"Gangster Golf"- Green Hills GC(White) in Birdsboro, PA

[Steve_ Shaffer]

For those fans of HBO's Boardwalk Empire, the name of Max Hassel,the "Beer Baron of Berks County,"  has been mentioned in connection with the bootlegging activities of Atlantic City's boss, Nukey Thompson, and his cohorts Meyer Lansky(the model for Hyman Roth in Godfather2) and Waxey Gordon. Hassel was a golfer and was turned down for membership at the nearby "historically Jewish" Berkleigh CC. So he built Green Hills:

Here's the course history: http://golfgreenhills.com/index_files/Page517.htm

Here's Hassel: http://www.berkshistory.org/articles/hassel.html

Here's Gordon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxey_Gordon

Here's Lansky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyer_Lansky

I think I'll take a ride to Reading and play there soon.

Did Al Capone or Lucky Luciano play golf?

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Al Capone played golf:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086732/index.htm

[JMEvensky]

Wasn't it Capone who lost a bet to Titanic Thompson about whether TT could drive a ball across some lake?

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Titanic Thompson was quite a character:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/18/entertainment/la-et-book-20101218

[Tim Martin]

Steve-Good stuff. Anybody notice how many of the Sopranos character actors are popping up on Boardwalk Empire.

[Mark McKeever]

Good find Steve.  I may have to come check it out also.

Mark

[Joe Bausch]

Where is Cirba when you need him?!  He used to live in Birdsboro.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Mark,Joe


I'm thinking of driving up on Sunday. Interested?

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Apparently, Hassel's name has not been mentioned  in the HBO series...yet:

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=345938