The reasons various golf courses came to be!?

[TEPaul]

On another thread someone mentioned something about why Friar's Head came to be.

Can you imagine all the interesting ways and reasons golf courses in this world came to be? Someone could probably write a fairly interesting book on the subject.

What are some of the more interesting ways and reasons various golf courses came to be?

My own course is pretty interesting although obviously not that unusual. In 1915 about ten members of Merion (East and West), including my grandfather, got tired of the overcrowding and bought some land and started Gulph Mills G.C. The rock solid theme of the club was to never have tee times or overcrowding and amazingly that theme is very much intact and very much preserved today!

Another good one was the story of Clarence Geist who got ticked off one day standing around waiting to tee off at Atlantic City G.C. one day and went out and created the Seaview G.C. complex (as well as eventualy Boca Raton).

[TEPaul]

Some of the obvious general reasons;

1. Loss of land
2. Extreme vision
3. Profit
4. Overcrowding
5. Obsolesence
6. Discrimination (do you appreciate that Martha Burk?)

[Tom_Doak]

Tom:

Stonewall Two has one of the most interesting stories behind it.

The original course was built with the idea of being out in the country, and to be a bastion for walking and caddies and no golf carts.  To the first end, the founders optioned some of the property which overlooked the third hole, and bought it a few years later.

The first course only plays about 11,000 rounds per year, so there was really no need for a second eighteen ... but the founders started to become afraid that the next generation would allow carts on the course as they became older.  Essentially, they built the second course to ensure that the original would be preserved as the walking-only enclave which it was intended to be.

(Ironically, the second course is easier to walk than the first, but you can get a cart on a hot sweaty summer day!)

[Tom_Doak]

P.S.  You forgot reason number seven.

7.  Ego.

Without it we might all be out of work next year!

[RJ_Daley]

Tom, in these here parts, low milk prices are the cause of golf course development

[Tommy Williamsen]

Where my folks live in western Michigan, a few cherry farms were modified to grow cherries and fairways.  They are mom and pop courses with greens fees around 15$.  In northern Michigan many ski areas built golf courses because they had the infrasstructure that wsent unused seven months a year.They include Boyne, Treetops and others.