Golf courses you have played that no longer exist?

[john4psu]

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.

I got one of my two eagles at the Sheraton GC in Greensburg. I would drop my wife off at the Westmoreland Mall and I'd go play golf. Oh the financial damage she could do by herself with a few hours in a mall and I'd always be greeted with, "Oh the money I saved you!" Uh-huh, and she'd always get something for me and show it to me first as I would load bag after bag into the car.

 

[PS4814]

Perry Golf Course - Hamburg Pa. Only course I've played with an honest to god U-turn hole. The land is on its way to being an industrial park apparently.

Indian Creek Golf Course - Emmaus Pa. Hole 1 was fun - short par 3 that if you hook it off the tee you'd put it right on the northeast extension of the turnpike. It's now The Fields at Indian Creek a 55+ community by Kay builders. Though on the plus side the clubhouse is a decent restaurant.

Woodbridge Golf Course - Kutztown Pa. It was a short lived course - only open from 2008-2014 that was built on a farm field. I was not a fan because if you were a few feet off the fairway your ball was lost in waist high overgrown weeds because there was virtually no rough area. Yes I know it's my fault for not being good, but I just felt it was unfair. Good riddance.

 

[berklion]

West View Pitch and Putt in Akron closed last year.

 

[Aardvark86]

The golf course might be "late", but if Tom is, I think that it might be shocking news to him.

Particularly given that he’s in the middle of a major reconstruction of my club...

 

[Aardvark86]

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.

Parkview was a wonderful course. Loved the old days when number 1 was straight up the hill

 

[Obliviax]

West View Pitch and Putt in Akron closed last year.

There was a golf course in west akron that was owned by this guy...can't recall his name now. But I woke up one morning to read in a newspaper that his body was found in the trunk of his car at a holiday inn in the bath area.

They questioned his ex-wife who seemed nervous. Then they found out she called a company to repaint her basement the day before his body was found and paid out a huge bonus to get it done the day after she called. Some more snooping and they found she did the same with getter her driveway repaved. Finally, she bought a ticket for her brother to fly up from FL the following day. Turns out, she got into an argument and shot the guy on the steps leading down to the basement. She couldn't get the body out of the house so called her brother who flew up and dragged his body up the steps, then out to the car at night. She then called a contractor and paid double to get the basement redone and the driveway repaved to cover any forensics. Too bad for her they found a slug embedded in a 2x4 under the dry wall.

The family sold the golf course who developed it.

 

[GregInPitt]

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.

After playing them both the members that left to build Valley Brook CC got the better of the deal. VBCC, with three 9's, is a very nice layout whereas Rolling Hills CC was a hilly mess.... and met it's demise as such. But I also attended a few weddings at RHCC and the clubhouse hosted these events nicely.....

 

[Thus Spoke Mainer]

Island Green in Northeast Philly. Big bucks spent to build on land of a former rail car construction plant. It only lasted about ten years. Curiously it was sold back to build an industrial area.

 

[ThePennsyOracle]

Danville area: Liberty Valley CC and Cherokee. LVCC is/was 2 min from my home, now it’s become an overgrown eyesore

I wasn't a big fan of Cherokee, but LVCC was a neat course. IIRC, it started out with two Par 5s. I miss LVCC--in its early years, it was always well-kept and a fun place to grab a round.

 

[FightOnState]

Here’s a few!

In Myrtle Beach:

Marsh Harbor

.

I go to Sunset Beach every year. It's been 15 years and this one still hurts, especially how it all went down.

 

[Aardvark86]

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.

Gator hole: undoubtedly the coldest I have ever been on a golf course. 35 degrees and rain. But it was my bachelor weekend and I was going to play dammit.

 

[berklion]

I'm talking about the one in Akron PA. The owner did die and his son took over. He sold it last year to a rehab for development. As far as the gory stuff, I don't think we're talking about the same thing.

There was a golf course in west akron that was owned by this guy...can't recall his name now. But I woke up one morning to read in a newspaper that his body was found in the trunk of his car at a holiday inn in the bath area.

They questioned his ex-wife who seemed nervous. Then they found out she called a company to repaint her basement the day before his body was found and paid out a huge bonus to get it done the day after she called. Some more snooping and they found she did the same with getter her driveway repaved. Finally, she bought a ticket for her brother to fly up from FL the following day. Turns out, she got into an argument and shot the guy on the steps leading down to the basement. She couldn't get the body out of the house so called her brother who flew up and dragged his body up the steps, then out to the car at night. She then called a contractor and paid double to get the basement redone and the driveway repaved to cover any forensics. Too bad for her they found a slug embedded in a 2x4 under the dry wall.

