SHARE OUR

LEGACY

The Legend Who Lighted the Way

PIONEER OF COBBS CREEK

From the day Cobbs Creek opened in 1916, countless golfing enthusiasts, some of whom couldn’t yet cast a ballot, found a home at one of the nation’s best public links.

Our mission remains rooted in the barriers that came crashing down on these same fairways. In its heyday, Cobbs Creek was the home course for inclusion in America. Howard Wheeler, Charlie Sifford, and other now-legendary golfers honed their game right here—at the very time they were not welcomed elsewhere.

Sifford went on to win six United Golf Association National Opens (including five in a row) before finally breaking the color barrier on the PGA Tour in 1961. Even with his card, he was taunted and tormented, much like Jackie Robinson had been in baseball. Sifford just chomped down even harder on his trademark cigar, and went on to win two PGA tournaments after age 45 and the 1975 PGA Senior Championship, before being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.

A Permanent Home for Our Legacy

ENVISIONING OUR CAMPUS

The Heritage Center inside the Driving Range Complex will be the place where the threads of this evolving story come together.

Here visitors will discover the groundbreaking legacy of Cobbs Creek in knocking down barriers and making public golf open to all genders, races, and creeds.

They will come to know the role of true game changers who called Cobbs Creek their home course, like Charlie Sifford who broke the color barrier on the PGA and went on to advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in all facets of the game and life.

And they will come to understand how the impact of the Cobbs Creek story plays out in new generations of game changers who followed suit, none more inspiring than Tiger Woods. It is no coincidence that Tiger, through his TGR Foundation, is playing a central role in the Cobbs Creek Campus.

A Partnership Spanning Generations

Changing young lives is of paramount importance for the Cobbs Creek Foundation. One important way this impact plays out is in our work with the Dr. Charlie Sifford Scholarship Fund. By acting as one of the Fund’s fiduciary partners, we are proud to support an annual cohort of graduating high school students who will be attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The Sifford family echoed our own sentiments about this expression of our legacy: “Dr. Sifford is looking down at all these wonderful students and wishing them the best in their future career paths.”

To find out more about this program and how to apply, please visit the Sifford Scholars site.

“Just like my dad, I admire the legacy Tiger Woods is creating for young golfers of color. He is following in Charlie Sifford’s footsteps and changing the game for generations to come.”

CHARLIE SIFFORD JR.

COBBS CREEK HISTORY

  • Cobbs Creek began as

    a humble water mill outside of Philadelphia.

  • Golf association of Philadelphia and city of Philadelphia

    appoints Hugh Wilson & The Philadelphia School of golf architecture to design the course.

  • Cobbs Creek breaks barriers

    by welcoming female golfers before they even had voting rights.

  • Cobbs Creek served as

    the home course for barrier-breaker Charlie Sifford.

  • Cobbs Creek hosts the United Golf Association

    the men’s and women’s Open, won by greats; Howard Wheeler, Lucy Williams, and Thelma Cowans.

  • Anti-Aircraft battery

    15% of the course was annexed by the U.S. Military for an anti-aircraft battery during the early years of the Cold War. This loss of acreage significantly re-routed the course, adversely affecting a third of the holes, most of them among the most renowned and iconic on the golf course.

  • Cobbs Creek hosts

    the Daily News Open played by legends like Arnold Palmer.

  • Charlie Sifford becomes

    the first Black golfer on the PGA Tour, winning two official events in 1967 and 1969, and paving the way for a new generation of minority golfers.

  • The slow demise of the golf course

    and facilities due to fire, flood, and lack of funding.

  • For its role in breaking down barriers,

    Cobbs Creek is inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame.

  • Restore the course to its original design,

    build a new clubhouse, and create a championship golf destination to open in 2026, with the TGR Learning Lab and Driving Range opening in 2025.