Rumors have circulated for weeks that the 2023 PGA Championship will be held at the Rochester, N.Y., club, which would make it the 11th major tournament at club. An official announcement is scheduled to be made at the property on September 9.
The PGA of America and Oak Hill Country Club will make a major announcement at 9 a.m. on September 9 at the historic Rochester, N.Y., club, where it’s expected to be revealed that PGA Championship will return to the course, the Rochester-based Democrat & Chronicle reported.
Two weeks ago there were multiple reports that the PGA had selected Oak Hill to be the venue for its 2023 major, but there has been no official announcement. This would be the 11th major tournament at Oak Hill, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
In mid-August, when asked to comment, Oak Hill club president Bill Strassburg said, “The answer to your question is that we don’t comment on rumor or speculation. As far as we’re concerned, it’s rumor and speculation.”
However, Strassburg sent a letter to Oak Hill members on September 3, inviting them to the announcement, but didn’t indicate what would be revealed during the joint news conference with the PGA, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
“At this time we are not able to share with you details about the content of these meetings,” he wrote, referring to the news conference and a reception later Wednesday evening. “However, we feel that the information shared in these meetings is good news for Oak Hill and you will be pleased when you hear it.”
In the last decade Oak Hill, designed by famed golf architect Donald Ross, has hosted the 2013 PGA Championship and 2008 Senior PGA Championship. It also hosted the PGA in 1980 and 2003; U.S. Opens in 1956, 1968, 1980 and 1989; the 1995 Ryder Cup; and the 1949 and 1998 U.S. Amateurs. It also hosted the U.S. Senior Open in 1984, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
C&RB featured Oak Hill as its cover story in September 2013 (“Major Mastery”).
Oak Hill has continually made inquiries to the United States Golf Association about hosting a future U.S. Open, but it has been rebuffed. Not because of the quality and difficulty of the course, but because the USGA feels Rochester cannot produce enough revenue based on the market size. Oak Hill last hosted a U.S. Open in 1989, though it did host the USGA’s U.S. Amateur in 1998, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
The PGA of America has no such concerns as the governing body of the PGA Championship, Senior PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, and new this year the Women’s PGA Championship, which was held at Westchester Country Club. That tournament was formerly the LPGA Championship, which was sponsored by Wegmans and played locally at Locust Hill Country Club (2010 to 2013) and Monroe Golf Club (2014), the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
But the LPGA and PGA wanted to move the tournament to different venues around the country. That meant this summer was the first in 38 years in which the Rochester area, considered a strong golf town, didn’t host a top-shelf event. However, the Toyota Danielle Downey Classic—a Symetra Tour event—was held in July at Brook-Lea Country Club in Gates. The LPGA-affiliated Symetra Tour is a minor league that grooms players for the full LPGA Tour, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
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