Jeffersonville is hosting the 2026 GAP Mid-Amateur, becoming the first public course to host one of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s major tournaments in its history.
Erik Matuszewski
The Philadelphia region is set to hold another historic golf tournament, and a major in its own right, on the heels of the PGA Championship.
For the first time in the 129-year history of the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP), the oldest amateur golf association in the U.S., one of the GAP’s major championships will be held at a public golf course. In this case, it’s the municipally owned and operated Jeffersonville Golf Club, which will play host to the GAP Mid-Amateur Championship for amateur players 25 and over on May 20-21.
It’s a significant nod for public golf in a metro area with the sixth-most golfers in the U.S., over 600,000 in total, per the National Golf Foundation. While Philadelphia has a wealth of prominent private clubs, most notably places like Merion and Aronimink (the site of this year’s PGA Championship), Jeffersonville is one of several historic public golf facilities in the region getting well-deserved attention, and investment, that’s improving the product for local golfers.
Cobbs Creek Golf Course has been the headline-grabber, thanks to a $180 million renovation project that includes golf as well as community amenities, and Jeffersonville has more quietly been undertaking a restoration project of its own. The course, operated by West Norriton Township, was originally designed by Donald Ross, the Hall of Fame architect who designed nearby Aronimink as well as Pinehurst No. 2 and hundreds of other U.S. courses.
The par-3 8th green at Jeffersonville GC.
Jeffersonville Golf Club
Golf course architect Ron Pritchard, a Donald Ross restoration expert and a Pennsylvania resident, has been modernizing Jeffersonville since the early 2000s and more recently has been helping a former protégé, Tyler Rae, with his renovation efforts at the course. Pritchard said he’s encouraged the township appreciates the value and history of Jeffersonville and continues to make investments that benefit public golfers.
“It’s amazing. This town is head over heels in love with this place,” said Pritchard. “It’s a gold mine. I mean, they’ve exceeded 50,000 rounds of golf here each of the last four years. I think this is one of the best examples of what a municipality can do.”
Jeffersonville’s New Clubhouse
In addition to the work on the golf course, which includes improving bunkers and teeing areas as well as re-grassing, Jeffersonville in 2024 completed a new $12 million state-of-the-art clubhouse. The new building features a restaurant, banquet facilities, and a downstairs area called The Stables that includes six golf simulator bays that extend the golf day and the golf season. The name is a nod to another part of the course’s history, having been laid out atop a former horse racing track.
Local golfers putt on the severely sloped 18th green at Jeffersonville GC.
Erik Matuszewski
There’s more work that Pritchard would like to see done, including redoing the course’s greens in stages. That includes pushing out the perimeter of the putting surfaces and improving drainage, but he’s appreciative that improvements are being made – in large part with the oversight of course superintendent Rich Shilling — even if it’s piecemeal given the more restrained budget with which the municipality is operating.
“The money that is being spent on golf courses today, it’s beyond my imagination,” said Pritchard. “And there’s a lot of things that you can do rather than get into a keep up with the Joneses situation. There’s a lot that you can do to ensure that the quality is good.”
The GAP bringing one of its majors to a public facility was a real “leap of faith,” Pritchard said, but added that he thinks the facility is well prepared to play host. And perhaps just as importantly, it sends a clear message about the importance of public golf, and continuing to invest in quality public golf, in one of the game’s biggest markets.
Jeffersonville GC has been undergoing periodic course renovations in recent years and also opened a new clubhouse in 2024.
Erik Matuszewski