Ellis Potter Golf Course (AKA Potter's Park) 1929 - Hamilton, Ohio (PICS)

[Richard Hetzel]

I walked the front nine at Harris Potter GC (AKA Potter's Park) in the somewhat downtrodden town of Hamilton, Ohio the other day. I loved the front 9, and I have not played the shorter back 9 holes so I cannot comment on them at this time. I am finding myself increasingly drawn to this era of golf course design. Not CCC, but very similar. One could even assume it was a private at one time, but it was not.

The front 9 was an enjoyable, fairly easy walk with some great holes, holes with real character, there are no cookie cutter holes here. Small greens were the norm as well as a few gentle dog leg holes. Streams, gentle rolling hills, just enough to escape the boring feeling of too flat. Not too much to say really hilly. Just a nice balance of topography. A nice piece of land for sure. All natural contours to the shape of the land, with the exception of the rear of the green complexes which were pushed up a bit to create some elevation. The sand traps were typically larger and fairly flat.

I had a tough time finding out information about this particular course. The land was donated to the city of Hamilton by Mr. Ellis Potter for the city's first municipal golf course in 1927. It opened for play in 1929. Anyone know who designed it? I'll keep digging for more information.

The course plays to a SHORT 5354 yards at the tips, the front 9 measures 3107 yards. Here are the pics:

[Mike_Cirba]

Rich,

Potter's opened for play on May 26th, 1927.

It was designed by;

"W. C. Jackson, former pro at Butler Country Club, supervised the general layout and measured off the distances of the course free of charge."

[Richard Hetzel]

Mike,

Where did you find that?

Rich

[Mike_Cirba]

Rich,

The Hamilton newspaper reporting on the Opening of the course.

I pay for an online research news online service that has lots of archived data.   Hope this helps!

[Criss Titschinger]

Can't say that I ever thought I'd see a writeup of Potter's Park on here.  You're right about the small greens, and I would say that, and the par 3s, is where the course has some teeth.  A buddy of mine played in their club championship there last year, but I can't remember what he shot.  The course has five par 3s, and the shortest one is at 174 yards (#11) and the longest being the 222 yard 9th that's up a 20-25 foot hill.  I can hardly reach that hole with driver, though I'm not the world's longest hitter.

The back 9 has a couple reachable par 4s at 14 and 18.  In fact, 18 has a concrete pad with 4 steps going up it so you can make sure the green is clear.  10 and 17 are uphill par 4s that might be reachable by tour length hitters, but not mortals like me.  13 is a brutal uphill 217 yard par 3 where the fun only begins once you hit the green.

Potter's is one of my favorites in the Cincinnati area.  It's proof that a course doesn't have to be overly long to be fun and challenging.

[Tom Yost]

I'll have to check with my uncle, but I'm pretty certain it was Potter's Park where my grandfather had a hole-in-one.