Bacon Park Golf Course

In 1925 a Bacon Park Commission was established to run a new public park and municipal golf course on county land on the southeast side of town. That year Donald Ross routed four golf courses, 72 holes in all, for the city at Bacon Park. Only two of them were built. Bacon Park opened in 1926, and the city and the club both date the course to that year. One of the two built courses closed around 1940.

Richard Mandell, who restored the surviving course nearly 90 years later, found Ross's master plan and his individual hole drawings. On the master plan only the two courses that were built carry detail, with hazards, tee and green shapes and mounding; the other two are drawn as centre lines from a generic tee to a generic green. The master plan was more detailed than the hole drawings, which Mandell called unusual, and walking the ground he concluded that it was an as-built plan: Ross had made design decisions in the field after the holes were roughed in.

In 1985 the city added a new nine, making Bacon Park a 27-hole facility. The surviving Ross holes were broken up and split among three nines, six of the Ross green complexes were redesigned, and on the changed holes ponds were dug where Ross's greens had been and the greens were moved. In February 2014 the city gave the management contract to O.C. Welch Golf Properties, and O.C. Welch, who grew up playing the course, hired Mandell to restore the original Ross eighteen.

Holes to Know

From the Ross tees the course is par 71 and 6,409 yards: par 35 out and 36 in, with eleven par 4s, four par 3s and three par 5s. The par-5 8th and 10th sit either side of the par-3 9th, the longest par 3 is the 226-yard 17th, and the round finishes on a par 5.

The 443-yard 3rd from the Ross tees, stroke index 4, starts beside a pond that runs along the left for about the first 100 yards, then bends gently left between tree lines to a green with a bunker on each side and a third short and right.

The 350-yard 6th from the Ross tees is stroke index 18, but its green is the one Mandell singled out: "literally the shape of Mickey Mouse's head, ears and all," with a prominent spine through it. Five bunkers ring it today.

The 463-yard 7th from the Ross tees, The Stretch, is the longest par 4 and stroke index 2. Mandell described its green as "a rollercoaster with three levels and two swales bisecting it from east to west." It has a single greenside bunker, at the front right.

The 408-yard 15th from the Ross tees, Belly Acres, is stroke index 1 and has no sand. Ross drew four large mounds in its fairway instead, and the restoration rebuilt them.

The 461-yard 18th from the Ross tees, Home, is a straight par 5. A ditch crosses the fairway on a diagonal, and in the second landing area a cluster of low mounds sits right of centre where Ross drew a "bold trio of mounds" in place of sand.

Ross's Design Here

Mandell's restoration was a composite of Ross's master plan and hole drawings, checked against aerial photographs from 1951 and 1971. His published account ties three features of today's course to those drawings.

The first is the bunkering. Mandell reported that a number of bunkers on the front nine were put back exactly where Ross placed them. On the last four holes, which lie on the lowest ground, Ross limited himself to five bunkers in all and specified large mounds instead, because bunkers there might not drain. The 15th has four mounds and no sand, and the 18th has its trio of mounds in the second landing area. The aerials show the same economy today: no bunkers on the 15th, one beside the 16th green, three around the 17th and one beside the 18th green, five in all.

The second is the height of the greens. Mandell said that between the existing ground and Ross's notes he could set the greens at their intended elevations, which range from about 18 inches to no more than four feet above grade, lower than the four to five feet he associates with Ross greens elsewhere. He lowered many tee boxes to within 18 inches of grade and used the material elsewhere, and he described the restored course as "low-profile and affordably constructed by limiting excess."

The third is the contouring of individual greens. Mandell called some of them "quite radical" and named the 6th, with its Mickey Mouse outline and central spine, and the 7th, with three levels and two swales. He also said that "all of the greens are much larger in size than what was actually built."

The club names each hole: Getaway, Hogback, Lowland, Overbrook, Crooked Valley, Blind Tom, The Stretch, Long View and Dead Aim going out; The Narrows, No-Foolin, Canal, Sore Thumb, Spitball, Belly Acres, Triangle, The Oak and Home coming in. No source dates the names or ties them to Ross.

Historical Significance

Bacon Park is the City of Savannah's only city-owned course. In Ross's record it is a municipal commission of four routings at one park, two of them built, and its plan set survives: Mandell found the master plan more detailed than the hole drawings, and the restoration was built from both.

Bacon Park has hosted the Savannah City Amateur for more than 50 years. The club records John Skeadas Sr. as the winner with the most titles, six. The 2026 championship was won by Patrick Mahaffey, at 68-68 for 136.

Mandell's restoration was named Renovation of the Year in the public course category by Golf Inc. magazine in 2016. The course reached its hundredth year in 2026, and the city has said it will mark the anniversary in the fall.

Changes Since Ross

The first loss came around 1940, when one of the two built Ross courses closed. The second came in 1985, when a new nine was added and the remaining Ross holes were split across three nines, with six Ross greens redesigned, ponds added at original green sites and greens moved.

