Golf courses you have played that no longer exist?
- Thread starter john4psu
- Start date
I’m pretty sure Seven Springs GC just changed their name to a Victory Hills and made no changes to the course.
St. Jude, Butler. Nice course that I believe gave way to gas drilling.
Village Green, Hickory (just closed, also for gas drilling I believe)
Village Green, Hickory (just closed, also for gas drilling I believe)
Danville area: Liberty Valley CC and Cherokee. LVCC is/was 2 min from my home, now it’s become an overgrown eyesore 
woodlawn amazing... along Bull Creek Road
I learned to golf there and worked as a caddy at Brackenridge Heights Country Club
I learned to golf there and worked as a caddy at Brackenridge Heights Country Club
Beechtree Golf Club in Aberdeen Maryland. Designed by the late Tom Doak. One of a very few Golf Digest Top 100 you can play to close.
Mini golf course behind Hamilton Plaza in SC. First of its kind in the area, R.I.P. My mom, sister and I were the first patrons to play it. First hole, first time my sister (then 6 or so) wailed off on her “tee” shot and busted open my forehead (I was 8). After stitches, we returned to finish our round.
The golf course might be "late", but if Tom is, I think that it might be shocking news to him.
The 6 hole course next to the White course at the Penn State golf courses. I think there are engineering buildings now...
Mill Race near Benton mentioned earlier in this thread was sold and will remain open.
Center Valley Golf Club
Center Valley , PA.
Hosted the Nike Tour(Web.Com,now) back in the 90's.
South of Bethlehem off Rt.309
Center Valley , PA.
Hosted the Nike Tour(Web.Com,now) back in the 90's.
South of Bethlehem off Rt.309
Here’s a few!
Churchill Valley CC, Pittsburgh
In Myrtle Beach:
Robbers Roost
Gator Hole
Bay Tree - all three courses
Waterway Hills (some may remember it as Arcadian Skyway)
Heather Glen
Marsh Harbor
Oak Tree in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Also, Edgmont, near Philly - curiously there was no e in Edgmont. I used to know the story but forgot.
Indian Creek, Emmaus
Woodland Hills, near Easton
Upper Perk, Pennsburg
Tamiment in the Poconos
Blue Ridge CC, Harrisburg
Woodbury CC in NJ
The Concord in Kiamesha Lake, NY
Virginia National in Bluemont, VA
The Pit near Pinehurst, NC
Brandywine CC near Wilmington, DE
Unfortunately, quite a few. Some were less than stellar when I played them. Others I thought were very good. Sad to pass some of them today and just see weeds. Others, strip malls or houses.
Churchill Valley CC, Pittsburgh
In Myrtle Beach:
Robbers Roost
Gator Hole
Bay Tree - all three courses
Waterway Hills (some may remember it as Arcadian Skyway)
Heather Glen
Marsh Harbor
Oak Tree in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Also, Edgmont, near Philly - curiously there was no e in Edgmont. I used to know the story but forgot.
Indian Creek, Emmaus
Woodland Hills, near Easton
Upper Perk, Pennsburg
Tamiment in the Poconos
Blue Ridge CC, Harrisburg
Woodbury CC in NJ
The Concord in Kiamesha Lake, NY
Virginia National in Bluemont, VA
The Pit near Pinehurst, NC
Brandywine CC near Wilmington, DE
Unfortunately, quite a few. Some were less than stellar when I played them. Others I thought were very good. Sad to pass some of them today and just see weeds. Others, strip malls or houses.
The front 9 of Hawk Valley, near Maple Grove, is now houses. Also had a lot of fun at Hershey Parkside course
Waterwood National Golf Club, a Pete Dye design on Lake Livingston about 1.5 hours north of Houston. Hal Sutton earned his PGA Tour card in a qualifier there. Due to its remoteness and lack of hotel space, the course otherwise did not host any major events, but it was certainly good enough. Better, in my opinion, than anything currently in the Houston area, including where they've been playing tour events.
Waterwood was a treasure. It was a country club within a non-gated retirement community that was open to guests of a rather small hotel at the club (though it was more like a motel). Went there for weekends and tournaments sponsored by my employer's golf league.
The property fell on hard times and was sold. The new owner could not make it profitable, so he shut down and harvested the trees. This was surprising since one would think it an ideal place to retire from Houston if you had family in the area. Waterwood's fate concerns me now since I currently live in a community with similar issues (long drive to shopping/amenities and lack of hotels), but we have many more courses and it is gated.
Waterwood flowed naturally over hilly, waterfront terrain and had all of Dye's typical marvels -- forced water carries, narrow sloping greens, pot bunkers, holes with beautiful vistas, bunkers bounded by railroad ties, waste areas, strategic use of trees, and so on. Every hole had something special about it.
Courses like Waterwood are becoming rare, giving way to more open layouts with huge greens and huge bunkers. The modern trend is to provide hole length options through different tee boxes, but that makes it difficult to design challenging landing areas. So at all levels target golf is dying and becoming replaced by power golf. I see this trend in our village. The best layouts are the older courses. Trees on the newer courses are pretty much out of bounds.
It is unfortunate. The USGA and R&A could have limited the performance of balls and equipment to reduce real estate demands, thereby reducing water, fertilizer, mowing, and so on. The sport could be much cheaper and played in less time. (The standard size of the cup could also have been much larger than 4.25 inches, which would save time.) As it is, courses will continue to close and growth is being limited to upscale resorts.
Waterwood was a treasure. It was a country club within a non-gated retirement community that was open to guests of a rather small hotel at the club (though it was more like a motel). Went there for weekends and tournaments sponsored by my employer's golf league.
