Grew up in the city. Worked at Cobbs through the early-mid 90’s.
There’s nothing I want more than to see that place restored and thriving. There’s also no entity on earth more likely to screw it up than the Philadelphia city gov’t. Their collective incompetence and decades of neglect (and corruption) destroyed that place (I’m talking about the golf course, but I guess that all applies to the city in general).
Unless one or more politicians, union leaders, campaign donors, or corporate benefactors somehow reaps huge financial rewards, this project aint getting done. That’s the truth, and it’s a shame.
Not much of an update; but a small comment in Chris Lange’s GAP HOF speech that they are close to starting work. Very brief, but starts around the 2:40 mark.
Thanks for bringing this to us, certainly little more than a bread crumb of info but better than what is currently on any of their various informational outlets right now. Hopefully it’s a true “very, very close” and not the vague, non-committal end of that spectrum. It seems like the group surrounding this has the firepower and desire to get this done, hopefully going to see some progress soon though as 2023 is not so very far away!
The lease with the City ensures they stay out of construction, management and everything else. That was something that was delaying things in the past but has been resolved. The lease was a big deal for the very reason stated before here; no one wanted to go through all this work only to hand over control to the City, who would assuredly not manage things correctly.
Take it for it’s worth but on what I find to be a reliable source, apparently the Engineer Corps has been the reason for the current delay. While the environmental permits have been obtained, apparently the EC needs to be involved in some of the work near the water and that has been difficult to make happen.
My understanding, however, is that almost all of the funding is there, the permits are there and the City’s approval and lease is there. So hopefully this gets resolved and we see shovels in the ground soon. Once shovels are in the ground, I think it’ll be at least a year.
Question for Philly folks—my brother lives in Wissahickon and is pretty new to the game. I’m thinking about getting him a lesson gift card for Christmas. Can anyone recommend a teacher down there that does indoor lessons over the winter? Not gonna do a package or anything—just want him to take a lesson and hopefully he sees the value in it. Cheers!
Sounds good to us! If you’d like, check out our page for the Philly Roost, we’re going to be planning a season-long series of events from March through July. There’s a google doc there for you to sign up and put your info in.
Definitely good news after over a year of hearing next to nothing at all. I would think a year’s delay is not altogether unexpected on a project like this, hopefully it is the only one though! Can’t wait to see the whole facility let alone the restored olde course. Hopefully some echos of Karakung remain!
Not specific but does give some insight that they have plans / thinking about rolling out a tiered greens fee structure based on residence:
The course will be financially self-sustaining, said Maguire, who envisions the driving range generating enough revenue to pay for operations and community programming.
The course will remain affordable, said Ott Lovell, although she expects fees to rise slightly. City officials will be involved in setting the fees, she said, and are recommending a tiered fee structure that’s cheapest for residents of surrounding neighborhoods, more expensive for people coming from the region, and priciest for people visiting from other parts of the country.
Hughes hopes the historically significant course will once again draw tourists from the region, as well as the world.
“[It will] have a dramatic impact on the city of Philadelphia and the region,” he said.
Anyone know anything about McCall Golf Club? They have very reasonable pricing; however, it looks like they are a short course. Very short. Not sure if anyone has any info on it.
I believe it was one of those old company-owned courses for use by the brass and company employees. Now I think it’s just your standard private course. It definitely is short, more executive style but I think it’s on pretty good land with some good holes. Never played it but heard/read some good things. It’s right next to Cobb’s Creek and what used to be City Line driving range but will now be reverted back to the part of the Old Course they lost during wartime. I’ll see if I can find some of the old resources I found reading about it.
Website claims it has Ross/Flynn origins, totally forgot about that. Some good reading here, makes me want to call them up and try to get out and play it!
Appreciate it. They say it was a PECO only course until 2004. Still about 60% PECO employees apparently. And I’ll save you your call. Can’t get on unless you pay for membership or a member takes you out.
