Here's an interesting article from 1904. That's before statehood. Some Monday Business Boomers http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1904/10/30/7/Img/Ar0070702.png
http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1904/10/30/7/Img/Ar0070703.png
http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1904/10/30/7/Img/Ar0070704.png

http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Layout/Images/Oklahoman/Elements/empty.gif
http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Layout/Images/Oklahoman/Elements/empty.gif
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Another good one from 1916. This is near the Medical Center.
I guess doctors really did golf a lot.



http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1916/05/11/11/Img/Ad0110903.png

http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Layout/Images/Oklahoman/Elements/empty.gif
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http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Layout/Images/Oklahoman/Elements/empty.gif
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From September of 1917. (http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1917/09/11/8/Img/Ar0081201.pn)
http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1917/09/11/8/Img/Ar0081201.png

If I'm not mistaken, I have gotten the impression that a Golf Bonanza is in the works on one o' them thar' tributaries to the Chisholm Creek branch o' the Urban Sprawl and the Flood Plain over there around Memorial and Penn. Traffic be "Dammed". Agin. =)

'ceptin' fer auto traffic it shud be gud . . .

(edited to correct: change "around" to "'round" . . .

Can I apologize for using the term "Bonanza" rather that "Extravaganza"?
(i hope so . . . =)

Since this thread is about golfing in OKC, does anybody remember the golf course that had boundaries of E. Hefner and Memorial and N. Bryant and Eastern? Now if somebody on this board claims to have played it, I want to meet them because it was closed in the 30's. I have no idea what the name of it was.
C. T.

Since this thread is about golfing in OKC, does anybody remember the golf
course that had boundaries of E. Hefner and Memorial and N. Bryant and
Eastern? Now if somebody on this board claims to have played it, I want to
meet them because it was closed in the 30's. I have no idea what the name
of it was.
C. T.
I've searched my sources and can't find anything about the course. Maybe
it didn't advertise.

Oklahoma City, and the area, was home to many golf courses. Some were
9 hole and some were 18.

I continue to search.

Since this thread is about golfing in OKC, does anybody remember the golf course that had boundaries of E. Hefner and Memorial and N. Bryant and Eastern? Now if somebody on this board claims to have played it, I want to meet them because it was closed in the 30's. I have no idea what the name of it was.
C. T.

Of course you're not referring to the nine hole, par three course at Lion's Fun Park, a storied stable of wonder to me in my youth. But it's funny that it was right by there!

A lot of people don't know that OKC has had 2 golf majors in the metro. Everyone knows about the 1988 PGA Championship up at Oak Tree National, but also the 1935 PGA Championship at Twin Hills.

1935 PGA Championship Details - PGA Media Guide (http://www.pgamediaguide.com/pgachampionship_detail.cfm?tournament_id=452&date=1935&tourn_name_id=2)

First place won $1000. Times has changed

Joe,
It really is close, but the one I'm talking about closed long before that. I have lived near Memorial and Eastern since 1975 and I don't remember a "Lions Fun Park". I just searched the DOK archives and it is definitely there in the early 90's, but "where is there?". West of Eastern?
C. T.
Of course you're not referring to the nine hole, par three course at Lion's Fun Park, a storied stable of wonder to me in my youth. But it's funny that it was right by there!

a 2003 article from the oklahoman says that the fun park was located at 13801 n. eastern ave. i'm curious about the other golf course in that area from the 1930's... will have to see what i can dig up. in south okc, my understanding is that the land south of capitol hill highschool was once a golf course. -M

Lion's Fun Park did indeed build a fun 9-hole course in its latter days and I spent quite a bit of time out there as a junior golfer. Was disappointed to see the facility went out of business after we moved from Edmond to the Dallas area in '94.

