Gosselin’s team includes, from left: Dave Stofanak, Burke Mcfillin, Rich Reimers, Nick Rowden, Max Farbstein, Collin Domblesky and Joe Kopania. Photo by Jason Miczek
The snow is gone (thank goodness). The sun is been shining (hooray). Now, it’s time to play.
John Gosselin, director of agronomy at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa., has been in ready-set-go mode for a while. So has his team. This week, their efforts will show the world what they’ve done to the place. The 108th PGA Championship runs Thursday through Sunday.
While there are chances of rain overnight Wednesday into Thursday, the overall expected rainfall this week is minimal. The brutal winter that pounded the area with heavy snow is also a distant memory. All Gosselin and his team hope to accomplish now is to produce fond memories of an event that hasn’t happened there in decades. Aronimink GC last held a men’s major championship 64 years ago, when Gary Player, 2020 GCSAA Old Tom Morris Award recipient, won the PGA Championship in 1962.
“Obviously, weather is everything at this point,” says Gosselin, a 40-year GCSAA member. “You’ve got all the talent in the world with our team and the volunteers, so you can accomplish anything.”
In pre-championship media interviews this week, golfers have given the course solid grades. “Seems like they have made a lot of the harder holes even harder, but it’s just an amazing venue for a PGA Championship,” Keegan Bradley, former major champion and recent Ryder Cup captain, says.
Another former major champion, Xander Schauffele, says, “The course is firming up. Greens are diabolical. It should be a really good test.”
It sounds like the golf course maintenance department, which this week includes staff and volunteers from across the globe, are passing their test.
“We’re getting better every day. Put 100 people on property, from Delaware, Switzerland, Dubai and other places, and ask them to do work at the highest level and see them do it is pretty awe inspiring,” says Dave Stofanak, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Aronimink GC and 11-year association member. “They’re full throttle.”
PGA of America Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh said Wednesday that the leaders of the grounds maintenance team are producing in stellar fashion, which also indicates their staff and volunteers are coming through in a big way. “The conditioning of the golf course is incredible. John Gosselin, the director of agronomy and Dave Stofanak, the superintendent, have done incredible work to present what is a fabulous golf course,” Haigh said.
This isn’t Aronimink GC’s first rodeo. Besides the PGA Championship won by Player, the club has hosted significant events, including the 1977 U.S. Amateur, the Senior PGA Championship in 2003, the BMW Championship in 2018 and the PGA Women’s Championship in 2020. What all of this means to Gosselin is summed up in one word. “Everything,” he says. “It’s everyone coming together. Five years ago, we were preparing for the buildup to come. It’s been a big challenge that motivates us. A team that wants that challenge. And we have a membership that’s really come through for us.”
It’s been quite a ride for people like Robert Welsh, Aronimink assistant superintendent. Welsh is a native of Doylestown, Pa., approximately 40 minutes from the club. The Penn State University graduate served at a volunteer at the BMW Championship before joining the club’s staff in 2022.
“The golf course is special. The leadership seemed to have a good head on their shoulders. We have people who have stepped up,” says Welsh, who is expecting a baby in June with his wife, Jessica.
As he looked around this week and soaked up the hustle and bustle that a major championship brings, Rich Reimers, irrigation and project manager at Aronimink GC and a four-year GCSAA member, talked about what was going down not too long ago. Less than four months from the PGA Championship, Reimers had other things on his mind. “Being on a skid steer mowing snow. It was anxiety-provoking,” says Reimers, who started at Aronimink in 2000, long before he knew this major moment was on the horizon. “Now we’re here. It’s nice to see this place where we live is so appreciated by our membership at the golf course that we take care of.”
Howard Richman is GCM’s associate editor.