The family sold the golf course who developed it.

 

[psu_1294]

After playing them both the members that left to build Valley Brook CC got the better of the deal. VBCC, with three 9's, is a very nice layout whereas Rolling Hills CC was a hilly mess.... and met it's demise as such. But I also attended a few weddings at RHCC and the clubhouse hosted these events nicely.....

Agree. Rolling Hills was appropriately named. Hilly mess is a good description. Played it 2-3 times buy never liked it! Very few decent, level lies. Like many old style, Pittsburgh courses, you had to hit the ball up in the rough to hope it rolled back down on to the fairways. Many times, you couldn't keep it in the fairway!

I played Valley Brook a couple of times. Huge upgrade from Rolling Hills.

 

[psu_1294]

I go to Sunset Beach every year. It's been 15 years and this one still hurts, especially how it all went down.

The last three holes at Marsh Harbor were stunning. I really liked the course and couldn't believe they closed it. Kind of the same for Heather Glen.

Funny story, I first went to MB with a group of my dad's friends in the early 70's when there were maybe 9-10 courses. His buddy, Mike, said "they better stop building courses here. They're going to overdo it"! Of course, they built well over 100 and it took 30-40 years for some to start closing.

 

[MJG-90]

Harrisburg area:
Silver Springs
Blue ridge
Blue Mountain/Felicita
Hershey Parkview
Links at Hershey/Hershey South
Mechanicsburg navy depot

Parkview was a wonderful course. Loved the old days when number 1 was straight up the hill

I forgot about Silver Springs and Blue Mountain / Felicita closing. I never got to play Blue Ridge and never knew the Navy Depot had a course or I would have played it when I was in the army.

I don't remember Parkview ever having the first hole as a straight up the hill shot. I remember the first tee being next to the stone building and having to drive across a big "valley" to reach the fairway. I remember it being next to the "new" clubhouse. And I remember it being across the road above the water treatment plant.

 

[eilion]

Goose Creek here in NoVa. Ben Hogan had the course record 56 I believe.

 

[CF LION]

Brandywine Country Club - Wilmington, DE...........bought by a developer three years ago. No activity on the site yet and it's fallen into disrepair.

Hercules Country Club / Delaware National - Wilmington, DE ...... supposedly being developed by Toll Bros also but still stuck in the approval process I think

 

[Obliviax]

There was a golf course in west akron that was owned by this guy...can't recall his name now. But I woke up one morning to read in a newspaper that his body was found in the trunk of his car at a holiday inn in the bath area.

They questioned his ex-wife who seemed nervous. Then they found out she called a company to repaint her basement the day before his body was found and paid out a huge bonus to get it done the day after she called. Some more snooping and they found she did the same with getter her driveway repaved. Finally, she bought a ticket for her brother to fly up from FL the following day. Turns out, she got into an argument and shot the guy on the steps leading down to the basement. She couldn't get the body out of the house so called her brother who flew up and dragged his body up the steps, then out to the car at night. She then called a contractor and paid double to get the basement redone and the driveway repaved to cover any forensics. Too bad for her they found a slug embedded in a 2x4 under the dry wall.

The family sold the golf course who developed it.

Ha...found the article.

 

[Obliviax]

Lost Canyons in the Simi Valley....this was one of the best places I've ever played that is not on the Ocean. It was in the mountains near simi valley and the lockers all had movie and TV stars on them (they were members). Awesome place to golf but is now a development after several natural disasters like fires, floods and whatnot.

Kendra Wilkinson. They used to have a once-a-year playboy scramble there for a charity event.

 

[FightOnState]

The last three holes at Marsh Harbor were stunning. I really liked the course and couldn't believe they closed it. Kind of the same for Heather Glen.

Funny story, I first went to MB with a group of my dad's friends in the early 70's when there were maybe 9-10 courses. His buddy, Mike, said "they better stop building courses here. They're going to overdo it"! Of course, they built well over 100 and it took 30-40 years for some to start closing.

Heather Glen was lost due to the course over-build that you hit on above, although there are several others down there I wouldn't have minded seeing go instead. That property awaits redevelopment of some sort. MH was closed due to stubborn and moronic ownership. It still sits vacant and I don't know that there were ever any plans to redevelop the property.

 

[psu_1294]

Heather Glen was lost due to the course over-build that you hit on above, although there are several others down there I wouldn't have minded seeing go before HG. MH was closed due to stubborn and moronic ownership. It still sits vacant and I don't know that there were ever any plans to redevelop the property.

