Adam Scott is leader of the AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club after one round and is apparently very taken with the course. In fact, he says the Newton Square course is in better shape than Congressional was for the US Open. He also addressed what several other players said about the course feeling more like a US Open than the actual open did.
“I have to say it’s set up very, very nicely here.” Scott said, "It’s a great golf course obviously, but in great shape. But they’ve set the course up beautifully. You know, the greens are perfect, and they’ve got very generous fairways but severe rough, which is a nice balance. There’s good scores out there, but you have to play well, I think.
“My only comment about the U.S. Open was they obviously didn’t get the greens where they really would have liked them, I think. And here I think they’ve got the greens probably where the U.S. Open would have liked them on a Thursday. "
Joe Ogilve also mentioned that the course reminded him of a US Open.
“This course is set up like a U.S. Open. The fairways are a little bit wider, but it’s definitely playing very similar, except for this year’s U.S. Open”
Ogilive was also asked where he would rank Aronimink among the courses he plays on tour.
“I’d rank it very high. I think for me it just sets up from the tee box really, really well. We don’t play a lot of holes that you can kind of sit back and you see the whole entire hole from the fairway, and you probably see that on eight or nine holes here, and I just kind of like that look. I think it’s just really well bunkered. I think the bunkers are in the right places, and it just kind of sets up well.
The greens are very tricky, but they’re true. They’re just tricky, a lot of hills and dales, and the pin placements today I thought were tough. "