There were clouds when we started and more clouds when we stopped. In between, there was a little bit of rain, some cool breezes and a whole lot of great golf! A full field of 44 ladies and gents teed off to play two nine-hole rounds at the increasingly legendary Winter Park Golf Course (aka, the WP9). Most people walked and in between rounds, enjoyed a truly fabulous lunch catered by Ghost Kitchen Orlando. After the scores were posted and the winners announced, everyone got to pick up a WPHC ball marker and a lovely tee gift from Will Jacoby from Steurer & Jacoby.

Big thanks to all those who attended, Jake and Maddy for scoring and the staff at WP9 for helping to make this a great day amid an ongoing pandemic. Below are photos taken by Greg and Beverly Wise and Rich Grula. You can find our full collection of photos here. If you have photos from the event you’d like to share, send them to grula@pobox.com. Feel free to download for personal but please do not use any photos in publications without seeking permission.

Thanks from the WPHC Committee (Bill, Rich, Marci, Natalie and Mike)

“The Winter Park Golf Course, or WP9 as the locals now call it, is one of the most unique models for municipal golf in America. A round of golf at the WP9 will take you across streets, around a cemetery, and right up to the front porch of some of the most charming homes in Florida. The course has always been memorable for its setting, but a recent renovation has resulted in a world class golf experience that every golfer should visit. I spent a day at the Winter Park Golf Course and my experience was a revelation.” — Jay Revell, Medium Magazine

The Winter Park Golf Course traces its origins to 1914 when Harley A. Ward and Dow George were commissioned to lay out a 9-hole course on 25 acres at the north end of Winter Park, a charming little suburb of Orlando created as a haven for snowbirds seeking more hospitable temperatures in the cold months.

Over the years, the course grew to as many as 27 holes, closed, became a sheep pasture, reopened and eventually settled into the current nine-hole layout. For a long time, it was a gentle, flat track known locally as “The Old Man Walking Course.” It lost so much money every year that there was a serious effort to turn it into a frisbee golf course (Personal Note: I actually saw the equipment for this potential change in the back of the pro shop. Thankfully, the items were never installed).

In 2015 Winter Park officials took a bold step. They ignored the advice of developers hungry to replace the course with more homes and instead invested $1.2 million in a renovation. Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns, a pair of associate designers for Coore-Crenshaw, won the bidding and stepped out as course architects for the very first time. The revitalized Winter Park Golf Course, opened in 2016, has been a spectacular success since Day One. It’s showcased constantly as one of the best nine-hole layouts in the country and has become an inspiring model of what a successful municipal course can be. Instead of losing six figures a year, it generates healthy profits, enjoys 40,000 rounds annually and is a source of great community pride. Also…it’s a lot of fun to play!

The Winter Park Golf Course is located at 561 West Webster Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. The Pro Shop phone number is (407) 599-3419.

It was three glorious days of fun enjoyed by all. You should have been there! The weather was wonderful, the food was fabulous and the course was unusually difficult, with tricky pin placement courtesy of the event director, Bill Geisler. Just check out the scores below!

You can view and download photos of the event by heading over here.

THE FINAL RESULTS
The event was three 9 hole rounds with a par 35, or par 105 for the entire event. Players could only win in one division with the Open Division Results taking priority.

In addition to the results below, Richard Boggs won the event’s CAREER ROUND AWARD with a 28 (-7). The CAREER ROUND combined his best scores for each hole over all three rounds.

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

The Inaugural Winter Park Hickory Classic is in the books and the winners are finding places for their trophies right now. It was a fabulous weekend for all, with a great kickoff party Friday Night, 18 holes of hickory golf on Saturday, another nine holes on Sunday and a final Awards Party Sunday afternoon. The big winners are shown below and the rest are on the Results Page.