Moment in Time (March 17, 2022)
This photo (looking west) from the William Preston Mayfield collection, shows the Twin Rivers Golf Course. The clubhouse is at the end of the trail just to the left of the lake, adjacent to Dublin Road. The Grandview Yard of the PRR is at the right. Twin Rivers Drive is at the bottom, with the Coca-Cola bottling plant at the lower right, and the WBNS-TV "Tele-center" construction site to the left of the plant. The Dublin Road Water Treatment facility is just above the course.
After World War I, James J. Thomas was elected as Columbus mayor in the midst of a struggling Columbus economic situation. Convinced that the city could develop its way out of the downturn, he oversaw an expansion of city growth, including the plans for a new city hall, central police station, and the beginnings of Port Columbus airport. He also promoted developing city parks and a golf course that could be open to the public.
Thomas arranged for the lease of a large segment of land at the confluence of the rivers and east of the city’s water plant, adjacent to the Grandview Yard of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In March of 1921, the city’s first public course, the Columbus Municipal Golf Course, opened on this land. It was initially a nine-hole course, and was expanded to eighteen holes in 1927. A clubhouse was established with a restaurant and bar and the course was renamed as the Twin Rivers Golf Course in 1933. After an expansion in 1941, the clubhouse at 860 Dublin Road became a popular site for groups to mingle after a day on the course. An advertising pamphlet published by Lazarus Department Stores in 1945 featured an ad for the clubhouse, captioned “You can bend the elbow at the 19th hole at Twin Rivers.”
At most courses in Columbus, local Italian boys comprised a large part the caddying corps. They had a caddie master, Pat Guidi, who arranged caddie tournaments between caddies from Brookside, Scioto, Twin Rivers and Dublin courses on Mondays, when they were allowed to play. They would gather with their families for dinner on the courses after these tournaments. They and their golfing parents and others formed the American Italian Golf Association (AIGA) in 1947 and organized a golf league with 12 teams of 4 golfers each. Twin Rivers was the league’s first golf course used, and they held their banquet in the Gold Room of the clubhouse.
That same year, James Rhodes, then mayor (and later governor) and a big supporter of golf in the city, was unhappy with how the city’s courses were operated. The only municipal course, Twin Rivers, was short and not very challenging. And the course was going to become even shorter, as the owners of the land that was being leased for Twin Rivers were planning to further develop the property. Coca-Cola had a bottling plant on the east boundary, and WBNS-TV was planning to build a transmitter and station on three acres to the south of the plant. The WBNS “Tele-center” opened in 1949. (The main post office was also later constructed on the old course.)
The last straw for the Grandview landmark came when it completely closed because of road construction in 1956. Joe Thomas was a local golf legend and pro at Twin Rivers. He started as a caddie at Arlington Country Club, and at 17 was the first to hold a caddie pin at the Scioto Country Club when it was dedicated in 1916. When the Twin Rivers course closed he was asked by then Mayor Rhodes to find a venue for another municipal course, and Joe founded the Raymond Memorial course on Trabue Road. He remained as golf pro there until his retirement in 1968.
1) https://www.aigagolf.org/our-history
2) "WBNS-TV opens; Tele-Center dedicated." Broadcasting – Telecasting, October 24, 1949, pg. 48
4) Mayfield Collection - https://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/