Owl Creek Country Club

The History of the Owl Creek Country Club
Founded 1927


by: Mildred Ewen

The year 2009 marks the 82th anniversary of the founding of Owl Creek Country Club in Anchorage. At the formal opening on June 3, 1928, most of the one hundred members watched exhibition matches on the new golf course and tennis courts. A buffet supper was served in the big lodge room of the new clubhouse.

It was in the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Marshall, Jr. that a group of neighbors met the year earlier to organize a new club with a golf course and facilities beyond those of the Anchorage Country Club, which had been the center of social activity for more than forty years.

Mrs. Marshall was elected as the first club president along with C.D. Harris,Jr., as the first vice-president, Eustace Williams, secretary; I.T.Bond, treasurer; and the directors were J. Lyle Bayless, R.S. Logan, L.H. Wymond, Jr., J.R. McConnell, J.H. Waterfill, David R. Lyman, E.B. Norman, and John Monohan. Others involved were Judge Marshall and W. K. Gregory.

Mrs. Marshall and the newly elected board of directors agreed to purchase forty acres from the Isaac Bernheim estate and begin construction of a clubhouse and golf course. Lyle Bayless agreed to underwrite $25,000 of the cost. Other small tracts were added later. An account of the early days written by then president, Addison McGhee, in 1959 stated that the original capitalization was for $20,000 with each of the one-hundred members entitled to purchase on share for $200.

A contract was made to build a nine-hole golf course for the price of $6,100 and Charlie Smoot was hired as the first golf pro. Two clay tennis courts were built and a swimming pool made of the spring ponds at the foot of the hill, partially with labor from the members.

Another account of the beginning of Owl Creek Country Club is in the book Anchorage by Mrs. Leone Hallenberg, published in 1959. She recalled that as the new golf club grew in popularity, the old Anchorage Country Club declined. It had served the community as a meeting-place and was the scene of many fashionable social events. The Shallcross-Wolfe (Tim and Vernon Shallcross' grandparents) wedding reception was held there in 1896. However, the club's location on Ridge Road at Evergreen limited its facilities. The advantages of merging with the new Owl Creek Country Club were apparent and the two boards voted to join as the Owl Creek Country Club in 1929.

The depression years in the 1930's had an impact on the club. Mr. McGhee observed that during those years one of the prerequisites for holding office on the board of directors might be the ability to tend bar or assume other tasks for which there were no funds. C.L. Boden who grew up playing golf at Owl Creek, recalls events of the thirties. He states that Jack Bayless helped keep the club afloat. The initiation fee was reduced to $25 and the monthly dues were reduced to $8. In those days a good golf ball was worth 35 to 75 cents, and caddy fees (yes, we did have caddies) were 75 cents for 18 holes. During World War II, he recalls that Judge Marshall, Harry Moorhead and Jim (the groundskeeper) kept the course in playable conditions.

Shortly after opening the golf course, Mrs. Mai Hill Bartlett offered a large silver trophy for the best mixed-foursome to play in a golf tournament. According to "Mac" McGhee, Mrs. Bartlett was a formidable golfer. She is remembered best by some for owning not one, but two Rolls Royces. The tournament eventually became a ladies event, and after Mrs. Bartlett's death, was renamed in her honor.

The Bartlett Tournament was regarded as "the number one golfing event for ladies in the entire state" and was certainly one of the earliest. Participation in the three-day event began to reflect changing times and competition from other club tournaments. In 1983, the Ladies 18-Hole Golf Association of Owl Creek voted to end the tournament in 1984, the fiftieth anniversary year.

Those serving as golf pros for Owl Creek include Charlie Smoot, Bill Myers (from 1956 to 1965), Bill Brunsman (from 1965 to 1984), Joe Lally Jr. (from 1984 to 1999) and Mike Finney (from 1999 to present).

Those serving as golf course superintendents include Gill Grant, Frank Littrell, Eli Hale, Pat Carney, Kris Johnson, and Dewayne Diehl.

Tennis had been popular at the old Anchorage Country Club where members watched play from the wide veranda on what was said to be the first lighted court in Kentucky. At the end of World War II, there was a renewed interest in tennis. Wesley Gunther, zoning officer for the city of Anchorage, recalls when the courts at Owl Creek were surfaced with "Tenneco" and his father, Wesley Sr., who had been active in tennis since the 1920's, served as interim pro.

Those serving as tennis pros include Bob Cooper and Mark Bivins (1985), Glen Brown (1986 to 1989), Peter Vaananen (1989 to 1992), Dale Cochran (1992 to 1994), Chris Bohnert (1993 to 1996), and Rob Spencer (1997 to present).

Swimmers in Anchorage had to make do with Marshall's Pond, until the first pool was built at Owl Creek in 1928. The first swimming pool at Owl Creek was built at the foot of the hill where springs and a branch of Goose Creek make a natural pool. A modern pool was not constructed near the clubhouse until 1940. The old pool was maintained as a reservoir for watering the golf course.

Owl Creek teams have competed with Lakeside and teams from other private clubs for many years. Coached by Bill Peak and David Dean Jr., Owl Creek won the CCSA Championships in 1967, 1969, 1970, and 1971.

Various clubs, the Anchorage PTA, dancing classes, and theatre groups continue to gather in the great hall or other sections of the clubhouse.

No recent event, however, has quite matched the "Welcome Anchorage Alaska" party in 1959, when at the invitation of Owl Creek Country Club, The City of Anchorage, Alaska sent Eugene "Mukluk" Johnson, as a representative to celebrate the admission of Alaska as the 49th state. The men showed up in fur parkas and mukluk boots and danced with 'can can' dancers who were part of the show.

Owl Creek Country club has, since its beginnings, earned a reputation as an exceptionally congenial and lively club. Today, the club is still going strong. The holiday buffets at Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas are not to be missed. There is a busy calendar of events year-round.