2023 PGA Championship Preview Video: The Architecture of Oak Hill East

In 2023, the PGA Championship returns to Oak Hill and its East Course, one of the historic major championship venues in the United States. This Fried Egg PGA preview video showcases the club’s history and what the pros will confront at the second men’s major championship of the year.

While Oak Hill Country Club has hosted just about every notable rotating men’s championship from amateurs to majors to seniors to a Ryder Cup, the 2023 test will look much different from its last appearances on a big stage, the 2013 PGA won by Jason Dufner and the 2019 Senior PGA won by Ken Tanigawa. The club enlisted Andrew Green as a consulting architect to work on the East Course. In 2020, he was hired to prepare it for this year’s PGA Championship and restore as much of Donald Ross’s original design as possible.

The Fried Egg team visited the Rochester club and sat down with Green and club historian Fred Beltz to understand more about its origins, history, and the historic renovation of the East Course. Beltz outlines the founding of the club, from Ross’s first visits and plans, as well as how the most recent work by Green ties into that. Green, who is well-versed in the work of Ross, discusses his restoration process at the site, the updated routing, some parts of the course that most appeal to him, its “aggressive” bunkering, and the sensitive subject of tree removal at a place that cherishes many of those particular plants. We also got to play the course, which you’ll see at times, for better or worse, in this 2023 PGA Championship preview.

A big thank you to Andrew Green, Fred Beltz, and Oak Hill Country Club for not only their time but also the historical photos and assets. Specific credit for access to Donald Ross’s sketches, construction photos, and before-and-after imagery goes to Andrew Green. Historical imagery of the original club, clubhouse, and early photographs of the current property came from Oak Hill.

For more on Oak Hill as it hosts the 2023 PGA Championship, you can listen to The Fried Egg Podcast, where…

• Andy Johnson and Garrett Morrison discuss their impressions of the course from their visit (Spotify and Apple)
• Andy offers a few insights into what kind of pro game should excel at the 2023 PGA and his top 10 favorites (Spotify and Apple)
• A primer on Donald Ross and his work, in general and at Oak Hill, featuring authors Bradley Klein and Chris Buie (Spotify and Apple)

There is also a full Oak Hill course profile and “Egg Rating” from Garrett over at Club TFE, our membership offering, which includes one such course profile every week.