

St. Martins Course

The original nine-hole course was built in 1895 by famed architect Willie Tucker (St. Andrew's Golf Club, Sand Point Country Club, and Argyle Country Club) and was quickly replaced by a new eighteen-hole course in 1897. The old eighteen-hole course, known as St. Martins and now playing as a nine-hole layout, hosted the United States Open Championship in 1907 and 1910. The 1907 winner was Alec Ross, brother of famed architect Donald Ross, who chalked up a remarkable score of 302 for 72 holes. It was also during this championship that the first hole-in-one in U.S. Open competition was achieved by Jack Hobens. The 1910 Open victory went to Alex Smith, who shot 71 on the final day. Also entered that year was Cricket Club's own professional, Scottish-born Willie Anderson, the first of four players to win the U.S. Open four times, later joined by Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus; Anderson remains the only one to win in three consecutive. This course is named "St. Martins" after the adjacent Episcopal church, St. Martin-in-the-Fields. In 2015, the St. Martins course was sold to the club by the Woodward family as part of an open space initiative. Hosted the World Hickory Match Play Invitational (2014-16) & the National Hickory Championship in 2017 on the St Martins course.

U.S. Open champions and scores

Year	Champion	Score
1907	Template:Flagicon Alec Ross	76–74–76–76=302
1910	Template:Flagicon Alex Smith	73–73–79–73=298

Course scorecard (men's tees)

Key	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
Par	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	35
Handicap	5	7	1	6	9	4	2	3	8	—
Yards	343	257	322	289	110	316	368	326	222	2553

Wissahickon Course

A large tract of land was purchased in 1920, because the Club did not own the grounds on which the St. Martins golf course was built. It was A. W. Tillinghast (Bethpage Black, Baltusrol, Oak Hills, Newport Country Club, San Francisco Golf Club and Winged Foot) who recommended the Flourtown site and who designed the new course, which opened in 1922. The Wissahickon course is one of the few remaining courses designed by Tillinghast that has had minimal changes over the past 80 years. The name "Wissahickon" comes from the Lenape word for "Catfish Stream." The Wissahickon Creek runs adjacent to the course. Lorraine Run, which eventually dumps into the Wissahickon Creek, runs through the Wissahickon course. An abandoned Reading Railroad track runs through the course, along the 6th and 11th holes.

On June 18, 2013, construction was started on a complete restoration of the Wissahickon course, led by designer Keith Foster and Director of Grounds Dan Meersman.

Since the completion of the 2014 renovation, Wissahickon has hosted the 2014 Philadelphia Open, the 2015 PGA Professional National Championship (with Militia Hill), the 2016 Constellation Senior Players Championship, the 2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, and the 2025 Truist Championship, a signature event on the PGA Tour. The course is dedicated to A.W. Tillinghast, who was a long-time member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club and a native of Philadelphia.