Martin,
What timeframe for the one South of CHHS? I grew up in that area and I hadn't heard that. Of course, we still had farm land in the city limits (Reding family at 36th and Western) so a golf course could easily been in that area. The fun park was North of Memorial, that makes more sense.
C. T.
a 2003 article from the oklahoman says that the fun park was located at 13801 n. eastern ave. i'm curious about the other golf course in that area from the 1930's... will have to see what i can dig up. in south okc, my understanding is that the land south of capitol hill highschool was once a golf course. -M

What timeframe for the one South of CHHS?
i don't know when it went in but if i had to guess, i'd say it was removed in the mid 1940's to early 1950's. -M

i ran across this while looking for info. it's a section of a 1935 okc map showing nichols hills. it shows an additional 9 hole course east of penn that no longer exists. -M

here's a link to a large version of the graphic (http://www.magnvs.de/pics/NicholsHillsGolf.png)

i found that there was an 'edgemere golf course' at nw 36th and walker where the christian church and its related grounds are currently located. an article from 1935 talks about public outcry as the developers who bought it planned to turn it into a subdivision. -M

finally found info on the 'capitol hill golf course'... an article from 1937 discusses the sale of the course located at 501 southwest 44th to a mr. & mrs. w.m. cooper and states that the course would remain open. the article also states that the buyers previously sold a 'fairview golf course' near nw 23rd and eastern. -M

Martin,
It was on the North side of 44th and that makes sense to me. The school on the South side was built before 1935 and when you mentioned a golf course, I incorrectly thought South, that's why I had trouble figuring out how their could have been one there. I do remember that it didn't have any homes but I'm not sure I knew what golf was in the 40's, so of course (pun intended), I don't remember it.
C. T.
finally found info on the 'capitol hill golf course'... an article from 1937 discusses the sale of the course located at 501 southwest 44th to a mr. & mrs. w.m. cooper and states that the course would remain open. the article also states that the buyers previously sold a 'fairview golf course' near nw 23rd and eastern. -M

Didn't Duffy Martin have a course near that area? Somewhere around 29th & Penn near Brock Park?

Martin,
What timeframe for the one South of CHHS?
C. T.
At least from 1932 until 1953.
http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1932/11/30/1/Img/Ar0011001.png
http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Layout/Images/Oklahoman/Elements/empty.gif


Here's an article from 9/28/1953

http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1953/09/28/38/Img/Ar0380003.png

Some observations about the 1935 map.

1) The course/hole numbering is nothing like the modern-day course. Now, five holes (10-14) are south of NW 63rd and west of Pennsylvania in that unmarked area surrounding the Belle Isle Lake Add. and Belle Isle Heights Add. (The modern-day order of those five holes was once--before my time--10-14-13-11-12.) Could there have been a land swap of the 9-hole course east of Penn for the Holes 10-14 area?

2) The modern-day street layout adjacent to OCG&CC as shown in 1935 has changed significantly. The part of Sherwood Lane running from Penn SW to 63rd is now part of Huntington Ave. As far as I can tell, nothing of Oxford Drive remains today. However, Pennington Ave has been extended across Penn to Hillcrest.

My family has lived on Hillcrest for 50 years in May, and between my sister and our grandparents, 75 years on Huntington Ave (more over towards Western.)

Didn't Duffy Martin have a course near that area? Somewhere around 29th &
Penn near Brock Park?
It's very possible. I know he had a course in Moore, OK. The course is
still there, around SW 89 and I-35. I played that course every week in the
60's.

Many of the areas, including the Brock Park you just mentioned, were golf
courses prior to1949.

I played a gig last night and he won a CD! I'm going to do some research on
Duffy. He's 96.

Here's something I just found. Duffy Martin must have lived at 2500 SW 30th.

I'm going to look for other information. Duffy Martin is second from the
left.

http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1941/11/16/41/Img/Pc0410900.jpg
http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1941/11/16/41/Img/Ar0410010.png

I haven't been able to find anything about Duffy Martin owning a course
around the Brock Park area. I know there wasn't a golf course during the
50's and 60's since I had relatives about a block from the park and went to
school in the same place. If there was a course in that area it had to have
been around the 20's or earlier. The neighborhood began growing in the
1930's. Like Woodson Park there could have been a 9 hole course but it
would have been very small. Maybe a par 3. I don't know.

