Cobbs Creek Golf Club

Cobbs Creek opened in 1916 as one of Philadelphia's earliest public golf courses, its Olde Course design shaped chiefly by Hugh Wilson, the amateur architect behind Merion's famed East Course, who worked without compensation. From the start Cobbs Creek was strikingly inclusive for its era, open to players of all races and to women before they could vote. That open-door policy made it a landmark in Black American golf history. Charlie Sifford, often called the father of African American golf, honed his game there before breaking the PGA's color barrier in the early 1960s; many other pioneering Black golfers also called the course home. After years of decline the course closed, and a foundation-led restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner is returning the Olde Course toward its 1916 character while adding community facilities, a short course, and learning programs. Reopening has proceeded in phases.