The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations:

Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia Chestnut Hill is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is known for the high incomes of its residents and high real estate values, as well as its private schools. Geography Boundaries Chestnut Hi ...

, and

Flourtown, Pennsylvania Flourtown is a census-designated place (CDP) in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Flourtown is adjacent to the neighborhoods of Erdenheim, Oreland, Whitemarsh, and Chestnut Hill. The population of Flourtown was 4,538 at ...

History

Founded on February 10, 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 ancestry who had played the game of cricket as students at the University of Pennsylvania. With the wish to continue to play together after their graduation, they formed the club under the leadership of William Rotch Wister. For the first 30 years of the club's existence, the club did not own any grounds and thus played cricket on any grounds available, such as at Camden, New Jersey. Then, in 1883, the club “came home” to Chestnut Hill due to the generosity of a benefactor, Henry H. Houston. Houston arranged for them to settle down at the club's present location on West Willow Grove Avenue in the St. Martins section of Chestnut Hill.

Location

The Philadelphia Cricket Club has two locations. Th
original location
in

where the main offices are located, along with the tennis courts, squash facilities, an eight-lane twenty-five meter swimming pool, and a short nine-hole golf course. Th
second location
is ten minutes away in Whitemarsh Township, near Flourtown, which holds two 18-hole golf courses. Philly Cricket Club

Sports

Golf

When the Golf Association of Philadelphia was organized in 1897, the club was one of four founding members with

Merion Merion Station, also known as Merion, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia to its west and is one of the communities that make up the Philadelphia Main Line. Merion Station is part of Lower Me ...

, Philadelphia Country Club and Aronimink. Both the Wissahickon and Militia Hill courses have been recognized for their outstanding layouts and course conditions over the years. (Wissahickon has been named a top-100 classic course multiple times and Militia Hill a top-25 golf course in Pennsylvania).

St. Martins Course

The original nine-hole course was built in 1895 by famed architect Willie Tucker (St. Andrew's Golf Club, Sand Point Country Club and Argyle Country Club) and was quickly replaced by a new eighteen-hole course in 1897. The old eighteen-hole course, known as St. Martins and now playing as a nine-hole layout, hosted the United States Open Championship in 1907 and 1910. The 1907 winner was

Alec Ross Alexander Ross (15 September 1879 – 25 June 1952) was a Scottish professional golfer. He was a native of Dornoch and learned his golf in his home country, but like many British professional golfers of his era he spent many years working a ...

, brother of famed architect Donald Ross, who chalked up a remarkable score of 302 for 72 holes. It was also during this championship that the first hole-in-one in U.S. Open competition was achieved by

Jack Hobens John Owen "Jack" Hobens (25 October 1880 – 25 March 1944) was a Scottish-American professional golfer. He was born in Dunbar, Scotland, to Thomas Hoben and Elizabeth (Annie) Owen. He learned the game of golf by starting out as a caddie. Jack h ...

. The 1910 Open victory went to

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 200 ...

, who shot 71 on the final day. Also entered that year was Cricket Club's own professional, Scottish-born Willie Anderson, one of four golfers who have won the U.S. Open four times. Anderson remains the only person to win in three consecutive years. This course is named "St. Martins" after the adjacent episcopal church, St. Martin-in-the-Fields. In 2015 the St Martins course was sold to the club by the Woodward Family as part of an open space initiative. Hosted the World Hickory Championship in 2016 & the National Hickory Championship in 2017 on the St Martins course. ''U.S. Open Champions and Scores'' ''Course Scorecard''

Wissahickon Course

A large tract of land was purchased in 1920, because the Club did not own the grounds on which the St. Martins golf course was built. It was A. W. Tillinghast ( Bethpage – Black, Baltusrol, Newport, San Francisco and

Winged Foot Winged Foot Golf Club is a private golf club in the northeastern United States, located in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. The club was founded in 1921, by a group largely made up of members of The New York Athletic Cl ...

) 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. The name "Wissahickon" comes from the

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

word for "Catfish Stream." The

Wissahickon Creek Wissahickon Creek is a tributary of the Schuylkill River in Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties, Pennsylvania. Wissahickon Creek rises in Montgomery County, runs approximately 23 miles (37 km) passing through and dividing Northwest P ...

runs adjacent to the course. Lorraine Run, which eventually dumps into the

, runs through the Wissahickon course. An abandoned

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly call ...

track runs through the course, along the 6th and 11th holes. On June 18, 2013, construction was started on a complete restoration of the Wissahickon course, led by designer Keith Foster and Director of Grounds Dan Meersman. Since the completion of the 2014 renovation, "Wissahickon" has hosted the 2014 Philadelphia Open, the 2015

PGA Professional National Championship The PGA Professional Championship is a golf tournament for golf club professionals and teachers who are members of the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It has been held by the PGA of America since 1968, when touring professionals spl ...