At any rate, there were many, many golf courses in OKC prior to 1950.

It's interesting that this has come up, as I just had a conversation this past week with a friendly business acquaintance who is retiring (this week) and who will be living on farm/ranch land that he purchased from Duffy, who is a friend of his. We chatted a bit about Duffy and it reminded me of all of the great rounds of golf I've played on his courses, though I haven't been on them in years. It prompted me to do a search and I found a really interesting Gazette article from 2010 (http://http://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/article-5879-golf-pro-duffy-martin-has-lived-a-life-on-the-greens-of-oklahoma.html) that profiles him and breaks down his various endeavors over the years.

Unrelated: isn't it crazy that newspapers used to feel compelled to list home addresses of photo subjects in cut lines? Talk about privacy concerns!

Prunepicker,
It's on the Southeast corner of 89th and Shields. It's right across the street from what used to be a drive-in theater.
C. T.
It's very possible. I know he had a course in Moore, OK. The course is
still there, around SW 89 and I-35. I played that course every week in the
60's.

My understanding was that Duffy was involved in the park up on May that became Wedgewood when it moved out to NW Expressway. That park had some golf elements to it - I seem to remember reading about it in the Wedgewood thread. Then he opened Brookside at 89th and Shields. The next course he built was Braodmoor south of Moore. Then Cedar Valley opened as a 27 hole layout later expanded to 36 and later to 72 when the two courses east and north were opened.

My understanding was that Duffy was involved in the park up on May that
became Wedgewood when it moved out to NW Expressway. That park had
some golf elements to it - I seem to remember reading about it in the
Wedgewood thread. Then he opened Brookside at 89th and Shields. The next
course he built was Braodmoor south of Moore. Then Cedar Valley opened as
a 27 hole layout later expanded to 36 and later to 72 when the two courses
east and north were opened.
Duffy is going to turn 96 in May. I haven't seen him for a few months but
when I do I'll ask him about Wedgewood.

I played Brookside almost every Saturday morning in the 60's and we
were members of the Hillcrest Country Club.

Prunepicker,
Why play Brookside when you had Hillcrest available to you? Also, I might have caddied for your parents. I picked a few bucks as a caddy and also, I mowed one of my golfers lawn on a riding mower and they actually paid me! I would have done it for free, a rider was quite a luxury back then. He was a doctor getting older (I think he was at least 50, probably near death).
C. T.
Duffy is going to turn 96 in May. I haven't seen him for a few months but
when I do I'll ask him about Wedgewood.

I played Brookside almost every Saturday morning in the 60's and we
were members of the Hillcrest Country Club.

Prunepicker,
Why play Brookside when you had Hillcrest available to you?
It was a different place to play. Hey, it only cost $3 at the most and we'd
play more than 18 holes. I just liked Duffy's.


Also, I might have caddied for your parents. I picked a few bucks as a caddy
and also, I mowed one of my golfers lawn on a riding mower and they
actually paid me! I would have done it for free, a rider was quite a luxury
back then. He was a doctor getting older (I think he was at least 50, probably
near death).
C. T.
I don't know if you did. When we played Hillcrest we didn't have a caddy.
Dad may have had one when he hired Buster to play and provide instruction
with him. Buster was the pro and wasn't cheap at the time. Hey, it may have
cost $20 to have him play with you.

My friends and I would collect the balls on the driving range and get about
12 cents per tray. Each tray had 16 balls. We'd go to the 7/11 on SW 59th
and Villa and blow our $$$ on snacks.

Here's an article about Duffy Martin's driving range on S Shield and
County Line road.

http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1955/07/03/15/Img/Ar0150301.png

http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1955/07/03/15/Img/Ar0150302.png

Prunepicker,
Where in the heck is South Shields and County Line road? Actually, this is a rhetorical question, I have never heard SW/SE 89th referred to as "County Line road", but that apparently is what the article is referring to.
C. T.
Here's an article about Duffy Martin's driving range on S Shield and
County Line road.

