It’s not often that top-level professional golf comes to the Philadelphia area.
For the next couple years, though, the area will have plenty for fans to witness, starting this May, when a small field of the world’s best men’s golfers will be competing at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course for the PGA Tour’s Truist Championship.
The tournament, previously sponsored by Wells Fargo before Truist Financial, a North Carolina-headquartered bank with a presence in the Philly region, took over in 2024. It had mostly been held at Quail Hollow Club, in Charlotte, since its inception in 2003. Since that course will be the venue of this year’s PGA Championship — one of golf’s majors which will itself be coming to the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square in 2026 — the venue needed to be changed and Philadelphia Cricket Club was chosen last August.
“You’re always excited to do something special or unique and bring something like this to town,” said Joie Chitwood, the tournament’s executive director. “Then reality sets in. OK, August to May, that’s not a lot of time.”
2025 Truist Championship Executive Director Joie Chitwood. (Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn)
Chitwood said the Cricket Club had been on the tournament organizer’s radar since it hosted a Senior PGA event in 2015. As one of eight signature events on the PGA Tour calendar, the Truist Championship has a smaller field of 70 to 76 players, as opposed to as many as 143 for larger events. The signature event was a good fit for Philadelphia Cricket Club’s relatively modest grounds, and minimal changes were needed to get it ready in the tight turnaround.
“We keep Wissahickon in championship conditions day in and day out. So when the tour needed a place to play and they only had nine months to decide where that was going to be played,” the Cricket Club was an option, said Dan Meersman, its Director of Grounds. “The fact that they decided to come here is fantastic.”
Philadelphia Cricket Club. (Courtesy of Philadelphia Cricket Club)
Forty days before the tournament, Chitwood said the response they’ve received headed to opening day has been better than everyone expected.
“It tells us that golf and Philadelphia go well together … I’m not sure the golf ecosystem gets enough credit in this market,” he said.
Among those who have committed to play is defending champion and recent Masters winner Rory McIlroy, the sixth-ever player to complete the major championship Grand Slam. Signature events have no cut, meaning that all the golfers participate all four days.
No chance of players having their tournaments end early also means they’re more likely to bring their families with them, giving organizers more chances to sell them and the tour on Philly for future tournament considerations.
“One of our PGA Tour representatives … said, ‘You know, I think one of our challenges is going to be that the players are going to want to come back every year,’” Meersman said. “I think that’s a testament to both the city of Philadelphia, the quality of the golf course that we’re going to provide for these players and the level of hospitality they’re going to get all around the city that week.”
Philadelphia Cricket Club Director of Grounds Dan Meersman. (Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn)
Chitwood said that the tournament organizers made sure to embrace the local market and give aspects of the tournament a Philly identity, naming areas of the tournament grounds after local landmarks like Independence Square, Boathouse Row and the Liberty Bell.
“It’s not just going to a PGA Tour event, you’re going to a Philadelphia PGA Tour event,” he said. “And our team has had so much fun tapping into these names and creating these experiences.”
The tournament estimates it will deliver $40-60 million in economic impact to the area, Chitwood said, along with an estimated $2.5 million charitable impact from local organizations as its legacy.
The food and some of the retail options at the tournament will also have a Philly twist to them, including Gazzos Steaks in Pottstown, Federal Donuts & Chicken, and Hangry Bear Creamery. Jason Kelce’s Underdog Apparel will also have a product available, with profits benefiting Kelce’s Be Philly Foundation charity.
Part of the tournament’s charitable legacy plan has been to highlight the hometown heroes in local organizations like First Tee Philadelphia and Philabundance, giving them access to see the tournament.
First Tee Philadelphia, a youth development organization that teaches life skills to children and teenagers through accessible and affordable golf, is also a signature partner of the tournament and received a $5,000 equipment grant program.
“Truist was clear from the start they wanted to give back,” said First Tee Philadelphia CEO Bill Hyndman. “They wanted to make a lasting impact in the community and not just come in and do one thing and be gone. So, we’re going to have a five-year commitment from Truist to be able to help us with retention, to help us with community engagement, they’re going to be sponsoring some tournaments for us, they helped us hire a community engagement manager. We’re really excited about that partnership.”
First Tee Philadelphia CEO Bill Hyndman. (Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn)
Hyndman said that First Tee currently reaches 40,000 students in 105 schools in Philadelphia. He hopes that the excitement and spectacle of top-level golf in Philly over the next two years can help make bigger inroads with the kids in the region.
For Philadelphia Cricket Club, it’s a chance to open the ropes and show off one of the region’s golfing gems to those arriving from near and far, as well as people watching the broadcast in over 200 countries in over 20 different languages.
“When you look at major markets around the United States — there’s some really magnificent ones — and the fact that Philadelphia is not an annual stop for any of the tours, it’s a pretty big surprise, given the quality of golf courses that we have,” Meersman said.
The four rounds of the Truist Championship run from Thursday to Sunday, May 8-11. Tickets are still available for each day, as well as May 7’s Pro-Am tournament.
Philadelphia Cricket Club. (Courtesy of Philadelphia Cricket Club)
