A defunct historic muny is about to get the ultimate modern makeover
There was a time when Cobbs Creek Golf Course was the showcase of Philadelphia’s collection of municipal courses and worthy of national attention. That time might be returning because the course, presently closed, is being gently reclaimed by Hanse Design, the hottest golf-architecture firm in the game, and will be operated under a business model that’s different than any other city-owned golf course in the country.
Situated at a prime location west of downtown, then as now served by rail stops, Cobbs Creek was, in the beginning, a rugged but entertaining 18. Built in 1915 within a large city park, the layout was fashioned under a restriction that prohibited any trees from being cut down, so the opening holes looped around a pasture, followed by several that weaved down a narrow valley beneath wooded slopes and the namesake creek, which nibbled at a few greens. After a tee shot up an embankment on the sixth, much of the remainder of the course played atop a plateau, with low-profile putting surfaces artfully positioned on promontories and knolls. The final hole plunged abruptly downhill, its green tucked beneath trees that lined a city street.