Any one know the history of the par 3 course that was across the street from Downtown Airport on Western? I knew the guy that owned it in the 80's and would occasionally work on his lawn mowers that he used to mow it. There were batting cages there too.

Prunepicker,
Where in the heck is South Shields and County Line road? Actually, this is a
rhetorical question, I have never heard SW/SE 89th referred to as "County
Line road", but that apparently is what the article is referring to.
C. T.
Maybe it was called that as a reference point or something.

Here's an ad from November 15, 1921.

I believe golfing may have been a bigger casual sport than it is today. I say
that because prior to 1950 there were many, many more coursed in the city
area. I wonder how big it would have been if there had been cable TV and a
golfing station in the 20's?


http://archive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/1921/11/15/7/Img/Ad0071529.png

Here is some information from Wikipedia. I haven't golfed in decades but
I still enjoy the history.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsolete_golf_clubs)
Early golf clubs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_club_%28equipment%29) were all made of wood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood). They were hand-crafted, often by
the players themselves, and had no standard shape or form. As the sport of
golf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf) developed, a standard set of clubs began to take shape, with different
clubs being fashioned to perform different tasks and hit various types of shot.
Later, as more malleable iron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron) became widely used for shorter range clubs, an
even wider variety of clubs became available.

The woods were:

Play Club: Driver Brassie:
2-Wood Spoon:
Higher-Lofted Wood
Baffing Spoon: Approach Wood

These were made of wood and were used until being replaced by the
numbered system used today.

The irons were:

Driving Iron: 1 Iron
Cleek: 2 Iron
Mid Mashie: 3 Iron
Mashie Iron: 4 Iron
Mashie: 5 Iron
Spade Mashie: 6 Iron
Mashie Niblick: 7
Iron Pitching Niblick: 8 Iron
Niblick: 9 Iron
Jigger: Very low lofted iron, shortened shaft

The Mashie Niblick was not a wedge.

The traditional set of irons was invented by Archibald Barrie and were used
from 1903 up until about the 1940s. The introduction of the standardized
numbered iron set produced by the Spalding Sporting Goods Company
in the early 1930s caused the traditional set of irons to gradually give
way to numbered convention.

The traditional irons varied greatly in loft (+/- 5 degrees). The shape of the
head determined some of the playing characteristics of the club; most
traditional heads were roughly egg-shaped. Sabbath sticks

Sunday or Sabbath sticks were the golf enthusiasts' answer to the Church of
Scotland's discouraging golfing on Sundays.

Clubs were disguised as walking sticks, the club head comfortably fitting in
the palm of the golfer's hand, until feeling unobserved, the stick was reversed
and a few strokes were played.

I attended several Quail Creek Opens in the 60's. Some of the participants
were Arnold Palmer, Jack Nichlaus, Chi Chi Rodriguez. Miller Barber and
many others. I believe Sam Snead may have attended.

I'd follow Chi Chi because he was so much fun. Miller Barber was just too
much common sense and not very interesting. He was a great golfer.

My brother was almost hit by a bad fairway shot by Jack Nicklaus. Lil Bro
was standing against a tree and Jack's ball hit about 2 inches above his head.
The ball rebounded onto the fairway. I think it was 1966.

I was told yesterday that the Greens CC may lose three of its golf holes to Mercy Hospital. Anyone else heard that or know anything about it?

Someone may know better details but Mercy bought some land from them near holes 8-9 and the small par 3. But I believe it was all for future planning and they can't use it for like 5 years or something like that. The course has a plan for how it would change a few holes. Also I think the sale was from over a year or two ago( around when they changed the greens type of grass)

15330

This is roughly the tract that The Greens sold to Mercy in January of 2017.

