Bacon Park Golf Course has been the epicenter of Savannah golf for as long as most people can remember. The course is owned by the City of Savannah and was designed by renowned golf architect Donald Ross in 1926. Actually, the Bacon Park course we play and love was originally part of a design that made up 72 holes. Two were built but one was closed around 1940. In 1985, an additional nine holes were added to make Bacon Park a 27-hole facility. In 2014, the management contract for the course was awarded to OC Welch Golf Properties, and the most comprehensive golf renovation in Savannah’s history was launched.

Mr. Welch hired famed golf architect Richard Mandell of Pinehurst, NC to restore Bacon Park’s original layout envisioned by Donald Ross nearly a century before. Using Ross’ original field sketches, aerial photos from 1951 and 1971, as well as Mr. Welch’s memory, Mr. Mandell was able to reassemble the history of the original Donald Ross course. The resulting transformation is a masterpiece that is like looking back in time to what Donald Ross envisioned nearly a century before.

Each hole on the course is named to describe the hole’s character in the overall layout. The first nine includes Getaway, Hogback, Lowland, Overbrook, Crooked Valley, Blind Tom, The Stretch, Long View and Dead Aim. The second nine features The Narrows, No-Foolin, Canal, Sore Thumb, Spitball, Belly Acres, Triangle, The Oak and Home. The course itself is a brilliantly conceived illustration of all of the characteristics of Donald Ross’ genius. Sloped greens, undulating fairways, clever bunkering and towering oak trees protect par on a course that stretches out to barely 6,600 yards from the back tee box. Like most Ross courses, Bacon Park is a course that keeps golfers coming back for more after each round.

Bacon Park has also been the host for the Savannah City Amateur for more than 50 years, and the names on the City Am trophy include some of the most recognizable golfers ever to tee it up in Savannah. Each year, the best amateurs in the city compete against each other the Donald Ross to claim the crown of Savannah’s best golfer. And each year a new story is told on the final nine of the final round. Savannah golfing legend John Skeadas SR owns the record for the most City Am wins with six, but there is always a new generation of players growing up at Bacon Park that could produce the next great champion.

The facility has always been a hub of community activity, and Bacon Park hosts charity golf tournaments, family nights and junior golf events on a regular basis. It’s been said that Savannah is a big small town, and you don’t have to look far to find a friendly face at Bacon Park Golf Course.

Via Bacon Park GC