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.


Mike_Cirba

For years I've been trying to find architectural information about a course I played when I was a kid near where I grew up.

The course, Elmhurst Country Club, was opened in 1929 on land formerly owned by a Dr. Gardner.    In fact, I believe Dr. Gardner was quite instrumental in starting the club.

In any case, neither the club nor any other sources had any info when I last checked a few years back.

In recent weeks the Xerox Classic on the Nationwide Tour moved from Hurdzan & Fry's Glenmaura National to Elmhurst Country Club.

All of a sudden, news reports list this club as being designed by Donald Ross!   :o

Now, having played there, I don't think this is necessarily an outrageous claim, but if it was Ross, it was likely a "paper job", because the original routing is quite good, but the man-made features don't seem to have his usual level of sophistication.   For instance, most of the greens are quite small, perched, and sloped, but bunkering is pretty basic and even scant in places.

In any case, I'm putting this out there to see what, if anything, anybody knows about the origins of this course or whether the Ross Society or other interested parties have ever heard of this attribution prior.

Thanks!

Mike_Cirba

Re: Elmhurst Country Club - Moscow, PA (near Scranton) - Donald Ross???
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2008, 08:52:21 PM »
Here are some of the sources....I find this a bit amazing.   I grew up about 5 miles from this course and no one ever claimed any heritage whatsoever.

Even the local newspapers picked up on the Ross theme, but I'm still betting it's someone who saw the Elmhurst, Illinois Ross attribution..


http://www.pgatour.com/2008/tournaments/h071/08/20/inside_the_course/index.html

http://www.golf.com/golf/courses_travel/coursefinder/course/0,28290,1376512,00.html

http://www.iseekgolf.com/news/7711-lyle-eyes-pga-goldrush-at-penn-classic

http://www.pgatour.com/2008/tournaments/h071/08/20/tournament.preview/index.html

Tyler Kearns

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Elmhurst Country Club - Moscow, PA (near Scranton) - Donald Ross???
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2008, 10:25:57 PM »
Mike,

Just to confuse matters further, I grew up playing Elmhurst G. & C.C., a Ross design in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Neither the Architects of Golf or Golf Has Never Failed Me attribute the Elmhurst in Pennsylvania to Ross.

TK

Thomas MacWood

Re: Elmhurst Country Club - Moscow, PA (near Scranton) - Donald Ross???
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2008, 10:34:22 PM »
Ross did not list Elmhurst as one of his designs in 1930.

Mike_Cirba

Re: Elmhurst Country Club - Moscow, PA (near Scranton) - Donald Ross???
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2008, 10:37:24 PM »
Thanks guys....I really would love to hear where this sudden attribution is coming from.

I've looked at 1939 aerials and the course is reasonably sophisticated at that point and pretty clearly professionally architected, but....I still want to understand what they are basing this on.

Another course in that area...Elkview CC, had nine Ross holes designed close to the same time.   

Perhaps it was McGovern?