Posted May 17, 2014, 1:15 PM
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Hamilton’s Chedoke Civic Golf Course Celebrates 90 Years
(Canadian Golf Magazine, Brent Long, April 24, 2014)
Set along the Niagara Escarpment on the south-west side of the city, Chedoke’s history dates back to 1896 when members of the Hamilton Golf Club first started to play the game. From about 1915 to 1919, the Club was used for military training and aviation purposes of the 120th City of Hamilton Battalion, CEF. Hamilton G&CC abandoned the site in 1916 when it moved to a new Harry S. Colt designed layout in Ancaster. It was around this time that George C. Martin first suggested the City of Hamilton buy the Aberdeen Avenue golf course to turn it into a municipal facility, but the war put that plan on hold.
In 1921, Martin again proposed that the City buy the golf course from the Hamilton G&CC. The City balked at the idea and Martin and a group of others took out a one-year lease on the land with an option to purchase it if the club proved viable. It was very successful and on December 26, 1923, after months of negotiations, the land was purchased by the City of Hamilton for $90,000. The club opened in 1924 with 750 members and Martin was the club’s first President (the original course is named after him)…
In 1928, Chedoke would go on to purchase 26 additional acres west of the old course. Canadian golf course architect Stanley Thompson and brother Nicol, who lived a couple of blocks from the course on Homewood Avenue, drew up a plan for four holes on the new property, a new hole at the base of the Niagara Escarpment, the widening of several holes, 18 new clay tees and the grading of a new road from Aberdeen Avenue to the clubhouse. This work was done in 1929 under the supervision of Nicol Thompson and Superintendent Alf Sims. As time and funds allowed, both Thompsons continued to upgrade and make changes to the course. What we know today as Nos. 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17 and 18 would be Thompson holes.
Chedoke’s second 18-hole layout, The Beddoe Course, is named in memory of Harold Stewart Beddoe who succeeded George Martin as President from 1944 to 1953. Work on the Stanley Thompson-designed Beddoe Course started in 1948. It opened for play in May 1950 using some temporary greens with 900-plus members at Chedoke. At the time, it was the only 36-hole municipal facility in Canada. By the spring of 1951, the entire course was in play and a new clubhouse opened. The Beddoe Course was significantly altered in 1961-1962 from par 71 to 69 when a 300 foot corridor bisected the parkland layout to create Highway 403. Architect K.M. Broman and green keeper Maurice Ducharme redesigned all but seven holes on the course at a cost of $124,000 with holes 11-17 essentially new.
Today, Canadian architect Graham Cooke oversees changes to all three City-run courses (the Beddoe and Martin at Chedoke, and King’s Forest) as part of a long-range plan for the facilities.
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"Where architectural imagination is absent, the case is hopeless." - Louis Sullivan
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