Thursday, June 13, 2002
Sharon Woods, Open course share lineage
It's Depression-era WPA project like Bethpage Black
By Carey Hoffman
Enquirer contributor
An overriding theme for this week's U.S. Open is excitement that it is being played at a true public course, Bethpage Black, for the first time. To make a local comparison, consider how you might react if the Open came to Sharon Woods. Bethpage Black and Sharon Woods hold similar lineages.
Both courses were created during the Great Depression as New Deal projects of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). On the heels of golf's Golden Age for course development, the game's best designers had to scramble for work in the 1930s. With WPA support, it meant the start of the first public-course building boom.
“There was really a pretty profound change in the demographic of golf in the '30s,” said Rand Jerris, historian for the United States Golf Association. “Private clubs were suffering because people couldn't afford to join, and that downturn in private play is countered perfectly by an upturn in public golf.”
The WPA strongly supported the development of large recreation projects, not solely for the numbers of workers required to construct them but for the impact it could have on public morale.
A.W. Tillinghast, credited with designing Bethpage Black, and other prominent golf architects turned to New Deal-funded projects for work.Jerris said their designs often get overlooked because municipal courses can't be maintained to championship standards. Bethpage Black, for instance, required a $3.5 million makeover to get into Open shape.
But there were advantages, too. The Golden Era boys of the '20s, who worked with crews of 30-40 workers, now had crews of more than 300 who built their courses by hand.
Bethpage Black opened in 1936. Sharon Woods opened in 1938, and the force behind its development was a prominent Cincinnatian, Judge Alfred Nippert.
Nippert was a member of the Hamilton County Park District board. He connected with Bill Diddel, the era's preeminent Midwestern golf architect, who was in town creating Kenwood Country Club.
“Nippert asked Diddel to come over and look at the property,” said Marty Kavanaugh Jr., whose father became Sharon Woods' pro in 1939. “He wanted him to design a course open to the public. Our commissioners, like Judge Nippert, were high society people, but they loved golf ... and recognized how enriching the game could be to all people.”
Nippert also influenced the grand style in which Sharon Woods opened. He was a fraternity pal of the legendary Bobby Jones, who came to Sharon Woods at Nippert's invitation and drove the ceremonial first ball. The ball and a photo of Jones' drive are on display in Sharon Woods' clubhouse.
“Sharon Woods always stood as a great test of golf,” said Kavanaugh, who served as head pro at the course and now works for the PGA of America. “It was a real country club-type atmosphere, and that tight little back nine would eat your lunch.”
As a teen-ager, Jack Nicklaus played a tournament at Sharon Woods and never broke par. Also, for five years in the 1950s, Sharon Woods' downhill, par-3 No.17 was selected in an annual Golf Digest feature as the nation's prettiest 17th hole (that hole is now No.8 at Sharon Woods).
Kavanaugh sees the U.S. Open coming to his kind of course as a landmark occasion.
“I think all of us who grew up on public golf will actually have a tear in our eyes when we see the U.S. Open played on this (year's) course,” he said. “It's the 15 minutes of fame for public golf.”
Complete golf coverage and Tristate golf course guide
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Sharon Woods, Open course share lineage
