News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.


Dan Herrmann

Reading (PA) Country Club to be closed
« on: July 26, 2005, 09:08:18 PM »
Looks like Reading Country Club is being sold and turned into 135 townhouses:

http://wfmz.com/cgi-bin/tt.cgi?action=viewstory&storyid=7047

A little history of this Alexander Findlay course:
Reading Country Club was chartered by the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County, Pennsylvania, on June 6, 1922, as a corporation not for profit. The club purchased 237 acres of land, consisting of two farms and four additional tracts of land in Exeter Township. The golf course, consisting of nine holes, was laid out by renowned architect, Alexander Findlay, and opened in 1923. A second nine opened for play in 1926. The present clubhouse was completed in 1931.

 In 1937, Byron Nelson was hired as the club's golf professional. He arrived at Reading Country Club in 1937 right after winning the Masters. He told a fellow professional that he used his $1,500 first place check from the Masters to stock the pro shop. That summer he finished 20th in the U.S. Open and played on the first Ryder Cup Team to win on British soil. While in England he finished 5th in the British Open. Later that year he won $3,000, the largest first prize on the PGA Tour, by beating Henry Picard in the finals of the Belmont Match Play in Massachusetts. He won twice onthe PGA Tour in 1938. In June 1939 he won the U.S. Open at the Philadelphia Country Club's Spring Mill Course by defeating Craig Wood and Denny Shute in a three-way play-off. That year he also won the Western Open, the North and South Open, and was runner-up in the PGA Championship. Nelson resigned his position at RCC in late 1939 to become the professional at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

In 1940 Henry Clay Poe followed Nelson as the professional at RCC. He came from Winged Foot Golf Club where he had been working as Craig Wood's assistant. While playing the US Open play-off with Craig Wood, Nelson mentioned that he would be leaving RCC at the end of the season and they would be in need of a pro. POE served RCC for 23 years. During World War II he had to leave to work in a defense plant from 1943 through 1944. In 1953 he was elected president of the Philadelphia Section PGA and held the office through 1956 without ever having held any other office in the section. POE left RCC in early 1966 to build and manage company golf courses in Alabama for Vanity Fair. While working in Alabama he was elected president of the PGA of America for 1975 and 1976. During his term in office he was instrumental in changing the Ryder Cup matches to include all professionals from Europe instead of just the British Isles and Ireland which turned the matches into one of the world's premier golf events. He was elected to the Philadelphia Section PGA Hall of Fame in 1996.

In July 1949 the Reading Country Club hosted the $15,000 Reading Open. Byron Nelson's course record of 65 was broken twice during the first round on Thursday. Sam Snead fired a 63 and Lawson Little came in with a 64. After three rounds it was Snead and Dr. Cary Middlecoff, tied at ten-under-par 200, leading the field by four strokes. Middlecoff, the winner of the U.S. Open that June, holed a side-hill six-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to gain a one stroke lead on Sam Snead. Snead, playing in the last pairing right behind Middlecoff, reached the 72nd green with a chance to force a play-off. With a gallery of 3,500 watching, Snead faced a four-foot side-hill birdie putt for the tie. He missed the putt as the ball rimmed the cup and stopped two inches away giving Middlecoff the victory. Middlecoff, under par 70 in every round with scores of 67-68-65-66 for a 266 total received a $2,600 check for his victory.

In September 1953 a Ryder Cup challenge match was played with a two-day competition using the formats that would be played during the matches in England the next month. The challenge team was captained by Jimmy Demaret and was made up of touring pros who had nearly made the team. The Ryder Cup Team, led by playing captain Lloyd Mangrum, defeated the challengers 12 1/2 to 7 1/2. They competed for $15,000 of which $3,000 was set aside for traveling expenses for the team to go to England.

During the history of the club, ownership has changed hands quite a few times. From its original equity-based beginning, the club fell into bankruptcy, and in 1944 20 businessmen bought it. The club was sold again in 1969 to three men from Philadelphia who were members of The Springhaven Club, Judge Francis J. Catania, John Bosacco and Dale Reese. They sold the 142 acres that comprised the clubhouse and golf course to the Filippini family in 1979. In 1987 Mimi Filippini sold two-thirds of the club to golf professionals, Robert Thatcher and Joseph Dahl. In 1990 Mr. Filippini sold his remaining one-third to Allentown businessman Larry Beans. In November of 1999 Mr. Beans acquired Mr. Dahl's and Mr. Thatcher's interests in the club.


TEPaul

Re:Reading (PA) Country Club to be closed
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2005, 09:28:52 PM »
That's a damn shame, but it doesn't really surprise me. It's a sign of our present times, I guess. The course iss somewhat controversial because it's different and quirky. I hate to see golf courses like that go down the NLE road. We played a lot of GAP tournaments up there over the years and on about half the holes you really had to use your head!
« Last Edit: July 26, 2005, 09:29:54 PM by TEPaul »

Mike_Cirba

Re:Reading (PA) Country Club to be closed
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2005, 09:53:05 PM »
The 11th hole is one of my favorites in golf.  It's almost an Alps style hole, one that would never be built today...a long par four dogleg left with a completely blind approach with an OB public road right behind the green.

My brother was a member for a number of years.  Sad to see another one go..  :'(

Mike_Trenham

Re:Reading (PA) Country Club to be closed
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2005, 11:15:04 PM »
Mike

#11 is not original.  Sometime back they sold off a what was the original #11 fairway to a developer that put in a retirement home.  #11 was originally a dogleg right hole to the same green not blind, now it is a blind dogleg left to the original green complex.

Also changed

#10 was a short dogleg right par 4 that played to the same green as the current #10 Changed to put in/expand a practice range.  Now it is a par three the front of which was the right edge of the original green.

#12 was shortened when the road either went thru the property or became too busy.  Tee was to the right and above the #11 green still there and a what a tee shot and hole that must have been.
Proud member of a Doak 3.

mike_malone

Re:Reading (PA) Country Club to be closed
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2005, 08:25:47 AM »
Mike Cirba,
    I'm with you on #11; love it, particularly the rock outcroppings.


  Mike Trenham

     I would have guessed that hole was original ; shows what I know.
AKA Mayday

Mike_Cirba

Re:Reading (PA) Country Club to be closed
« Reply #5 on: July 27, 2005, 09:28:38 AM »
Mike

#11 is not original.  Sometime back they sold off a what was the original #11 fairway to a developer that put in a retirement home.  #11 was originally a dogleg right hole to the same green not blind, now it is a blind dogleg left to the original green complex.

Also changed

#10 was a short dogleg right par 4 that played to the same green as the current #10 Changed to put in/expand a practice range.  Now it is a par three the front of which was the right edge of the original green.

#12 was shortened when the road either went thru the property or became too busy.  Tee was to the right and above the #11 green still there and a what a tee shot and hole that must have been.

Mike,

WOW, that's a surprise, but the more I think about it it makes sense, especially since the green tilts so much from right to left presently (Which would have been back to front on the original).  I thought it was pretty wild for Findlay...almost more of a MacDonald/Raynor type hole in its present form with the completely blind approach.  

I did know about #10...it's still pretty obvious what the hole used to do if you stand on the practice tee.

12 from across the road would have been pretty awesome.  I'm also a huge fan of #15, which is one of the most difficult drop-shot par threes I'm familiar with.  

Sad to see such a beautiful property becoming just another set of townhouses.   :-[

Tags: