Bacon Park Golf Course has been the epicenter of Savannah golf for as long as most people can remember. The course is owned by the City of Savannah and was designed by renowned golf architect Donald Ross in 1926. Actually, the Bacon Park course we play and love was originally part of a design that made up 72 holes. Two were built but one was closed around 1940. In 1985, an additional nine holes were added to make Bacon Park a 27-hole facility. In 2014, the management contract for the course was awarded to OC Welch Golf Properties, and the most comprehensive golf renovation in Savannah’s history was launched.
Mr. Welch hired famed golf architect Richard Mandell of Pinehurst, NC to restore Bacon Park’s original layout envisioned by Donald Ross nearly a century before. Using Ross’ original field sketches, aerial photos from 1951 and 1971, as well as Mr. Welch’s memory, Mr. Mandell was able to reassemble the history of the original Donald Ross course. The resulting transformation is a masterpiece that is like looking back in time to what Donald Ross envisioned nearly a century before.
