Cobbs Creek is on its way back to life and then some

This week has the world of golf fixated on Aronimink Golf Club as they are playing host to the PGA Championship. It goes without saying that this is a big deal. That is par for the course, no pun intended, when it comes to majors.

While a certain golfer’s legacy will change in Philadelphia at large on Sunday afternoon, the future legacies of many others and golf itself are being worked on daily in the same area. Cobbs Creek is on its way back to proper and full life as one of the top public golf courses in the United States.

And then some.

Cobbs Creek has a history worth saving

Cobbs Creek Golf Course was thought to be an abandoned asset by the City of Philadelphia just a few years ago. Back in 2021 the Cobbs Creek Foundation signed a 70-year lease to help restore it and thank goodness that they did.

Enrique Hervada is among the chief historians of all things Cobbs Creek and noted that Hugh Wilson was among those who led the charge to initially design Cobbs Creek all the way back in 1912. Told you. There is history here.

Wilson was hired after completing Merion East which is located up the creek that Cobbs Creek is built around. Wilson was of course a part of a contingent of gold-standard golf architects with George Crump, William Flynn, George Thomas, and A.W. Tillinghast. That this piece of property was regarded as an abandoned asset is hard to fathom.

Unfortunately the passage of time, and a fire around 2000 that destroyed the clubhouse, led to Cobbs Creek falling by the wayside. It needed help and the Foundation looked to save the whole thing. Originally it was thought that $30 to $40 million would be required, and hard work from all involved helped things reach a point where more ambition led to a current total project cost of $180 million. Simply put, Cobbs Creek is doing things right.