The property fell on hard times and was sold. The new owner could not make it profitable, so he shut down and harvested the trees. This was surprising since one would think it an ideal place to retire from Houston if you had family in the area. Waterwood's fate concerns me now since I currently live in a community with similar issues (long drive to shopping/amenities and lack of hotels), but we have many more courses and it is gated.
Waterwood flowed naturally over hilly, waterfront terrain and had all of Dye's typical marvels -- forced water carries, narrow sloping greens, pot bunkers, holes with beautiful vistas, bunkers bounded by railroad ties, waste areas, strategic use of trees, and so on. Every hole had something special about it.
Courses like Waterwood are becoming rare, giving way to more open layouts with huge greens and huge bunkers. The modern trend is to provide hole length options through different tee boxes, but that makes it difficult to design challenging landing areas. So at all levels target golf is dying and becoming replaced by power golf. I see this trend in our village. The best layouts are the older courses. Trees on the newer courses are pretty much out of bounds.
It is unfortunate. The USGA and R&A could have limited the performance of balls and equipment to reduce real estate demands, thereby reducing water, fertilizer, mowing, and so on. The sport could be much cheaper and played in less time. (The standard size of the cup could also have been much larger than 4.25 inches, which would save time.) As it is, courses will continue to close and growth is being limited to upscale resorts.
Last edited:
Vestal Hills is gone? Oh man. I was going to say the IBM Homestead in Johnson City NY.
It closed a couple of years ago. After the economy crashed, they went public for a few years, but had financial trouble and sold to developers. Unfortunately, I believe it's just sitting there overgrown now with nothing on the immediate horizon.
The Homestead developed some condos on the upper part of the course, but now the lower part is a foot-golf course. I'm guessing it's not sustainable, since the few times I've passed it in the past few years, it's been completely empty (shocking, I'm sure). I was never a huge fan of the Homestead, but did always enjoy playing #9.
Kent State University golf course. The land the course is on is still there, but the course is not active or maintained.
A lot of courses around the country are in danger. A couple closed in the Columbus, Ohio area in the past few years. Two are housing developments and one is the site of a new hospital.
A lot of courses around the country are in danger. A couple closed in the Columbus, Ohio area in the past few years. Two are housing developments and one is the site of a new hospital.
Valley View Pitch and Putt in Windber, PA. Road my bike there to play constantly as a kid. I think it cost $2 for nine holes and $4 for 18. It’s a shame for today’s kids that there’s not many Pitch and Putts around anymore.
Rolling Hills CC in McMurray, Pa closed a few years back. Peters Township bought the land and is building a new High School.
I golfed a few years back at one of those Columbus courses named Minerva Lake on the northern part of the Columbus area. It was unique as it had a front of 10 holes and a back of 8. It was a very short course but you had to be accurate. Beautiful little course that closed for housing. It opened in 1931. It's claim to fame was that a 16 year old youngster set the course record during a high school tournament back in the 50s. I believe it was a 65 or 66. Incredible for a kid that young. The kid's name: Jack Nicklaus.
Last edited:
I forgot about Rolling Hills!
Back in the day, I believe Rolling Hills was Mt. Lebanon Golf Club. In the 60’s the members felt they needed a bigger and better golf facility and decided to build Valley Brook Country Club and move there. The members that stayed renamed it Rolling Hills and it survived 30-40 years after that. Back then, a lot of Penguins played golf there.
This was where i learned. It was a shame they closed it. I belive it was made with some old white course holes from when the pro shop was there.
LdN
Hercules Country Club in Wilmington DE and the Sheraton GC, Greensburg, both when I worked at them. Opened the Sheraton in 1981 - 1988 before moving to Colonial CC in Harrisburg.
Others, Rolling Hills CC and many more listed above that I didn't realize were now closed. All were played while attending GC Supt. monthly meetings. Always enjoyed the courses because I got away from mine for a day. It is sad to see so many names I know now a memory or as some have noted, weeds & houses. The saddest to me is Hercules CC, what a shame to end such a beautiful and historic track as a housing development.
Others, Rolling Hills CC and many more listed above that I didn't realize were now closed. All were played while attending GC Supt. monthly meetings. Always enjoyed the courses because I got away from mine for a day. It is sad to see so many names I know now a memory or as some have noted, weeds & houses. The saddest to me is Hercules CC, what a shame to end such a beautiful and historic track as a housing development.
Silver Spring in Mechanicsburg
Hershey Parkview
Hershey Links (which I thought would have been a pretty good course for some professional tournaments)
Beach Club in Ocean City, MD looks like it's either gone or under a different name
Cypress Creek, Lake Orlando, Rock Springs Ridge in Orlando
I'm sure there are a couple others.
Hershey Parkview
Hershey Links (which I thought would have been a pretty good course for some professional tournaments)
Beach Club in Ocean City, MD looks like it's either gone or under a different name
Cypress Creek, Lake Orlando, Rock Springs Ridge in Orlando
I'm sure there are a couple others.
Green Acres CC in Northbrook, IL, shut down after the 2016 season. A beautiful private club, I played there 4-5 times when my club was shut down and completely reseeded a few years ago.
Still to be determined is how the acreage will be used on an ongoing basis.
I KID YOU NOT, YOU CAN GOOGLE THE COURSE. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!
I always had to be careful not to start humming the theme song from the television show while I was a guest.
Still to be determined is how the acreage will be used on an ongoing basis.
I KID YOU NOT, YOU CAN GOOGLE THE COURSE. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!
I always had to be careful not to start humming the theme song from the television show while I was a guest.
