Chillicothe (Ohio) CC - 1915 - GCA - ????

[Richard Hetzel]

A few weeks ago I played Chillicothe CC which is located approximately 45 minutes due south of Columbus, Ohio. Their website bills the course as "Donald Ross Inspired", and many websites list Ross as the architect of record. According to the Donald Ross Society and the Tufts archives, Chillicothe is NOT listed as one of his designs. If anyone can chime in as to who designed this nice little 9 holer, please do! I am finding it quite difficult to locate information about this club. The course is laid out for the most part on a hillside with only a few flat holes presented to the golfer. I think the layout utilized the terrain quite well with some really nice downhill shots as well. It is fairly tight, and it was just now recovering from the midwestern drought we have been experiencing here in Ohio. One hole number one they are battling an infestation of bermuda grass that they were trying to eradicate, hence the giant bare patch of fairway. All of these things aside, this 3121 yard course was a blast and offered some interesting features. I love finding these 9 hole gems, it was worth the 1 hour drive there and back. Here are the pics....enjoy....

Hole #1 from the tee. Par 4 357 yards.

Hole #1 looking back from the rear of the green.

Hole #2 tee box view. Par 5 481 yards.

Hole #2 Fairway views.



Hole #2 green views.


Hole #3 tee box view. Par 3 182 yards.



Hole #4 tee box view. Par 4 320 yards.

Hole #4 fairway view.


Hole #4 Green.



Hole #5 Tee box view. Par 5 533 yards.






Hole #6. Tee box view. Uphill par 4 387 yards.



Hole #6 green.


Hole #7. Tee box view. Par 4  341 yards, downhill, one of the best holes on the course IMO.




Hole #7 green.





Hole #8. Narrow Par 4 337 yards. I hated the cramped view from the tee box on this hole. Once upon the green complex, I immediately changed my mind about the hole. Chillicothe CC's version of the road hole, err cart path I guess.










Hole #9. Par 3 183 yards.

[noonan]

Nice set of pictures...looks like a fun place to play!

[Tom MacWood]

Richard
It looks very interesting. I'm embarrassed to admit I've never even heard of Chillicothe CC, much less played it. It does look like Ross, do you know who designed it?

[Richard Hetzel]

Richard
It looks very interesting. I'm embarrassed to admit I've never even heard of Chillicothe CC, much less played it. It does look like Ross, do you know who designed it?

Everything I find says Ross, but I highly DOUBT it. If I had to guess I would say Bendelow, but what do I know?

Rich

[Phil McDade]

Rich:

I actually thought of Bendelow when you posted this. Bendelow did a ton of 9-holers in the Midwest, and he built several in Ohio in towns similar to Chillicothe. Cornish and Whitten credit him with 9-holers in Coshocton, Butler County (Hamilton), Defiance, Lorain, Mount Vernon, Sandusky, Lima, Dover, and Cincinnati.

Maybe worth looking at this thread of a 9-holer in southern Wisconsin (Country Club Estates) that Bendelow did, which bears some similiarities to Chillocothe.

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,39987.0/

Note in particular some of the similar bunker work on holes #3, 7 and 9 at Chillicothe, compared to holes 2 and 4 at CC Estates, the use of mounding around greens (note holes 3 and 6 at CC Estates), and the use of the lay of the land to create blind shots or blind outcomes to shots  (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and esp. 8 at CC Estates).

[Jim Sweeney]

Chillicothe is not listed in my edition of The Achitects of Golf.It certainly looks like it could be a Ross, though Bendelow would be a good guess too, since he was very active in Ohio.(Not listed under his name in Architects.)

Was this course ever associated with an Elks Club? If so, that could be a indication favoring Ross since he did three other Elks courses in southern Ohio.

[Billsteele]

Jim-I know that Ross is credited with designing the Hamilton Elks and the Portsmouth Elks golf courses. What is the third one you have seen credited to him? Just curious.

[Richard Hetzel]

I am thinking that Bendelow had a huge influence designing courses all across Ohio and the midwest, many of which he is not credited with.

If I was to bet; I would say Bendelow was the GCA of record for Chillicothe CC. I am getting ready, later this evening, to post another 9 holer CC in Northern Kentucky that I played last week. I also could not find out who designed it; when in fact it was none other than Bendelow!

Stay tuned...

[Chris_Blakely]

The course could be Bendelow, I recentlly played a Bendelow course built in the early 1900's and the one thing I would note is that green sites on the Bendelow course I played are less built up than the ones I see at Chillicothe.  I do see some similarities in some of the greens at Chillicothe with some of the semi built up ones at the course I recently played.

One thing to consider when looking at Bendelow courses is that his green sites drastically changed after he joined the Chicago Park Builders.  I believe he took over when William Langford left.  Langford had an effect on him and he started producing a lot bolder / more built up greens.

Doe Chillicothe allow public play??

Chris

[Jim Sweeney]

Bill: In Architects of Golf Ross is credoted for the Elks CC in Columbus. HE also did 9 at Piqua CC which I have been told was associated with an Elks Club, at least at one time.

