The Park Service had hoped to work out a deal with the Federal City Council, a private nonprofit business group, for operation and improvement of East Potomac Golf Course, Langston Golf Course and Rock Creek Golf Course, plus the East Potomac Tennis Center. But it has now launched a competitive solicitation for the lease, stipulating…
Friday Filmfest: Reopening of Historic Bowden Golf Course
The Macon, Ga. course was originally designed in 1938 and built by labor supplied by the Works Progress Administration on the site of a former airfield. In 1961 it became the first public facility in Macon to become racially integrated, and in 2015 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Here’s a…
Friday Filmfest: Reopening of Historic Bowden Golf Course
The Macon, Ga. course was originally designed in 1938 and built by labor supplied by the Works Progress Administration on the site of a former airfield. In 1961 it became the first public facility in Macon to become racially integrated, and in 2015 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Here’s a…
Township Considers Conservation Easement for Reading (Pa.) CC
Supervisors voted 4-0 on September 18th to investigate the feasibility of placing a conservation easement on the property. The move would preserve the historic site and protect it from development. The plan would then be to sell the property to a new owner, who would assume all financial risks. In August, C&RB reported on how supervisors…
Farmington CC’s Formula for Ever-Forward Thinking
The management and operations team at the Charlottesville, Va. property has found innovative ways to keep an eye to the future while preserving their club’s unique ties to history. With many clubs now reaching historic milestones that coincide with the arrival and spread of golf and country clubs throughout the U.S. from the late 1800s…
Land Owned by Cold Spring CC Put Up for Sale
The 13.25-acre parcel in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. was earmarked for a controversial condominium project that was supposed to be taken over by a partnership that included Jack Nicklaus, but has been caught up in legal challenges. The club and its Seth Raynor-designed golf course is on a property that includes the Oheka Castle, an historic hotel and prestigious wedding/event venue.
Plans Filed for Private Club at Historic Florida Estate
Blake Casper, the CEO of a company that owns more than 50 McDonald’s restaurants around the Tampa, Fla. area, wants to transform the historic Stovall-Lee House, built in 1909, into a social club inspired by clubs in London, England that would also include a five-bedroom bed and breakfast. If approved by the city of Tampa, the club could open within two years, Casper says.
Hancock GC Switches to Automated Pay Stations
The city-owned golf course in Austin, Texas will have automated pay stations for golfers to pay green fees by January, with the pro shop staffed only on Fridays through Sundays. The measure is part of an effort to cut costs, as annual revenues recently came up $125,000 below expenses. With the greens at the city-owned Hancock…
Pine Lakes CC to Celebrate 90 Years
The Myrtle Beach, S.C., property, which was originally known as Ocean Forest Golf and Country Club but rechristened as Pine Lakes in the 1950s, will turn 90 this fall. The club is the birthplace of Sports Illustrated magazine and the clubhouse is on the National Register of Historic Places. Pine Lakes Country Club in Myrtle…
Hartford (Conn.) Club Alters Philosophy, Aesthetics
The 144-year-old private club is modernizing its facilities, including a $100,000 update to its first floor, has modified its membership fee structure, and is offering special events and programs that appeal to members’ families. Past Hartford (Conn.) Club members Mark Twain, Katharine Hepburn, and J.P. Morgan might not recognize the business club of the present…
Locals Eager to Keep Fort Ridgely State Park GC Open
The Fairfax, Minn., golf course has been shut down and slated for conversion to a prairie after the “course no longer fit with the agency’s plans for the site,” according to the Department of Natural Resources. Supporters of the 90-year-old golf course have raised nearly $40,000 so far, with a goal of reaching $100,000 to pay for maintenance equipment and other costs.
Langston GC Renovates Bunkers Through Donations
Dean Graves, certified golf course superintendent of Chevy Chase (Md.) Club, recently rallied area superintendents and businesses to donate the equipment and sand needed to renovate seven bunkers at the short game practice area of the historic Washington, D.C., facility.
Lions Municipal GC Named to Most Endangered Historic Places List
The National Trust for Historic Preservation added the Austin, Texas golf course to the annual list, calling it a “civil rights landmark” with an uncertain future. The University of Texas System Board of Regents has long contemplated leasing the 141-acre property for commercial and residential development, but a local group has been working to preserve the course.
Discovery of Cultural Artifacts Could Alter Newest Kohler Course
The planned golf course in the Town of Wilson, Wis., along the shore of Lake Michigan could be required to avoid some areas and minimize impact on others. In all, archaeologists found 25,186 prehistoric and historic artifacts in 96 digs across 195 acres, with items dating back to the late Archaic period, between 1200 B.C. and 100 B.C.
City Endorses Preserving Lions Municipal GC
The historic site in Austin, Texas became the first in the South to desegregate when Alvin Propps, a 9-year-old black boy who was also a caddie, played a round of golf at the course in either 1950 or 1951. The resolution urges that the property be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, but does not guarantee it.