The Golf Association of Philadelphia has made it official: the 123rd Philadelphia Open will be played July 12-13, 2027, and the survivors of the field will finish the championship at Pine Valley Golf Club — the course perennially ranked No. 1 in America.
The format is what makes this announcement remarkable. Round 1 will be contested Monday, July 12 at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pa. A cut will follow, and only those who make it through will advance to Pine Valley in Pine Hill, N.J. for Tuesday’s final round.
A carrot like no other in amateur golf
For the amateurs in the region, the setup amounts to one of the great incentives in competitive golf: play your way onto Pine Valley. The Philadelphia Open annually assembles the strongest field of amateurs and professionals in the Delaware Valley, and GAP amateurs who meet the handicap requirement can enter through the championship’s normal qualifying process. Survive 18 holes at Rolling Green, and the reward is a competitive round at a course most golfers will never see inside the gates — a private club where non-members play only by invitation of a member.
In recent editions, the Open Championship has been a two-day, 36-hole stroke-play event with a cut to the low 60 and ties after Round 1. In 2027, that cut carries a great deal more weight.
Not Pine Valley’s first Philadelphia Open — but a first-of-its-kind format
Contrary to what some fans may assume, this is not the first time Pine Valley has hosted the Philadelphia Open. The 108th edition in 2012 was played entirely at Pine Valley as a 36-hole, one-day marathon, and it produced a memorable result: Huntingdon Valley Country Club amateur Andrew Mason defended his title in front of a crowd of more than 1,400, becoming the first amateur to go back-to-back in the event since the legendary Jay Sigel in 1986-87…