(With Militia Hill), the 2016

Constellation Senior Players Championship The Senior Players Championship, stylised by the PGA Tour as The SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, is one of the five major championships on golf's PGA Tour Champions. The inaugural event was played in 1983 and the age minimum is 50, the standard fo ...

, and will host the 2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball (originally scheduled for 2020, but deferred to 2024 by the USGA after cancellation). The course is dedicated to A.W. Tillinghast, who was a long-time member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club and a native of Philadelphia. ''Course Scorecard''

Militia Hill Course

In 1999, the Board of Governors made a decision to begin the development of a third golf course located on land acquired in the original purchase of the Flourtown property nearly eighty years before. After submissions by several top designers, the Club selected Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, who had already designed a number of highly rated courses throughout the United States and Canada (Erin Hills, Calusa Pines, Hamilton Farms and Naples National). The Club named the new course ‘Militia Hill’ in honor of the adjacent Militia Hill section of Fort Washington State Park, which had been occupied during the American Revolution by the Pennsylvania Militia just before moving on to their legendary winter encampment at

Valley Forge Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. In September 1777, Congress fled Philadelphia to escape the B ...

. Like the Wissahickon course, a train track runs through the middle of the golf course. Although this line is active, and golfers pass through a tunnel (which was constructed well before the golf course) twice each round. The course is dedicated to Willie Anderson, a member of the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...

, who at one point, early in the 20th century, was the head golf professional at the club. ''Course Scorecard''

Cricket

The cricket team was initially disbanded in 1924 but was later revived in 1998. The club is now one of the hosts of the annua
Philadelphia International Cricket Festival

Squash

Eight singles courts and two hardball doubles courts round out PCC's

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

program. Rich Wade is the director of squash. PCC has coached many national champions and countless players who went on to play intercollegiate squash.

Swimming

In 2019 PCC won the Country Club Swim Association of Greater Philadelphia League Championship. In 2006 the swimming team placed fourth at the Country Club Swimming Association of Greater Philadelphia's League Championships led by the William Penn Charter's high school swimming coach Kevin Berkoff.

Tennis – Lawn, Pickleball, & Platform

In 1881, the club was one of the founding members of the United States Lawn Tennis Association, today the

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis ...

. The club hosted the inaugural U.S. Women's National Singles Championship in 1887, and continued to host the event until 1921, when it moved to Forest Hills. The Women's National Doubles Championship (which started in 1889) and Mixed Doubles Championship (which started in 1892) were also held at the club until 1921. These events later combined with the men's singles and doubles championships to form the U.S. Open. Annually, the club hosts the USTA 30-35 and 70s age group championships. The club operates 18 rotating grass courts, nine HydroClay courts, and two indoor hard courts.

Platform Tennis

In 2014, the platform tennis hut was listed as one of the most impressive by ''Town & Country''. The club hosted the 2017 Philly Cricket Invitational for American

Platform Tennis Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

Association finals and was one of the National Championship hosts. The club has 4 permanent platform tennis courts.

Pickleball

Pickleball Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket/paddle sport where two players (singles), or four players (doubles), hit a perforated hollow polymer ball over a net using solid-faced paddles. Opponents on either side of the net hit the ball back and ...

became a prominent sport at PCC in 2019. Constructing six outdoor courts and eight temporary indoor courts on the indoor tennis courts.

Trapshooting

Due to the extensive efforts in recent years of the Trapshooting Committee,

trapshooting Trap shooting, or trapshooting in North America, is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting, which is shooting shotguns at clay targets. The other disciplines are skeet shooting and sporting clays. They are disting ...

has become a thriving sport at PCC. Competitions are held November through April at clubs around the Philadelphia region.

References

External links

Philadelphia Cricket ClubHistory of Chestnut Hill Academy
which is across the street and shares some history {{Authority control American club cricket teams Golf clubs and courses in Pennsylvania Golf clubs and courses designed by A. W. Tillinghast Golf clubs and courses designed by Michael Hurdzan History of tennis Buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Tennis venues in Pennsylvania Cricket clubs established in 1854 Sports in Philadelphia Athletics clubs in the United States 1854 establishments in Pennsylvania History of Philadelphia Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia Clubs and societies in Philadelphia Cricket in Philadelphia