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Stewart Abramson

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #50 on: February 23, 2023, 05:47:48 PM »
Yesterday the Golf Channel had a segment about Langston golf course a muni in DC. It was among the first, if not the first, course open to African Americans and has a very interesting history as a bastion of golf for African Americans. The segment is worth looking for

MCirba

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #51 on: February 23, 2023, 06:20:10 PM »
I'm a self-professed "muni rat" and I've played about 3 of every 4 courses mentioned here so far which is scarily obsessive compulsive.   ;)

Off the top of my head I'd say don't neglect Denver, Salt Lake City, Baltimore, or the state of Maine in your muni hunt.
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

Rich Thomas

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #52 on: February 25, 2023, 02:01:16 PM »
Thank you everyone who has come forward with ideas of places to look at and dig into. I really do appreciate the help and insights that everyone on this site has given me. Please feel free to reach out if something else comes to mind. Thank you.


Rich

Garland Bayley

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #53 on: February 27, 2023, 01:11:45 PM »
Eastmoreland Golf Course in Portland, OR is an E. Chandler Egan design. Egan is credited for work that brought Pebble Beach into prominence and also for designing three courses where the US Public Links championship was held, Eastmoreland, West Seattle, and Indian Canyon which hosted two times.

An interesting story about Eastmoreland is that its inclusive membership allowed Bill Wright to establish a handicap so that in 1959 he could become the first black American to win the Public Links championship. Bill was a Seattle Washington resident, but no Washington course would allow him to establish a handicap there, so his father set it up for him to play at Eastmoreland to establish a handicap, which of course was required to participate in a USGA championship.

http://www.eastmoreland100.com/read-stories/bill-wright-the-1959-usga-public-links-champion-from-eastmoreland
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Greg Hohman

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #54 on: March 12, 2023, 09:38:30 AM »
Schenley Park in Pittsburgh began with nine holes in 1897 and was 18 by 1903. Renamed the Bob O'Connor ("The Bob") in honor of a mayor, its website says it's walking only. A quirky routing, including street crossings. Views of the Oakland section of town, most prominently the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning. Sounds from Forbes Field audible back in the day?
newmonumentsgc.com

MCirba

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #55 on: March 12, 2023, 10:09:49 AM »
Played both Eastmoreland and Schenley.   Love courses in urban neighborhoods and each has their own character.
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

John Challenger

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #56 on: March 12, 2023, 12:07:44 PM »
Winnetka Golf Club was William Langford's first solo effort. He may have started working on it in 1914. The 9-hole course opened in 1917. I believe he added 9 holes in 1922. It's been through a few renovations so I am not sure how much Langford is left. The course was redeveloped in the 1930s by C.D. Wagstaff and Chick Evans, the first player to win the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open in the same year. Only one other player ever accomplished that feat. It was the grand slam winner!

Langford also designed the club's 9-hole Par 3 course that I grew up playing. Rode four blocks on my bike to the golf course. My brother and I had a newspaper route and we delivered papers to homes on the adjacent streets, including to one in the middle of the property that the Langford routed the Par 3 course around. It opened in 1961. It might have been the last course Langford designed in his life.

It would be extraordinary to see the village restore the courses to their Langford original designs!

Richard_Mandell

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #57 on: March 16, 2023, 01:52:31 PM »
Rich,


I've done a bunch of work on iconic municipal courses over the last decade, including


Bacon Park in Savannah
Keller Golf Course in St. Paul
A new Braemar Golf Course in Edina, Minnesota
Tanglewood Championship Course in Clemmons, NC


as well as currently working on Bobby Jones Golf Club in Sarasota (under construction), Hollywood Beach Golf Club in Hollywood, Florida, Kennedy Golf Course in Denver, and the Woodlands and Hamptons Golf Courses in Hampton, Virginia.  I have spent a lot of time with the golfers themselves walking all these courses, gaining a good perspective on what Mike Keiser would refer to as the retail golfer.  Yet these aren't necessarily the same ones he serves at his public courses.  These are golfers who bleed for the their municipal homes, much like many of the GCAers here have already expressed.  I would love to share with you when you get further into your idea.




Matthew Rose

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #58 on: March 16, 2023, 11:13:49 PM »
Kennedy Golf Course in Denver,

Oh I look forward to this. Badly needed.
American-Australian. Trackman Course Guy. Fatalistic sports fan. Drummer. Bass player. Father. Cat lover.

Joe Perches

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #59 on: March 17, 2023, 12:41:39 AM »
When I think of "muni" I think of Kahuku Golf Course on Oahu. I've golfed with many locals and many of them wrinkle their nose and say "You drove all the way up there to play that place?!?!?"
Thanks Cal, I'm very impressed.  Wonderful pictures.  Did you ever post your Landmand shots?

Bill Gayne

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #60 on: March 17, 2023, 06:01:22 AM »
Rich,


I don't think it's been mentioned yet but a muni whose past might be worth further investigation is North Fulton Golf Club (AKA Chastian Park). When I took up the game in the late 80s would play most of my golf at North Fulton and heard all kinds of stories about big matches and money games among professionals and locals leading up to the Masters. Although most of the people who told those stories are probably dead by now there may be a few of them left. I believe it was originally designed by Chandler Egan on a decent piece of land.


Bill

MCirba

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #61 on: March 17, 2023, 10:21:51 AM »
North Fulton has quite a number of excellent holes.   Conditions when I played back when are sketchy, at best, but the bones are quite good.
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

Richard_Mandell

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Re: The American Muni
« Reply #62 on: March 17, 2023, 11:15:00 AM »
You know, North Fulton Golf Course is one of my all-time favorites.  When I lived in Atlanta (from 1991-1996), I played there all the time and it actually influenced much of my design philosophy about how fairway contours are the most "equalizing" of all hazards.  For instance, if I recall the fourth hole (or maybe it is 13 now?), it was a short par four with an elevated tee playing down into a valley and then back up to an even more elevated green with a road down the right side.


Standing on the tee, the fairway was wide and open and had no bunkers.  But what it had was a small plateau along the straight line from tee to green that was position A for anyone who wanted to make birdie.  So it took a very accurate tee shot to hit this target but you were rewarded with a fifty to eighty yard pitch with an almost eye-level view of the putting surface.  But if you missed the target, then you rolled all the way down to the bottom of the valley and had a longer, uphill approach to a blind green from that angle.


For the better golfers, it was a great challenge with great reward. But if you were less-skilled, it was wide-open and didn't present too many problems.  Most likely, the lesser-skilled didn't even notice the existence of that small plateau.


So, to me, that is what I would call an excellent golf hole that challenges all skill levels, certainly those looking for a challenge, without doling out undue penalty.

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