it’s YOUR swing
with Don DeLorenzo
GILROY GOLF COURSE
The Best (and Oldest) 11-Hole Course in the U.S. — maybe the World”
D
id you know that Gilroy Golf Course is the oldest
public course in Santa Clara County? Gilroy
heiress Electa Ousley donated the land adjacent to
the City of Gilroy water reservoir for use as a golf course
and it has remained a golfer’s playground ever since.
Built in 1923 by local farmers and businessmen on
the water works and Ousley property, the course’s early
founders are a who’s who of Gilroy royalty. Names like
Princevalle, Hersman, Wentz, Howson, Gubser and
Brownell just to name a few. These and many other golf
enthusiasts used their own equipment to move dirt and
help build the golf course. Goats and sheep were used as
mowers and the greens were made of sand. The scorecard
from that era allowed you to move your ball if it landed
in “a hoof print or wagon track.” The cost to play a round
of golf in those days was 50 cents! Sunday play was
permitted at Gilroy Golf Course but back then that wasn’t
the case on all courses’.
There was a Chinese cemetery on the property that ran
adjacent to the current seven green. Gilroy Golf Course
historians used to say that if your approach shot to that
green strayed a bit to the right you would need to hop
the iron fence around the cemetery to get your ball. The
cemetery was located where the current Gilroy Elks drive-
way is now. If you look closely on your way up to the
Elks Club, a granite base of an old headstone is still visible.
A monument to the cemetery exists just off the seventh fairway.
When the legendary Gilroy Gymkhana grounds were
torn down in the 1950’s, then Pro Vern Brown and avid
golfer Bill Blaettler hauled lumber from that sight to the
golf course to construct the BBQ area that is still in use
today and hosts many after-tournament dinners and
charity fundraisers.
Two additional holes were added to the original nine-
hole layout in the mid 50’s to appeal to those wanting
to play 18 holes. This “back nine” option routes golfers
“around the hill” on the second nine instead of “over the
hill” and through the Elks parking lot on the front nine.
86
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
What awaits the golfer upon reaching the courses’ signature
eighth hole is nothing short of spectacular with a vista to
the east stretching all the way into San Benito County.
Gilroy Golf Course has seen several operators come
and go through the years but the City of Gilroy has always
owned the golf course. Most of the improvements came
during the tenure of Parks and Recreation Director Bill
Ayer, an avid golfer and a proponent the golf course as a
source of value to the community. There have been two
separate attempts to expand the course from the “11 hole
gem” that it is to a full 18 hole course. But both attempts
came up short in the political sphere.
Gilroy Golf Course is a true “community” golf course in
every sense of the word. It hosts to countless fundraising
golf events from groups based in both Gilroy and Morgan
Hill. Organizations including St. Joseph’s Family Center,
Air for Paws, Gilroy Therapeutic Recreation, Relay for Life
and Live Oak High School have used the golf course as
a site for golf tournament fundraisers. The boys and girls
golf teams of both Gilroy High School and Christopher
High School call Gilroy home as do the courses’ men’s and
women’s clubs.
Gilroy has had many “famous” patrons but none more
renown than the “Gilroy Cowboy,” George Archer. George
participated on the PGA tour from 1964-1988 and the
Senior PGA tour from 1989-2000. He won 14 times but
none more famous than his win at the 1969 Masters.
George spent many days fine tuning his short game skills
on the small undulating greens that are a trademark of the
course. A sign proclaiming “Gilroy Golf Course, Home
Course of Master Champion George Archer” hung at the
entry for many years.
So if you want to take a break from the norm and
experience a golf course that is rich in history and fun for
all skill levels, come out to Gilroy Golf Course and play a
quick 9 or 11 or 18…..don’t worry, we’ll explain it when
you get here. Remember, we’ve been around since 1923
and we haven’t lost a golfer yet.
MAY/JUNE 2016
gmhtoday.com