Senior Players Goes To Philadelphia Cricket Club

The Senior Players has been to some really stellar places in recent years (Fox Chapel, Baltimore CC) and now it'll be going to Philadelphia Cricket Club in 2016. The club's Wissahickon course, restored by architect Keith Foster with Dan Meersman and his grounds team has long been one of the most-in-need A.W. Tillinghast designs.

All reviews have been positive, making the PGA Tour's Senior Players grab impressive considering that the PGA of America is thought to be very much a fan of the facility too. Hopefully this will be the beginning of several events at this important and influential early American club.

For Immediate Release, followed by some images courtesy of Golfshots' Evan Schiller.

Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship Heads to Philadelphia in 2016
The Philadelphia Cricket Club to Host Champions Tour Major

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – The Champions Tour announced today that the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, one of five major championships on the Champions Tour schedule, will head to The Philadelphia Cricket Club in 2016 for the first time. Defending champion Bernhard Langer made the announcement during Golf Channel’s Morning Drive show live from THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass this morning.

Before he challenges The Philadelphia Cricket Club in 2016, Langer will compete in THE PLAYERS Championship this week at TPC Sawgrass, a perk as the winner of last year’s Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS at Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh. Next month, Langer will then defend his major championship title at Belmont Country Club in Boston, June 9-14.

“It’s a privilege to win the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS and be here at TPC Sawgrass to represent the Champions Tour at THE PLAYERS,” said Langer. “I look forward to defending my title at Belmont Country Club in June. I am also excited to know the championship is going to an historic golf course next year, The Philadelphia Cricket Club, where fans will get to witness some of the best players in the history of our game. We are fortunate to be able to compete on such an excellent course.”

“We are pleased that the tournament is headed to Philadelphia following an exciting championship next month in Boston at Belmont Country Club,” said Bruce Stewart, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Constellation. “Philadelphia is another important market for Constellation and is a market in which we have been active for years providing competitive energy services to many commercial and residential customers. This move will allow us to rotate the championship to another memorable course and to continue a long history of being active in and giving back to the communities we serve.”

“The Philadelphia Cricket Club is proud to have been selected to host the 2016 SENIOR PLAYERS Championship,” Michael J. Vergare, president of The Philadelphia Cricket Club, said. “We are excited to host some of the legends in golf on our newly restored A.W. Tillinghast designed Wissahickon Golf Course. The history of golf in America is intertwined with our club and our founding members of the Golf Association of Philadelphia. We welcome the opportunity to share our great course with the PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour.”

Joe Rotellini, executive director of the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, is also excited about the move to one of Philadelphia’s most classic courses in 2016.

“This announcement today allows us to plan well in advance and make the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS in Philadelphia an event not to be missed,” Rotellini said. “Champions Tour professionals will love The Philadelphia Cricket Club, and so will the fans and sponsors.”

For more information on the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, please visit cspgolf.com or call the championship office at (781) 205-2040. For updates and a behind-the-scenes look at championship preparations, follow the championship at facebook.com/SENIORPLAYERS, twitter.com/seniorplayers and instagram.com/cspgolf.

About The Philadelphia Cricket Club
Founded in 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 descent who had played the game while students at the University of Pennsylvania. 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. The original nine-hole course was built in 1895 by famed architect Willie Tucker and was quickly replaced by a new eighteen-hole course in 1897. The old eighteen-hole course, known as St. Martins, hosted the United States Open Championship in 1907 and 1910. Because the Club did not own the grounds on which the St. Martins golf course was built, a large tract of land was purchased in 1920. It was A.W. Tillinghast 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, and it is rated as the No. 32 classic course by Golfweek. Construction on a complete restoration of the Wissahickon course took place in 2013, led by designer Keith Foster and Director of Grounds Dan Meersman. The Philadelphia Cricket Club is the only club to open a golf course in each of the three past centuries in the United States, St. Martins in the 19th century, Wissahickon in the 20th and Militia Hill this century.