March 19, 2013 update: Brad Klein of GolfWeek reports that work begins today on the Olympic golf course in Rio de Janeiro: http://golfweek.com/news/2013/mar/19/work-finally-starts-rio-2016-course/ The architect is Gil Hanse of Malvern. Gil has done work at Cobb’s Creek over the years, in particular rebuilding the 4th green.
December 12, 2012 update: Do you remember the article back in April 2008 by Joe Logan, former golf writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, entitled “With a little help from a few friends”?
November 30, 2012 update: The Cobb’s Creek Golf Association completed another successful year. Check them out at: www.the-crick.com Contact Paul Cornely for more info and how to join.
November 24, 2012 update: A longtime supporter of Cobb’s Creek, Don D., checked in to tell us he has a 1917 painting from the course by Roy Mason. It must be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Below is a picture of it.
June 7, 2012 update: Back in the 20s it was not unusual to have a multitude of people waiting to tee off at Cobb’s Creek. See below and get in line!
June 1, 2012 update: The reason part of Cobb’s Creek GC changed dramatically was due to the installation of an Army AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery) Gun Site Program (a precursor to the Nike missile defense program) in 1953 on the corner of the course where the current City Line Avenue driving range sits. Below are two […]
May 31, 2012 update: Recently the Friends of Cobb’s Creek Golf Course met with Ed Abrams of KYW 1060 Newsradio and TeeItUpPhilly.com. From that interview was a segment on Cobb’s Creek as part of the station’s “Golf Report” (no longer available as a podcast, unfortunately).
May 30, 2012 update: William Evans, the golf writer for the Public Ledger, grew tired of there being no public course in Philly, and recruited the help of President Taft. Below is the letter Taft wrote to Evans and published on February 23, 1913.
May 29, 2012 update: Below is an entertaining picture from the 4th hole at Cobb’s from the July 10, 1928 edition of the Evening Public Ledger.
Memorial Day, 2012 update: Charlie Sifford was the first African-American on the PGA Tour. Did you know he honed his game at Cobb’s Creek? This from James W. Finegan’s wonderful book “A Centennial Tribute To Golf in Philadelphia”: “Charlie Sifford was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1922. He grew up caddying and learning to […]
May 26, 2012 update: Do you know how busy Cobb’s Creek was in the 20s? Some years more than 80,000 golfers are reported to have played it. Read it below from the November 1927 edition of the Philadelphia Golfer magazine.
May 25, 2012 update: A variety of people likely helped design and build Cobb’s Creek. As support, this snippet from the Jan 1, 1916 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer below (part of bigger article on golf entitled “Drives and Putts” by “Joe Bunker”). Ab Smith, George Crump, and Hugh Wilson are three very notable names […]
May 19, 2012 update: Even a New York newspaper praised Cobb’s Creek soon after it opened! Read about it below (from the August 28, 1916 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a very prominent newspaper in its day).
May 14, 2012 update: Before Joe Dey went on to the USGA and later the first president of the PGA, he was a writer for the Evening Bulletin. In 1931 that Philly paper ran a series of articles called “Golfing Waterloos” where a local hole was profiled. On April 15, 1931 the original 6th hole […]
May 11, 2012 update: On May 30, 1915 the Philadelphia Record published some pictures updating the progress at Cobb’s Creek. See them below (that is the 5th green under construction).
May 10, 2012 update: Below is a picture (Public Ledger, 1915) of the original 12th hole, a downhill par 3. Currently this is the par 3 6th green, played from a much different angle.
May 8, 2012 update: Below is the routing for the US Publinx tourney at Cobb’s Creek in 1928.
May 7, 2012 update: Not long after the Public Ledger showed a routing (see May 5th update below) for Cobb’s Creek GC, the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 16, 1915 published a similar figure. The main difference being the par 3 14th hole appears to have the green moved and the hole stretched to 175 yards. […]
Cinco de Mayo, 2012 update: Below is the original routing at Cobb’s Creek GC from the April 11, 1915 edition of the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
May 4, 2012 update: In the summer of 2008 the Friends of Cobb’s Creek Golf Course met with Til De Palma, probably the oldest living person familiar with the Cobb’s Creek Golf Course. He caddied there as a youngster in the 20s. You’ll hear him describe many aspects of his days there, including caddying for […]
May 2, 2012 update: Late last year a friend sent pictures (here and here) of two Cobb’s Creek tags he owns (from 1934 issued by the Commissioners of Fairmount Park).