Broad Run Golfer's Club
Designed by Rees Jones
History
The turn of the millennium found Chester County still holding onto its rolling farmland character, even as Philadelphia’s western suburbs pressed steadily outward. It was into this landscape that Broad Run Golfer’s Club arrived in 2000, opened as a public course in West Bradford Township at a moment when the region’s appetite for accessible, well-designed golf was growing alongside its population.
The club turned to Rees Jones, a designer who by that point had already built a national reputation restoring and updating championship venues for the U.S. Open and other major championships. His father, Robert Trent Jones Sr., had shaped much of the previous generation’s golf architecture, and Rees carried that lineage into his own distinct practice — one known for rigorous routing and a clear-eyed reading of a site’s natural terrain. At Broad Run, Jones worked with Pennsylvania countryside that offered the kind of topographical variety architects prize, and the course became one of relatively few public layouts in the region to carry a Rees Jones signature.
Since its opening, Broad Run has remained in operation as a daily-fee club, holding its place among the Philadelphia area’s public golf offerings for over two decades. It endures as one of the clearer examples in Chester County of a nationally known architect’s work made available to the everyday player rather than reserved behind a private gate.
Playing Notes
Bring your legs — this is a walking course first and cart-path-optional second, with rolling Chester County terrain that puts the ball above and below your feet more often than you'd like. The fairways run firm and fast when the weather's dry, so run-out matters as much as carry distance; a big drive that doesn't account for the roll can end up in trouble you didn't see from the tee. Green complexes are contoured rather than flat, meaning approach shots need to account for where the ball will feed once it lands, not just where it pitches. Wind shows up on the more exposed stretches of the property and can change club selection by a full number, so pay attention on the tee rather than trusting yardage alone. There's no water to speak of dominating the round, but the bunkering is positioned to catch shots that favor the easy miss, so players who can shape the ball or at least commit to a line will have an easier day than those swinging away from trouble. Pack comfortable shoes, expect a few blind or semi-blind shots on the do-yourself-a-favor-and-ask-the-pro-shop holes, and don't count on the course playing the same in the afternoon as it did that morning once the wind picks up.