Course scorecard

Wissahickon

Tee	Rating/Slope	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
I–Championship	74.8/140	424	423	122	517	215	498	553	365	373	3490	172	427	546	447	435	240	426	449	487	3629	7119
II–Back	72.8/134	395	396	115	487	197	475	514	347	350	3276	147	386	538	409	411	217	408	419	469	3404	6680
III–Middle	70.4/130	388	368	107	464	160	432	492	323	336	3070	120	338	491	393	369	181	388	382	446	3108	6178
IV–Forward	67/129	368	325	97	410	134	391	440	301	297	2763	114	324	421	341	287	153	341	348	417	2746	5509
Par	Men	4	4	3	4	3	4	5	4	4	35	3	4	5	4	4	3	4	4	4	35	70
SI	Men	13	7	17	3	15	5	1	11	9		18	16	10	8	2	14	12	6	4
Par	Women	5	4	3	5	3	5	5	4	4	38	3	4	5	4	4	3	4	4	5	36	74
SI	Women	9	3	15	5	17	11	1	7	13		18	12	6	10	2	16	8	14	4		Militia Hill Course In 1999, the Board of Governors made a decision to begin the development of a third golf course located on land acquired in the original purchase of the Flourtown property nearly eighty years before. After submissions by several top designers, the club selected Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, who had already designed a number of highly rated courses throughout the United States and Canada (Erin Hills, Calusa Pines, Hamilton Farms and Naples National). The club named the new course ‘Militia Hill’ in honor of the adjacent Militia Hill section of Fort Washington State Park, which had been occupied during the American Revolution by the Pennsylvania Militia just before moving on to their legendary winter encampment at Valley Forge. Like the Wissahickon course, a train track runs through the middle of the golf course. Although this line is active, and golfers pass through a tunnel (which was constructed well before the golf course) twice each round. The course is dedicated to Willie Anderson, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, who at one point, early in the 20th century, was the head golf professional at the club. Course scorecard Militia Hill Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total I–Championship 75/136 410 405 538 391 188 578 447 404 244 3605 420 160 397 475 529 227 394 585 435 3622 7227 II–Back 72.8/133 384 376 493 373 169 555 441 376 225 3392 399 130 379 446 507 199 371 561 411 3403 6795 III–Middle 71/125 349 333 479 339 147 527 409 342 202 3127 368 119 362 426 484 167 345 535 380 3186 6313 IV–Forward 67/119 309 295 446 305 111 463 332 310 170 2741 297 102 319 351 437 141 290 459 312 2708 5449 Par Men 4 4 5 4 3 5 4 4 3 36 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 5 4 36 72 SI Men 15 7 5 9 13 1 3 11 17 6 18 14 10 2 16 12 4 8 Par Women 4 4 5 4 3 5 4 4 3 36 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 5 4 36 72 SI Women 5 1 3 9 15 7 11 13 17 10 18 12 8 2 16 14 4 6 Cricket The cricket team was initially disbanded in 1924 but was later revived in 1998. The club is now one of the hosts of the annual Philadelphia International Cricket Festival. Squash Eight singles courts and two hardball doubles courts round out PCC's squash program. Rich Wade is the director of squash. PCC has coached many national champions and countless players who went on to play intercollegiate squash. Swimming In 2019 PCC won the Country Club Swim Association of Greater Philadelphia League Championship. In 2006 the swimming team placed fourth at the Country Club Swimming Association of Greater Philadelphia's League Championships led by the William Penn Charter's high school swimming coach Kevin Berkoff. Tennis – Lawn, Pickleball, & Platform File:National women's tennis.jpg National Women's Tennis Tournament at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. Photo: circa 1910–20 In 1881, the club was one of the founding members of the United States Lawn Tennis Association, today the USTA. The club hosted the inaugural U.S. Women's National Singles Championship in 1887, and continued to host the event until 1921, when it moved to Forest Hills. The Women's National Doubles Championship (which started in 1889) and Mixed Doubles Championship (which started in 1892) were also held at the club until 1921. These events later combined with the men's singles and doubles championships to form the U.S. Open. Annually, the club hosts the USTA 30-35 and 70s age group championships. The club operates 18 rotating grass courts, nine HydroClay courts, and two indoor hard courts. Platform Tennis In 2014, the platform tennis hut was listed as one of the most impressive by Town & Country. The club hosted the 2017 Philly Cricket Invitational for American Platform Tennis Association finals and was one of the National Championship hosts. The club has 4 permanent platform tennis courts. Pickleball Pickleball became a prominent sport at PCC in 2019. Constructing six outdoor courts and eight temporary indoor courts on the indoor tennis courts. Trapshooting Due to the extensive efforts in recent years of the Trapshooting Committee, trapshooting has become a thriving sport at PCC. Competitions are held November through April at clubs around the Philadelphia region. See also Philadelphian cricket team Merion Cricket Club Germantown Cricket Club Belmont Cricket Club References External links Philadelphia Cricket Club History of Chestnut Hill Academy, which is across the street and shares some history