[Richard Hetzel]

Chris,

I can only speculate that many of these greens were built up to compensate for the hillsides as well. Agreed on the Langford and Moreau front, I see many similarities with Bendelow's work. I also wonder if Bendelow lacks credit for designs completed when on the Spalding payroll?

I called and asked the pro if I could play, and he was happy to host me! Rather than playing 18, I only played 9 and then played 9 at Forrest Everhart Memorial GC down the street. It was a lesson in extreme dilapidation. The course is owned by the VA.

[Mark McKeever]

Looks like there are a lot of green space/pin locations that have been lost over time.  I love the look of it though!  It seems to compliment the land very well.

Mark

[Jim_Kennedy]

Here's a link to 514 of Tom Bendelow's courses:
http://tinyurl.com/2vhmcrm

I'm not sure how correct it is, they list a course named Stony Brook GC that wasn't built until the mid-to-late 1960s. There wasn't an earlier course on the property, I looked at the CT. aerials from 1934.

The phrase "Ross inspired" suggests one of his construction cohorts from the area built it.

[Chris_Blakely]

Here's a link to 514 of Tom Bendelow's courses:
http://tinyurl.com/2vhmcrm

I'm not sure how correct it is, they list a course named Stony Brook GC that wasn't built until the mid-to-late 1960s. There wasn't an earlier course on the property, I looked at the CT. aerials from 1934.

The phrase "Ross inspired" suggests one of his construction cohorts from the area built it.

Yes, I agreeon the "Ross inspired" in the History section on their website, I did not even see Ross mentioned.

[Chris_Blakely]

Here's a link to 514 of Tom Bendelow's courses:
http://tinyurl.com/2vhmcrm

I'm not sure how correct it is, they list a course named Stony Brook GC that wasn't built until the mid-to-late 1960s. There wasn't an earlier course on the property, I looked at the CT. aerials from 1934.

The phrase "Ross inspired" suggests one of his construction cohorts from the area built it.

Jim,

Thanks for the link.  My quick 2 cents is that list has a lot of the Chicago Park Builder Langford & Moreau courses listed as Bendelow's.  For example: Gary CC and Christiana Creek CC are bothe L & M courses and were completed prior to Bendelow.

Chris

[Tom MacWood]

Chillicothe went from a 2200 yard course in 1922 to a 3200+ course in 1923.

[Tom MacWood]

I find the 'Ross inspired' description interesting and a little odd, and I'm wondering if the course was laid out by one of Ross's associates, most likely Walter Hatch. Westbrook CC in Mansfield and Lancaster CC have maps drawn by Hatch, and Ross never took credit for either course in his pamphlet. Westbrook was designed in 1922 and I believe the nine holer at Lancaster was around 1922 too. I'm hoping to get down to Chillicothe shortly perhaps I can find some info. By the way Westbrook and the original nine at Lancaster are both excellent.

[Tom MacWood]

I was in Chillicothe today and spoke to someone who has done some research on the course. They have no proof Ross designed the course only a suspicion based on the fact Ross had worked in the area around that time. The course looks like Ross but I suspect one his associates, which is just as good IMO.

[DMoriarty]

Wild guess, but could Leonard Macomber have had anything to do with it?  I've seen reference to him having worked with Ross (not sure if it is true or not) and the timing and general geography would fit. 

[TEPaul]

Richard:

To me that architecture sure does "look like" Ross and I sure have seen a ton of Ross courses all over the place in my life, including some from him which were probably quite low budget. However, I have never suscribed to the idea that if something "looks like" a particular architect, even in the opinions of the best and most informed observers, that that should be used to actually assign architectural attribution to a particular architect, including Donald Ross. Unfortunately, I have seen that happen far too often only to be proven wrong when something that constitutes material proof eventually show up to prove it wrong.

[Chris_Blakely]

Wild guess, but could Leonard Macomber have had anything to do with it?  I've seen reference to him having worked with Ross (not sure if it is true or not) and the timing and general geography would fit. 

Those greens do not look like Macomber's.  I have played 4 or 5 of his courses.

Chris

[Sven Nilsen]

Ross was here, but his course was replaced in short order by the work of A. E. Whiteley.

May 29, 1922 Chillicothe Gazette -

[Tim Martin]

I was in Chillicothe today and spoke to someone who has done some research on the course. They have no proof Ross designed the course only a suspicion based on the fact Ross had worked in the area around that time. The course looks like Ross but I suspect one his associates, which is just as good IMO.

The last sentence of the post is interesting in that Tom MacWood felt that a Ross associate was just as good as the man himself at least as it pertains to Chillicothe.

[Sven Nilsen]

Tim:


I've been adding a number of articles to my Ross thread, and am continually amazed at how many of his projects saw his personal involvement.   


In any case, if his work here was in 1915, it most likely was prior to the involvement of any of his associates.


As for Chillicothe, I'm more interested in what it was about the 9 hole course he built that caused the club to look to improve it so soon after completion.  The discussion of the "land then available" makes me think he was a bit hamstrung in what he had to work with.  I'd also like to know how much if any of his course was preserved and who it was that came up with the design that Whiteley built.


Sven