Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s administration is closing the beloved South Mountain Golf Course in the Michaux State Forest, despite pleas from golfers to keep it open.
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) owns the state forest land where the golf course is located.David George has a concession lease on the land and operates the nine-hole golf course. The well-maintained public course often hosts fundraiser tournaments. Green fees are $25 for an 18-hole round with a cart—an accessible rate compared to Penn National Golf Club, just seven miles away, which runs $99 for a weekend round with a cart.
The George family has been leasing the land for most of the last 55 years, signing leases for 10 years at a time
However, in August, Mr. George received a letter from the DCNR Bureau of Forestry District Forester, Roy Brubaker.
“I have recommended to the Bureau of Forestry and Department of Natural Resources executive staff that the lease on this site not be renewed in 2025 due to increasing local recreational demands on the state forest,” the letter said. It went on to explain the state intends to pursue activities that are “uniquely available within the Michaux.” Those activities include a hiking trail loop system; interpretation of historical sites and landscape features near the lease area; large group outdoor and conservation education; and restoration of high-quality grassland, wetland, and old field habitats, the letter said.
“There’s some good habitat restoration work that we would like to do in that area and that’s one of the top reasons for the recommendation for the lease being ended,” DCNR Press secretary Wesley Robinson told The Epoch Times. The DCNR is leaning most strongly toward building a visitors’ center where the golf course is located.
The DCNR hosts a meeting this week to share with the public various ideas it has for the land’s use, but it will not continue to be a golf course, he said. The meeting will be held Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. at the South Mountain Fish and Game Club, 11547 Loop Road, Fayetteville, Pa.
A Significant Role in Local History
The first three holes of the South Mountain Golf Course were designed in 1921 by a group of doctors at the nearby South Mountain Sanatorium as a therapeutic recreation area—golf therapy—for residents. Originally used as a tuberculosis sanatorium, today the complex is a long-term care facility, South Mountain Restoration Center.
Six more holes were added between 1930-1931. The golf course and surrounding land became property of what is now known as the DCNR in 1964 and for three years, the golf course was not operated.
A group leased the golf course in 1967 and got it running again starting in 1968. Back then, green fees were $2. At first, the golf course had sand “greens,” but between 1975 and 1985 the group, South Mountain Golf Course Inc., built nine new greens, replacing sand with grass. They also built new tees and a new clubhouse, which was remodeled in 2007, according to an online history of the course.
“We’re a very moderately priced course—a lot of the country clubs have been driving their participants out of the market,” Barbara Fox, who works at South Mountain Golf Course, told The Epoch Times. “We are a very walkable course.”
The course has maintained its popularity through the years. It has 100 members, but in a typical month it will host 800 golfers, she said. Ms. Fox said some of the golf outing fundraisers held at the course include a breast cancer fundraiser hosted by the Ladies’ Golf League, scholarship fundraisers hosted by the American Legion and the Moose Club, and other events.
A petition to keep the course open currently has more than 1,000 signatures.
The Quincy Township Board of Supervisors formally joined the golf course earlier this month in opposing DCNR’s move to end the lease.
“We are fundamentally opposed to the closure of the South Mountain Golf Course by the lapse of lease with DCNR,” a letter from the Board of Supervisors says. “We firmly stand with the renewal of the lease immediately, affirming the historical, environmental and recreational value of South Mountain Golf Course to Quincy Township, the municipality in which it is located.”
There are too few recreational opportunities in the township, the letter said, and the closure will have ripple effects for the entire township.
The golf course contacted Gov. Shapiro’s office but was told that the closure is a local matter, Ms. Fox said. The golf course was also told the change was made internally and “administratively.”
According to the DCNR’s 2023 infrastructure list, Michaux State Forest has budgeted $6.5 million to construct a resource management center and storage Building.