Someone may know better details but Mercy bought some land from them near holes 8-9 and the small par 3. But I believe it was all for future planning and they can't use it for like 5 years or something like that. The course has a plan for how it would change a few holes. Also I think the sale was from over a year or two ago( around when they changed the greens type of grass)

This is all generally true. Mercy has also said that they have no immediate plans to develop the land (for additional parking) even after the 5 year restriction elapses, but you know how that goes....Still sad as those two holes, especially 8, are pretty fun. My understanding is that they have had an architect come out and draft plans to restructure the course for two holes where there is excess land on the latter part of the back nine. IIRC near 12/13 and 16/17. I'm no longer a member so it doesn't really matter any more but I joined not long after this happened and they didn't mention it at all as I was looking into the club. Was pretty peeved about that.

Those that are into Oklahoma golf history will probably find the following an interesting resource. Ed Oden has created the "Perry Maxwell Archive" which, to the best of my knowledge, is the most complete resource on Perry Maxwell's body of work to date. Tons of great information regarding Maxwell and the Oklahoma courses he built. The Golf Club Atlas interview, also linked below, is also worth a read as it summarizes the project and provides some great quotes regarding some OKC courses, notably Twin Hills. The interview contains a quote from Alister MacKenzie in the 1926 Daily Oklahoman, in which Mr. MacKenzie stated he was "favorably impressed with the Twin Hills course" and says it "would rank with those on Long Island which were built by Charles MacDonald." Mackenzie declared Twin Hills is "Better than the three American courses I have been hearing about all my life, The Links, The Lido and Garden City." Also, "Mr. Maxwell speaks of my ability to make a good fairway or develop a worthy green, but I wish to tell you that in laying out a golf course and to give it everything that the science and art of golf demand, Mr. Maxwell is not second to anyone I know."

It does not get any better than that, given the source of the quote and the courses Twin Hills was being compared to.

Perry Maxwell has historically been one of the more underrated golden age architects, but that seems to be changing over the last few years in golf architecture circles (see some of Gil Hanse's discussions during the Southern Hills renovation, for example). Hopefully we as a state can remember/realize what a treasure we have and continue to give his courses the care, respect, and ideally the restorative work they deserve.

https://golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/feature-interview-with-ed-oden/

https://www.perrymaxwellarchive.com/

Those that are into Oklahoma golf history will probably find the following an interesting resource. Ed Oden has created the "Perry Maxwell Archive" which, to the best of my knowledge, is the most complete resource on Perry Maxwell's body of work to date. Tons of great information regarding Maxwell and the Oklahoma courses he built. The Golf Club Atlas interview, also linked below, is also worth a read as it summarizes the project and provides some great quotes regarding some OKC courses, notably Twin Hills. The interview contains a quote from Alister MacKenzie in the 1926 Daily Oklahoman, in which Mr. MacKenzie stated he was "favorably impressed with the Twin Hills course" and says it "would rank with those on Long Island which were built by Charles MacDonald." Mackenzie declared Twin Hills is "Better than the three American courses I have been hearing about all my life, The Links, The Lido and Garden City." Also, "Mr. Maxwell speaks of my ability to make a good fairway or develop a worthy green, but I wish to tell you that in laying out a golf course and to give it everything that the science and art of golf demand, Mr. Maxwell is not second to anyone I know."

It does not get any better than that, given the source of the quote and the courses Twin Hills was being compared to.

Perry Maxwell has historically been one of the more underrated golden age architects, but that seems to be changing over the last few years in golf architecture circles (see some of Gil Hanse's discussions during the Southern Hills renovation, for example). Hopefully we as a state can remember/realize what a treasure we have and continue to give his courses the care, respect, and ideally the restorative work they deserve.

https://golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/feature-interview-with-ed-oden/

https://www.perrymaxwellarchive.com/

thanks for the links really great stuff

I'm not a golfer, but this history makes me smile thinking of my late father. He lived and breathed golf, and while living in Ardmore he delighted in playing at Dornick Hills.