You might remember, 20-30 years ago there was a course near MH and Oyster Bay named Ocean Harbour, I believe. Seemed like it was only open for a few years. I played it once and enjoyed it. But, next time I came back it was closed. You can still see it on the map programs.

 

[Aardvark86]

I forgot about Silver Springs and Blue Mountain / Felicita closing. I never got to play Blue Ridge and never knew the Navy Depot had a course or I would have played it when I was in the army.

I don't remember Parkview ever having the first hole as a straight up the hill shot. I remember the first tee being next to the stone building and having to drive across a big "valley" to reach the fairway. I remember it being next to the "new" clubhouse. And I remember it being across the road above the water treatment plant.

Stone building version.

 

[Knight57]

Lincoln Hills CC (was semi-private at the time it closed) and Carradam - both in North Huntingdon, PA

 

[LongJakk]

I think parkview #1 was originally by the stone building near chocolate world, but they built a pro shop farther east an re-numbered it. You climbed a steep hill to the tee box. Teed across the valley with Spring creek and then very steeply uphill to a tiered green that often sent balls right back down the hill to you.

Mechanicsburg navy depots course was a 9 hole like Riverview on New Cumberland army depot, which is still open. It has 9 greens and 18 sets of tee boxes so the holes play differently from front 9 to back 9. It has gone way downhill over the past 5 years due to construction on the base closing multiple holes over a 3 year stretch. They essentially drove the very loyal golfers away. I won't be surprised if it closes after 2019, which is sad. I've played it since I was a little kid.

 

[FightOnState]

Heather Glen was lost due to the course over-build that you hit on above, although there are several others down there I wouldn't have minded seeing go before HG. MH was closed due to stubborn and moronic ownership. It still sits vacant and I don't know that there were ever any plans to redevelop the property.

You might remember, 20-30 years ago there was a course near MH and Oyster Bay named Ocean Harbour, I believe. Seemed like it was only open for a few years. I played it once and enjoyed it. But, next time I came back it was closed. You can still see it on the map programs.

Played OH once. Remember it being very narrow compared to most of my tee shots that day. You are correct it was open only briefly. Still folks living back there unfortunately.

 

[YeOldeCup]

Fort Meade

 

[leftcoastdoug]

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.

Interesting. Stayed and played there. It was a good course.

 

[MJG-90]

Fort Meade

I used to play there multiple times per week when I was stationed there in the mid ‘90s. Had no idea it closed. That sucks.

 

[olelion]

Princeville on Kauai.

Wow. What happened? Last I heard it became one of the "Mirage" group of resorts. That golf coourse was spectacular

 

[Aardvark86]

Wow. What happened? Last I heard it became one of the "Mirage" group of resorts. That golf coourse was spectacular

Indeed. Then again, what exactly about Princeville wasn't spectacular?

 

[Aardvark86]

I think parkview #1 was originally by the stone building near chocolate world, but they built a pro shop farther east an re-numbered it. You climbed a steep hill to the tee box. Teed across the valley with Spring creek and then very steeply uphill to a tiered green that often sent balls right back down the hill to you.

Mechanicsburg navy depots course was a 9 hole like Riverview on New Cumberland army depot, which is still open. It has 9 greens and 18 sets of tee boxes so the holes play differently from front 9 to back 9. It has gone way downhill over the past 5 years due to construction on the base closing multiple holes over a 3 year stretch. They essentially drove the very loyal golfers away. I won't be surprised if it closes after 2019, which is sad. I've played it since I was a little kid.

The old Parkview #1 made for a daunting first tee shot in high school league championships back in the day, particularly with the entire league standing there watching you tee off. Also, in that old configuration, 17-18 were two great finishing holes on which so much could happen Much better than the more recent 17-18.

 

[YeOldeCup]

I used to play there multiple times per week when I was stationed there in the mid ‘90s. Had no idea it closed. That sucks.

They had to make room for DISA expansion and for DMA to move on post. I played there and at Andrews AFB quite a few times back in the 90s also.

 

[Obliviax]

Indeed. Then again, what exactly about Princeville wasn't spectacular?

Looks like it closed in 2014, but now may be reopened (or reopening). It got his in the 2008 real estate crash.

 

[thewholebit]

You boys have covered most of mine. Appledale - sad for me. Could see 9th fairway from my bedroom growing up. The Pit - gosh...really disliked that one.

 

[IrishHerb]

Heather Glen was lost due to the course over-build that you hit on above, although there are several others down there I wouldn't have minded seeing go instead. That property awaits redevelopment of some sort. MH was closed due to stubborn and moronic ownership. It still sits vacant and I don't know that there were ever any plans to redevelop the property.

