By Design - Fall 2019

13 T he ‘Golden Age’ of golf course design in the early decades of the twentieth century saw the creation of many of America’s finest courses. It also saw the birth of university golf courses, with leading institutions like Princeton, Yale and Stanford investing in their own facilities for their golf teams and students, and as an attractive amenity for staff and alumni. Springdale Golf Club in Princeton, New Jersey, may lay claim to being America’s first university course. Formed in 1895 by a group of alumni, faculty and undergraduates, nine holes opened in 1902 and another nine followed in 1915, before a William Flynn redesign in 1927. College golf courses soon began to emerge across the country. In 1921, Bob Rutherford and R.D. Pryde, professors at Penn State, laid out nine holes on campus, with Willie Park, Jr. arriving the following year to extend their work to a full eighteen. The renowned nine-hole Culver Academies Tripp Davis, ASGCA, renovated the Jimmie Austin course “to produce championship golf” for the University of Oklahoma Photo: Branden Hart