O.C. Welch Golf Properties took over under a 12-year contract that began in February 2014, with an option to renew for four years in 2026. Mandell, working from Ross's master plan and hole drawings and from the 1951 and 1971 aerials, reassembled the Ross eighteen as a single course; the restored holes were scheduled to reopen on October 10, 2015. By October 2018 the company had put more than $3 million into the Ross eighteen and more than $500,000 into the remaining nine, which Mandell's firm then reworked as the Legends Nine: a short course for beginners with no sand bunkers, few forced carries over water, and greens raised above grade to stay clear of flooding. That nine has since gone out of play: its holes are overgrown, and a 2025 report found the ground in use for disc golf but barely playable even for that. In early 2026 the city extended the contract, and the company reports more than $8 million invested in the course and facilities since 2014, including the pro shop and the lighted driving range. In June 2026 city staff put a $319,256.85 contract before the council to repair the eleven cart bridges across the course, two of which had been taken out of service.

Uncertainties

• Opening configuration. The club and Mandell say Ross routed 72 holes and two courses were built, one closing around 1940. The city archives' 2008 finding aid for the Bacon Park Commission describes an 18-hole course in 1926, and its 2023 Bacon Park and Sandfly finding aid says the course "opened in 1926 originally as a 72-hole course." This listing follows the club and Mandell; no source gives the date the second course opened.

• When the Legends Nine closed. No source gives a date. The operator lists only the Ross eighteen, current aerials show the nine overgrown, and a 2025 report describes it as a barely playable disc golf course; the city's June 2026 council agenda still calls the facility 27 holes.

Sources & Notes

1. American Society of Golf Course Architects, "Mandell, ASGCA, updates Ross design at Georgia's Bacon Park", October 5, 2015. https://asgca.org/mandell-asgca-updates-ross-design-at-georgias-bacon-park Mandell's account: 1925 routing of four courses, two built, one closed in the forties; mid-1980s third nine and six redesigned greens; ponds added at green sites; master plan and hole drawings; green elevations; 6th and 7th greens; front-nine bunkers; five bunkers and mounds on the last four holes; October 10 opening.

2. Richard Mandell Golf Architecture, "Design Innovation: The Legends Nine at Bacon Park". https://www.golf-architecture.com/post/design-innovation-the-legends-nine-at-bacon-park Four routings in 1925, two built; Golf Inc. award; Legends Nine design brief.

3. Richard Mandell Golf Architecture, classic renovation and restoration portfolio. https://www.golf-architecture.com/classic-renovation-restoration Bacon Park restoration from Ross construction drawings and historic aerials; bunkerless nine-hole short course.

4. Bacon Park Golf Course, About. https://www.baconparkgolf.com/about/ 1926 Ross design; 72-hole plan, two built, one closed around 1940; 1985 expansion; 2014 contract; 1951 and 1971 aerials; hole names; Savannah City Amateur history.

5. Bacon Park Golf Course, home, Play, Rates & Fees and 2026 Savannah City Amateur pages. https://www.baconparkgolf.com/ Only municipal course; practice facility; rates; 2026 champion.

6. City of Savannah, City Council agenda, October 11, 2018, item 29. https://agenda.savannahga.gov/publishing/october-11-2018-city-council-regular-meeting/117_2702.html February 2014 12-year agreement; investment in the Ross 18 and the Legends 9.

7. City of Savannah, City Council agenda, June 11, 2026, item 13. https://agenda.savannahga.gov/publishing/june-11-2026-city-council-regular-meeting/1585_12357.html Only city-owned course; opened 1926; bridge repair contract; centenary.

8. City of Savannah Municipal Archives, Bacon Park and Sandfly Community Collection finding aid, 2023. https://www.savannahga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/28186/1121-06409_BaconParkSandfly_FA2023-03-02 1925 Bacon Park Commission; 1940 closure; the "72-hole course" wording.

9. City of Savannah Municipal Archives, Bacon Park Commission records finding aid, 2008. https://savannahga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/481 1925 commission; 18 holes in 1926; 27 holes in 1985.

10. WTOC, "O.C. Welch Golf Properties gets contract for Bacon Golf Course", 2014. https://www.wtoc.com/story/24611090/oc-welch-golf-properties-gets-contract-for-bacon-golf-course/ 12-year contract with a four-year option in 2026.

11. WTOC, "O.C. Welch Golf Properties extends management contract for Bacon Park Golf Course on its 100th anniversary", February 27, 2026. https://www.wtoc.com/2026/02/27/oc-welch-golf-properties-extends-management-contract-bacon-park-golf-course-its-100th-anniversary/ Contract extension; more than $8 million invested; Golf Inc. award. The Savannah Business Journal carried the same release on March 3, 2026.

12. UDisc, Bacon Park disc golf course. https://udisc.com/courses/bacon-park-cAFT Nine-hole disc course on the park grounds, no tee pads or hole markers. A 2025 report and current aerials, checked by Greens Visited in October 2026, show the Legends Nine overgrown and out of play.

13. Bacon Park Golf Course scorecard (our tee sets: Ross, Blue, White, Red). Pars, yardages and stroke indexes.