Citizens in the mid 1890s began pushing to have public courses built for the masses not just the elite. Walter Camp a prominent sports reformer said speaking against private country clubs “It sprang from common folk and the figures of municipal golf carry out the fact.” He continued: “Golf is the people’s game. It should be a game any one can afford to play.” No longer was golf a game just for the wealthy; shopkeepers, skilled craftsmen, factory owners, lawyers, doctors, engineers, journalist, middle managers, sales people, secretaries, entertainers, other professionals and white collar workers became avid patrons to golf courses. During the years 1890 to 1930 rapid growth in the middle class brought forth a new era of consumerism and mass production. After World War I during the roaring twenties mass prosperity lead to an increase in leisure time, along with a changed mind set towards work and recreation making golf an appealing sport to the masses. Hundreds of thousands of the new Middle Class came out to patronize the links during this time.
By 1913 The New York Times estimated the sweeping trend of public golf courses was moving so rapidly that soon every major city would have a public course for the regular man. The demand for public course in cities became so great that Golf magazine stated “public golf links are becoming as necessary to cities as public libraries. Advocates of Municipal Golf courses in the 1920s insisted that no city could be considered a first class city without at least one public golf course. Municipal courses make golf affordable for all people rich and poor. In 1895 New York City opened the first Municipal Golf course at Van Cortlandt Park. The course like most Municipal courses to follow was free and only required a permit from the park. Soon courses began charging a nominal daily or seasonal fee to help to pay for the upkeep the courses.
The United States Golf Association helped to champion the building of Municipal Golf courses. Recognizing the grass root efforts by groups gathering and pushing for public courses the USGA sponsored the first Public Links championship tournament. Approximate numbers for the number of Municipal golf courses show an increase from sixty in 1921 to one hundred and forty in 1924 to two hundred and one in 1927 and to two hundred and ninety one in 1930. The USGA survey in 1927 showed most Municipal Golf courses were in the Midwest with one hundred, the South forty three, the east thirty seven, and the west twenty one. In 1930 Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio had the highest number of Municipal Golf courses. The majority of public courses were in cities with populations greater than 100,000 people. Even with the rapid growth of public golf courses they only account for about five to ten percent of all courses in the United States.
Municipal Golf Courses in the United States 1895-1930
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Golf Balls
