Old Elm Club, with all of its history and prestige, is not one to call attention to itself. Still the matter of its rare and treasured golf course bares mention, despite the fact that very few have even heard of it. When I began consulting with the Club in 2010, many would inquire where I was working. When I would bring up Old Elm, I was most frequently greeted with a blank stare and comments like, "Where's that?", or "Never heard of that."
Now seven years later and with most of our restorative works complete (collaboratuve effort with Kevin Marion, Curtis James and David Zinkand), Old Elm now walks with a more meaningful swagger. Their Colt designed, Ross constructed course is in very rare company and now has more of the look, feel and design intent that Harry Colt originally intended. By no means is the Club seeking to unveil the course to the world - that is not their style... but they have broken the seal a bit on their story and the unique place Old Elm has in golf... particularly in architectural circles.
In 2015, Adam Lawrence, Editor of the UK based Golf Course Architecture Magazine and Colt expert, visited Old Elm, provided a special presentation on Harry Colt to the members and ultimately wrote a glowing feature in his magazine. In 2016, Brad Klein, Architectural Editor of Golfweek Magazine, paid a visit to address the members at a dinner, toured the course, and enticed the Club to consider opening up some opportunities for panelists to see the the completed works. The result: Old Elm, after so many years in hiding, debuted in 2017 in Golfweek's Top 100 Classic Courses at #66.