Another Myrtle Beach site that isn't completely gone is the Wild Wing Plantation. Used to have 4 courses Avocet, Woodstork, Hummingbird and Falcon. Only the Avocet remains. I think they now simply refer to it as Wild Wing.

Used to enjoy two of the 4, Avocet and Falcon. The other two layouts were so-so.

 

[KnightWhoSaysNit]

Interesting. Stayed and played there. It was a good course.

If you felt Waterwood was merely "good" perhaps you didn't play it when it was in great shape. Or maybe you've been lucky enough to get onto some of the older private courses like Pine Valley. To really appreciate some of the holes at Waterwood, particularly on the back nine (e.g, 14 & 15), you had to play it from the back tees.

I am turned off by the modern course, where it is evident that the land was simply cleared, resurfaced with some mounding, and then bunkered. It's not the same as a course that flows naturally with holes cut around existing water, ravines, and trees.

Unfortunately, the artificial look seems to dominate new layouts. Instead of moderate-length, walkable, tight courses within a contiguous plot of land we are now getting wide open layouts cut through resort and/or housing developments. Par is defended by length, sand, and sometimes water. With the longer length the distance from tee to green is still often less than from green to the next tee. Walking the "links" is becoming less feasible. Sadly, cart revenue has become a necessity.

 

[YeOldeCup]

Another Myrtle Beach site that isn't completely gone is the Wild Wing Plantation. Used to have 4 courses Avocet, Woodstork, Hummingbird and Falcon. Only the Avocet remains. I think they now simply refer to it as Wild Wing.

Used to enjoy two of the 4, Avocet and Falcon. The other two layouts were so-so.

Wow. I played all four courses back when it was young. Always liked playing there. Had no idea they had reduced it.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Another course in Myrtle that scaled back is World Tour. Used to have 27, but they developed over one of the 9’s and there are 19 holes left. Neat course with a cool concept.

 

[the rigger]

Another course in Myrtle that scaled back is World Tour. Used to have 27, but they developed over one of the 9’s and there are 19 holes left. Neat course with a cool concept.

a lot of the golf courses at Myrtle or closing due to the Chinese guy that bought them and then went belly-up a lot of them were just on thin ice right now but they're being developed because we're in such a building boom

 

[Nittany Ziggy]

Haven’t heard the Hiland Country Club in Pittsburgh’s North Hills mentioned. It is now a Ryan Home’s development. I came within 3 feet of winning $1,000,000 at a charity event there in 2004. The 9th hole was a long, uphill (210 yard) par 3 so that was the hole with the prize. The twist was that only the person who won the “closest to the pin competition had a chance at another shot for the $1M (this reduces the insurance premium substantially for the charity while still advertising a chance to win big $$).

Anyhow, I hit a great shot during the scramble that ended up 6 feet from the hole. This was our 2nd hole of the day and I didn’t think it would hold up as closest but it did. So, now, after drinking for 5 hours, the tournament director comes up to me and explains the deal. They have to videotape it and I have to introduce myself to the camera before teeing up the ball and hitting. He also told me that they have insurance so everyone is rooting for me. And they were; about 300 people were standing around the 9th green or on the clubhouse deck.

I was shaking like a dog shitting razor blades as I took my practice swings with the video rolling and the crowd above the green buzzing. I remember thinking to myself: “just get the thing airborn shithead, you’re never going to hit one as good as you did earlier”. Then, I clenched up my butt cheeks and said: “you can do this, just make a good pass at this fuc#ing golf ball”.

BAM!!! I made a beautiful pass and immediately knew it was better than the shot I hit when I was sober 5 hours earlier! It was a nice baby draw with the low trajectory needed to get to the back left pin. Honest to Goodness, I actually fantasized about quitting my job as the ball was in the air! The crowd noise continually increased as the quality of the golf shot became apparent. I was almost losing control of my bowels and struggled to regain them.

The ball went out of sight but it bounced up after hitting the front of the green. It released and I just knew it was tracking towards a spot near the hole. The crowd noise continually increased into a crescendo with chants of “get in the hole” emanating from above the green. I knew the noise was my barometer since I could not see the hole. It became incredibly loud until it subsided with a giant “AHHHHHH”. The ball was 2.5 feet short of the hole headed on the perfect line. What a rush!

I am an avid golfer, but not great at the game. Everyone there that day thought I was one of the best amateurs in the ‘Burgh! I allowed the illusion to live as they bought me drinks into the night! Thanks for getting this far into my story.