Edgewood Country Club

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edgewood Country Club logo

Edgewood Country Club is a private golf, social, and tennis club located near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Country was founded in 1898 as one of the first golf clubs in the United States. The golf course was designed by the world renowned Donald Ross who has also designed such famous courses as No.2 at the Pinehurst Resort. ^[1]

1 Golf
2 Tennis
3 Swimming
4 Clubhouse and Dining
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Golf

Edgewood Country Club was started as a golf and social club only minutes away from the bustling Pittsburgh steel mills. The course was designed by the great Donald Ross whose flavor and style still exists in the course today. The golf course was designed to promote fair and enjoyable play. The importance of a golf course providing enjoyment while still delivering a challenge may be summarized in one of Ross's famous statements, "Golf should be a pleasure, not a penance."^[2] The course has been a longtime member of the WPGA and has hosted several Western Pennsylvania Golf Association Tournaments. The 18 hole course belongs to the United States Golf Association and provides golf handicap for all members using latest computer technologies to make the process fast and easy. The golf course is designed, like many Western Pennsylvania courses, over hilly terrain which factors into many difficult two or three tiered greens. Edgewood's greens are also well known, like many of Ross's courses, for their fast speed. The greens are regularly found to run about 12 feet when tested using to stimpmeter. The golf course does not rely on any creeeks, lakes or other water bodies, preferring to use very difficult greens and dangerous sand bunkers to challenge the area's best golfers. The golf facility at Edgewood not only contains a well maintained 18 hole course, but also a variety of practice facilities. Edgewood has a full size grass driving range where members and guests may hit balls without paying for each bucket like most courses, a putting green, small chipping and putting green, and a full short game area complete with a practice fairway and several sand bunkers. Edgewood provides many competitions for members and guests throughout the year such as member-guests, Stag events, holiday events, and many others including the club championship. In addition to competition within the club, Edgewood fields both junior and senior interclub teams. The Country Club provides a junior golf club program where children and other relatives of members may take a group lesson and then play a number of holes based on their age to help intoduce them to the game of golf. The Club also provides junior memberships which gives relatives of members extra playing privileges as well as access to all of the club's practice facilities. A full pro-shop is also located on site selling all of the top equipment as well as many Edgewood logo items. The current head professional at Edgewood is Michael Reilly who is in charge of giving golf lessons and running the golf shop. The golf course itself has undergone many changes to the order of holes played over the past 100 years. The current layout is played as Donald Ross designed it. The change back to the Donald Ross layout was made during the club's 100th annieversary. The course currently has blue championship tees, white men's/amateur women tees, red women's tees, and golden senior's tees. The yardage of holes as well as par:

**Edgewood Country Club Detailed Scorecard ^[3]^[4]**
Tee	Rating/Slope	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	OUT	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	IN	TOTAL
Par		4	4	3	5	3	4	4	5	4	36	4	4	3	4	3	4	5	5	4	36	72
Handicap	Men's & Women's	9	1	15	17	11	3	5	7	13		10	12	8	4	18	6	16	14	2
Blue	72.1 / 135	373	427	167	467	174	416	418	536	307	3275	335	398	173	399	138	341	471	470	420	3143	6418
White	71.4 / 133	368	421	159	457	164	405	409	533	299	3215	331	376	163	389	127	331	451	468	411	3047	6262
Gold	69.8 / 130	351	355	150	440	155	386	394	485	299	3015	318	356	148	378	108	331	439	452	351	2900	5915
Red	74.2 / 129	351	412	143	402	115	386	394	456	288	2943	318	339	148	369	108	318	382	444	402	2828	5771

Edgewood has been a longtime member of the WPGA, and due to its local and national prestige has been awarded many of the WPGA's annual championships. The following are champions of WPGA events contested at Edgewood Country Club:

WPGA Championships:

West Penn Open^[5]
- 1954 - Tom Blaskovich
- 1959 - Frank Kiraly
- 2001 - Marshall Maracchi
West Penn Amateur^[6]
- 1939 - Jack C. Benson
- 1946 - Frank S. Souchak Jr.
- 1965 - Harry Toscano
- 1969 - James Simons
- 1976 - Tom McGinnis Jr.
Tournament of Club Champions ^[7]
- 1995 - Sherman Hostetter
West Penn Senior Amateur Championship^[8]
- 1998 - Phil Saylor
West Penn Women's Amateur^[9]
- 2005 - Katie Trotter
West Penn Junior Amateur Championship^[10]
- 1937 - Kenneth J. Stear
- 1950 - Jim McCarter

In addition to hosting some of Western Pennsylvania's most prestigious events, Edgewood Country Club also hosts many tournaments for members and guests of members. These tournaments include:

Club Championship (Flighted)
- Patrick Rice - 2005
Junior Club Championship
- Brendan Mowry - 2005
Senior Club Championship

[edit] Tennis

In addition to the golf course, Edgewood Country Club also has a state of the art tennis facility. The Violet H. Wright Tennis Center has three Hard-Tru Tennis Courts, a pro shop, beverage hut, a patio, and restrooms. The tennis facility also includes Edgewood's paddle tennis program. The club provides singles, doubles, and mixes matches for all members as well as a men's and women's inter-club tennis team. During the summer, Edgewood's Club-4-Life staff provides a series of tennis clinics for all junior members wishing to learn or work on their tennis games. According to Edgewood C.C., the 2005 sessions had a very large turn out consisting of over 125 junior tennis players. ^[11] The Club's paddle tennis facilities include three heated courts located at the Violet H. Wright Center. Like the tennis program, Edgewood field men's and women's inter-club paddle tennis teams.^[12]

[edit] Swimming

To complement Edgewood's many social and athletic amenities, a full swimming facility is also on the property. Edgewood's swimming facilitiy includes an Olympic sized swimming pool which may be used for working out of leisure. The pool also has eight starting points for competitive swimmers, and also two diving boards which may be adjusted to different heights. The pool and pool deck is constantly watched by several life guards. Also on site is a small baby pool which provides a safe and fun environment for young swimmers. Edgewood also has a staff of swim instructors and coaches who can aide a child in learning to swim or competitive swimmers learning better technique. Edgewood also has the Mighty Moose swimming and diving team who like other junior athletic teams at Edgewood, compete against other children and grandchildren of Western Pennsylvania country clubs. The Mighty Moose swim team has won the inter-club championship swim meet 3 years srtaight 2003-2005. The Mighty Moose name comes from the Moose Hut which is the on-site outdoor snack shop. Members may purchase food, drinks, ice cream and other treats using their credit. The Moose Hut has several tables as well as a small pavilion style coveing. The Swimming Pool is the most alive during holidays and other parties such as the Fourth of July celebration, highlighted by many fun games for children, a barbecue, and parachutists coming down to the property from airplanes. The pool is often used for other parties and holidays. Around the pool is a grass covered areas with dozens of beach chairs where members and guests may sunbathe.^[13]

[edit] Clubhouse and Dining

Edgewood Country Club's Clubhouse and adjoining restaurant have changed dramatically since the club opened in 1898. The current red brick clubhouse features a fully stocked pro shop run by Michael Reilly along with several assistant golf professionals as well as the Donald Ross Grille. The Executive Chef de Cuisine is John Lovitch who received the position in the July of 2006.^[14] Aside from the Donald Ross Grille, a fne dining room is also located in the building where breakfest buffet and fine dinners for parties and special occasions. This area is rented often for family gatherings, weddings, baptisms and other events. The clubhouse also features large male and female locker rooms with lockers, showers, and at-club bag storage areas.