Thanks, Joe. George Ormiston is credited with the design. Reportedly, eight of the original greens remain. The course has been designated an historical Western Pennsylvania landmark through the Pittsburgh History & Landmark Foundation. As of 2007, it had employed only four head golf professionals in its 100-year history.
From an April 30, 2007 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article:
Mt. Lebanon was built by Ormiston, a former accomplished amateur player and first winner of the West Penn Amateur championship in 1899 when it was played at Schenley Park Golf Course, then known as the Pittsburgh Golf Club. He was also president of the West Penn Golf Association from 1914 until his death in 1940. Ormiston was born in Haddingtonshire, Scotland, in 1874 and migrated in 1888 to the Pittsburgh area, where his father owned a law firm and printing company. He was a close friend and associate of Oakmont founder Henry C. Fownes, who built the course that would go on to host 17 national championships in 1903. Ormiston played at Oakmont and, along with Fownes, dominated amateur golf in Western Pennsylvania for much of the early 1900s. He also was on the committee for the first U.S. Open that was held at Oakmont in 1927. There is a picture in the Oakmont guesthouse of the first Oakmont golf team, and Fownes and Ormiston are seated next to each other. It is not known how much input, if any, Ormiston had in the construction of Oakmont. But in 1908, he was contracted to build an 18-hole golf course on a portion of farmland owned by William Smith, who bought the property located near the Pittsburgh & Castle Shannon Railroad in 1846. Smith was the first to begin construction on the course, building three holes in the summer of 1907 before Ormiston was hired to lay out the course on paper. Castle Shannon Golf Club opened nine holes on July 4, 1908 and expanded to 18 holes in 1910, according to documents contained in the club's application for landmark status…Castle Shannon was reduced to nine holes in 1919 after a two-year period in which the club was inactive because of World War I and also lost members to the newly formed St. Clair Country Club.
From the community website:
Mt. Lebanon's proud tradition of golf dates back to July 4, 1907, when a group of 30 men founded the Castle Shannon Golf Club on a 100-acre farm and persisted with the sport despite having to dodge moving targets, such as cows and horses. There were no tees or greens; still 30 golfers soon had joined, each paying $5 dues per year and bringing along scythes and lawn mowers to keep the course in playable condition. By 1918, there were 100 members, some rudimentary tees and greens and even a groundskeeper. That original club eventually disbanded, was reorganized, and in the '20s, '30s and '40s was one of the most popular 9-hole courses in the Pittsburgh area. Among the club's elite members were the financiers Andrew W. and Richard King Mellon, who reportedly rode the trolley to the end of the Castle Shannon line and were transported by horse-drawn carriage to the golf course. Mt. Lebanon purchased the private course in 1947 and reconfigured several holes located in the adjacent Castle Shannon Borough so that the entire course now lies within the boundaries of Mt. Lebanon.