Inverness and Ottawa Park in Toledo Ohio
The legend of Inverness Club in Toledo began in the late 1800s, when Sylvanus Pierson Jermain became interested in developing public parklands. This interest led to the formation of a board of park commissioners of which he was the president for four terms.
After persuading the board to purchase the 250 acres that became Ottawa Park, he created a nine-hole layout there in 1899, the first public golf course west of New York City and believed to be the first and thus olders municipal course in the country.
Fellow golfers at Ottawa Park had discussed with Sylvanus their desire for a private golf club. One of them, J. H. Bellows, said that the land had to be adaptable; it couldn't be too far from Toledo proper; and there had to be trolley service to it. Orus Jones, another golfer and investor in the club, liked an 80-acre plot on Dorr Street at the end of the trolley line.
After they walked the land, they decided it would make a fitting course. In 1903, their discussions culminated in signing the Articles of Incorporation of the Inverness Club Company at the law offices of Marshall & Fraser in the Spitzer Building.
It is said that the 1920 U.S. Open played at Inverness Club was Sylvanus' baby. The competitors came from all over, with Ted Ray and Harry Vardon of Great Britain finishing first and second. Jermain, always the visionary, thought it would be great to have an international golfing event. Samuel Ryder of England donated the cup, and one of the biggest rivalries in international golf, the Ryder Cup, was born. All of this was chronicled both in the June 29, 1931, Toledo News-Bee and a 1931 publication of the Professional Golf Association of America.
However, the 18-hole "Ottawa Park" course at the Ottawa Park Golf Course facility in Toledo, Ohio also featured large in SP Jermain's plans of public golf access, as it held the first USGA AM Publinx Championship in 1922. However, the Ottawa Park golf course was really in play before 1899, as many of the original 9 holes were first carved out of forest lands by local apple orchard farmers.
p.s. I grew up about 1/4 mile west in Old Orchard..
Ottawa Park became an early central part of the Toledo Parks System.. SP got it enlarged to 18 holes in 1908 and is rumored to have tinkered with it with input from Donald Ross for many years. The par 5, fourth hole has been featured in various publications, including the USGA's official magazine, for its challenging and interesting design. By today's standards its 5,079 yards of golf from the longest tees challenges many for a par of 71 with course rating of 64.2 and slope rating of 110.
Another of Sylvanus' accomplishments was his writing the American Code of Golf, a modern, simplified version of the St. Andrews rules for golf. It proved to be quite popular with golfers during the early part of the 20th century.
SP with Bobby Jones
Lord Byron was THE PRO at Inverness for a while, can anyone ID these other guys?
or these guys?
