Golf Club Atlas

GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture => Topic started by: Steve_ Shaffer on November 15, 2011, 03:01:45 PM

Title: "Gangster Golf"- Green Hills GC(White) in Birdsboro, PA
Post by: Steve_ Shaffer on November 15, 2011, 03:01:45 PM

For those fans of HBO's Boardwalk Empire, the name of Max Hassel,the "Beer Baron of Berks County,"  has been mentioned in connection with the bootlegging activities of Atlantic City's boss, Nukey Thompson, and his cohorts Meyer Lansky(the model for Hyman Roth in Godfather2) and Waxey Gordon. Hassel was a golfer and was turned down for membership at the nearby "historically Jewish" Berkleigh CC. So he built Green Hills:

Here's the course history: http://golfgreenhills.com/index_files/Page517.htm

Here's Hassel: http://www.berkshistory.org/articles/hassel.html

Here's Gordon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxey_Gordon

Here's Lansky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyer_Lansky

I think I'll take a ride to Reading and play there soon.

Did Al Capone or Lucky Luciano play golf?

Title: Re: "Gangster Golf"- Green Hills GC(White) in Birdsboro, PA
Post by: Steve_ Shaffer on November 15, 2011, 03:19:16 PM

Al Capone played golf:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086732/index.htm

Title: Re: "Gangster Golf"- Green Hills GC(White) in Birdsboro, PA
Post by: JMEvensky on November 15, 2011, 03:22:21 PM

Wasn't it Capone who lost a bet to Titanic Thompson about whether TT could drive a ball across some lake?

Title: Re: "Gangster Golf"- Green Hills GC(White) in Birdsboro, PA
Post by: Steve_ Shaffer on November 15, 2011, 05:31:26 PM

Titanic Thompson was quite a character:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/18/entertainment/la-et-book-20101218

Title: Re: "Gangster Golf"- Green Hills GC(White) in Birdsboro, PA
Post by: Tim Martin on November 15, 2011, 08:28:03 PM

Steve-Good stuff. Anybody notice how many of the Sopranos character actors are popping up on Boardwalk Empire.

Title: Re: "Gangster Golf"- Green Hills GC(White) in Birdsboro, PA
Post by: Mark McKeever on November 15, 2011, 09:28:47 PM

Good find Steve.  I may have to come check it out also.

Mark

Title: Re: "Gangster Golf"- Green Hills GC(White) in Birdsboro, PA
Post by: Joe Bausch on November 15, 2011, 09:38:19 PM

Where is Cirba when you need him?!  He used to live in Birdsboro.

Title: Re: "Gangster Golf"- Green Hills GC(White) in Birdsboro, PA
Post by: Steve_ Shaffer on November 15, 2011, 09:51:55 PM

Mark,Joe


I'm thinking of driving up on Sunday. Interested?

Title: Re: "Gangster Golf"- Green Hills GC(White) in Birdsboro, PA
Post by: Steve_ Shaffer on November 16, 2011, 10:33:00 AM

Apparently, Hassel's name has not been mentioned  in the HBO series...yet:

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=345938