A new schedule, a traveling TOUR Championship and plenty of unanswered questions. Here are the courses that could define the PGA TOUR’s next era.

CEO Brian Rolapp’s press conference on Tuesday ahead of the Travelers Championship revealed numerous changes to PGA TOUR’s anticipated 2028 structure and schedule.

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The “Championship Series” is set to include 15 regular season events outside of the PLAYERS, major championships, international team events and the Olympics. 10 of those events, Rolapp announced, have already been set.

It was also made clear that the TOUR Championship, played at East Lake in Atlanta since 2004, will be overhauled. Now a match-play event, the postseason tournament is set to be hosted across several prestigious venues, some of which have never before hosted a PGA TOUR event per Rolapp.

“I think the goal,” Rolapp said, “is to go to prestigious courses that we’re not there a lot that fans will recognize as prestigious. We’re also not above building things on our own.”

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The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, Rolapp went on to mention, was constructed in 1980 specifically for the PLAYERS Championship, which has developed into one of the most successful tournaments on the PGA TOUR.

So where will the TOUR actually play in 2028? Though locations and sponsors have yet to be confirmed, let’s go through some likely venues for the 2028 season along with some potentially interesting new sites that could fit a match-play tournament.

Potential 2028 Regular Season Sites

With the PGA TOUR slowly revealing pieces of its 2027 schedule, a few things are starting to come into focus. Several of the TOUR’s biggest venues seem likely to retain their place in the Championship Series when the new format arrives in 2028.

Venues like Pebble Beach, Riviera, Harbour Town, Quail Hollow and Torrey Pines (recently getting Sentry as title sponsor) will surely find their place on the reconstructed schedule. New, lauded locations like the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral will likely find a spot as well.

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TPC courses owned or licensed by the TOUR like River Highlands, Scottsdale, Craig Ranch, San Antonio, and Toronto at Osprey Valley should also find clear landing spots in 2028, though some may end up on the Challenger Series schedule.

Rolapp also specified that courses like TPC River Highlands, located south of Hartford, CT, is a market that doesn’t see many professional sports locally, which is a great opportunity for the PGA TOUR.

The TOUR also appears eager to plant flags in bigger markets it has largely ignored over the years, with Boston and Chicago frequently mentioned as targets. If new venues are coming in 2028, don’t be surprised if several are attached to major cities.

Potential TOUR Championship Sites

The PGA TOUR made one thing clear this week: the revamped TOUR Championship is headed for prestigious venues, including some that have never hosted a TOUR event.

Before we start throwing course names around, a couple ground rules.

First, it actually needs to be possible. As much as I would love to see Scottie Scheffler square off with Rory McIlroy on Fishers Island, it would be entirely impractical. There needs to be room for infrastructure and fans, along with feasible methods of getting fans, media and players on-site.

Second, it needs to be a great match-play course. Perhaps the loudest call for a change on the PGA TOUR was the one for a match-play TOUR Championship. Courses best suited for that have high risk and high reward and, as an added bonus, have a particularly exciting (and volatile) closing stretch.

Let’s start with a couple venues that have hosted significant events in the past. For the purposes of simplicity I’m going to avoid regular stops on the current PGA TOUR like Quail Hollow, Pebble Beach and others that occasionally host a major. I’m also going to limit myself to five courses here so I don’t get too carried away.

Medinah Country Club (Course No. 3)

This one feels like a layup. There’s a reason that Medinah is host of the 2026 President’s Cup and has previously hosted U.S. Opens, PGA Championships, a Ryder Cup and more.

The course also sits outside Chicago, a city full of golf history and one seldom visited by the PGA TOUR. While other local sites like Chicago Golf Club could certainly be more unique, it just doesn’t quite feel realistic, at least in the early stages of the new schedule and Championship.

Los Angeles Country Club

I know this may elicit a groan from some as the stop here in 2023 wasn’t the most glamorous of U.S. Opens, but as a match-play venue I think there is a ton of potential.

Like Medinah (and as the name implies), its proximity to a major city like Los Angeles would play a significant role in this decision. Outside of that, though, LACC does provide the risk vs. reward that you look for in a good match-play course (the driveable par-4 6th comes to mind). Match play tends to bring out the personality of a golf course, and LACC has plenty of it.

Merion Golf Club (East Course)

This pick is driven by the course’s closing stretch. The final six holes are called “The Tragedy”, need I go on?

Beyond that, Merion is another past (and future) U.S. Open course and has been one of the more consistent sites for team and match-play events, particularly for juniors. It is set to host the 2026 U.S. Amateur (alongside stroke-play co-host Philadelphia Country Club) and has held both the Curtis Cup and the Walker Cup within the last two decades.

The Olympic Club

Image: A view of San Francisco as amateur Jackson Herrington plays a shot during the 2025 U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club. (Photo by Thien-An Truong/Getty Images)

The Olympic Club checks many of the same boxes as Merion. It’s hosted U.S. Opens, U.S. Amateurs and more in its history. It also features a treacherous and strategic closing stretch, and the San Francisco backdrop doesn’t hurt either.

Philadelphia Cricket Club

Maybe I’m wearing rose-colored glasses here, but I loved what we saw from Philadelphia Cricket Club during the 2025 Truist Championship.

It doesn’t carry the same championship resume as some of the names above, but it proved it can handle a big event and deliver compelling golf. It boasts a tough finish and could absolutely be the site of some dramatic matches.

RELATED:Love Letter To: The Philadelphia Cricket Club

If the TOUR Wants to Dream Bigger

Other sites like Erin Hills, Bethpage Black, Congressional, Oakmont and countless more deserve a shoutout as possibilities.

That’s the realistic list. The fun list starts here.

After all, Rolapp made it clear that the PGA TOUR hopes to visit venues that they have never been to before.

Potential locations include some of the most storied and exclusive clubs in the United States, including Seminole, Pine Valley and Cypress Point, as reported by ESPN.

Bandon Dunes also stands out as a potential host. They’re scheduled to host the U.S. Amateur in 2032 and 2041, and though details on the bracket or format of the match-play are yet to be revealed, having multiple courses available for play could certainly be an advantage.

The same logic could be applied to resorts like Sand Valley, developed by the same family behind Bandon Dunes, or Streamsong—though the Florida heat might deter an August visit.

Chicago Golf Club and Shoreacres, both elite courses surrounding Chicago, shouldn’t be ignored either. Both are historically significant sites that could bear the infrastructural load of a PGA TOUR event and provide incredible backdrops to a post-season match-play event.

While speculation is sure to continue to flow in the coming months and beyond, the full picture will not be revealed for some time. Just 10 of the 15 regular season events for 2028 are filled currently, and information regarding potential host sites for the new TOUR Championship is minimal.

“We look forward to announcing these events soon,” Rolapp said, “and plan to unveil the full PGA TOUR Championship Series schedule in the first quarter of next year.”