John Reid laid out the first nine-hole course for Lancaster Country Club in 1900 near the site of the Rossmere Hotel. The 2400-yard course had its formal opening on May Day, 1901. In 1913, the Board of Governors responded to the overcrowding and inadequate facilities by purchasing 60 acres from the Wirth Farm property and built a new nine-hole course of 3,000 yards and clubhouse.
William Flynn was hired six years later to redesign the existing nine holes and add another nine holes. Only 29 years old at the time, Flynn was described by the committee in charge of the project as being,
“…a golf architect of the highest standing, and considered the best man in the country on constructing greens.”
At the time of his hiring, Flynn had a rather small portfolio of design work, though his work was highly regarded. By 1920, Flynn worked on the remodeling of Merion East and the design of Merion West with Hugh Wilson; the design of Cobb’s Creek with Hugh Wilson (Merion) and George Crump (Pine Valley) and others; nine holes at Doylestown Country Club; the Country Club of Harrisburg; the redesign of Eagles Mere Country Club; agronomic and design work at Pine Valley, and the redesigns of Washington Golf and Country Club and Onondaga Golf and Country Club.
However, as one of the country’s leading experts in agronomy and golf course construction, Flynn was, despite his youth, an attractive candidate for the work at Lancaster Country Club. Flynn was not only able to oversee the golf design, but the construction and turf grow-in as well. The origin of the USGA Green Section was in response to a critical need for scientific solutions to turf grass problems on golf courses. Hugh Wilson, his brother Alan, and William Flynn studied turf grasses for golf courses. While the Wilson brothers were instrumental in the establishment and governance of the Green Section, Flynn was a “go-to” guy to solve agronomic issues. He was often asked to consult on courses with agronomic problems, such as Pine Valley and the Inverness Club in Ohio. The St. Louis golf district wanted Flynn to oversee the maintenance of all the courses in the region. However, Flynn chose to operate his own design and build companies. Flynn later partnered with civil engineer Howard Toomey in golf course construction, and was able to offer clients a comprehensive scope of services for any club or developer wanting to build an elite golf course.
William Flynn designed Lancaster Country Club as a championship golf course with a single tee on each hole. The culture of championship golf is deeply rooted at the Club. Flynn was given the means to accomplish the task of ensuring that the course would continue to be an enjoyable challenge for the membership yet test the best players in the world. Recently, the Club has embraced hosting the Women’s US Open with spectacular results in terms of attendance and quality of production.
The numerous changes made over the years provide us today with a course that is seemingly straightforward but one that tests not only the physical execution abilities of the golfer but their strategic planning. This is accomplished with demanding long holes as well as half-par holes that beguile with temptation to tip the risk/reward balance in one’s favor – or not.
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