Foundation Plans $20M Restoration of Historic Cobbs Creek GC
The group has secured rights to the 102-year-old Philadelphia property for $1 and will seek to raise private donations to help restore the course’s original Hugh Wilson design. The vision is to create a new facility that rivals top public courses in other major cities, such as Torrey Pines in San Diego and Harding Park in San Francisco.
A small yet resolute group of people dedicated to golf and golf history has been determined for some time to restore the luster of 102-year-old Cobbs Creek Golf Course, which was the crown jewel of Philadelphia city courses for nearly 50 years before falling on hard times, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.
For years now, the low-lying holes near the creek from which the course takes its name have been areas of constant flooding when it rains, the Inquirer reported. Trees and waste areas have become overgrown, and a city that had more pressing needs offered only minimal maintenance to keep the course in operation,
But now the persistent concern to restore a course that once hosted national events and received visits from the likes of Ty Cobb, Connie Mack and Joe Louis is about to be rewarded, the Inquirer reported. A unanimous vote by the Philadelphia City Council in June awarded the course for $1 in rent to the nonprofit Cobbs Creek Restoration and Community Foundation, an organization headed by commercial real estate broker Chirs Lange, for the purpose of restoring, maintaining and operating the facility.