Berkshire Country Club

Berkshire Country Club is older than its golf course. The club traces itself to 1897, when Reading's first golf club was formed as the Berkshire Golf Club, and it was incorporated in April 1899. After a first six-hole course in Wyomissing, the club bought about 60 acres of the J. Howard Jacobs farm in Bern Township in 1902 and opened a clubhouse and nine holes there on May 31, 1903. Mike Cirba, writing on Golf Club Atlas in 2015, identified the designer of that nine as John Reid, a Philadelphia-area professional, and said it took in most of today's 1st through 6th, a 7th running toward the present practice area, and today's 17th and 18th.

In 1916 the club bought 18 more acres and hired Willie Park Jr. to lay out 18 holes. Club minutes record that his plan was accepted on the understanding that only 14 holes would fit, and that Park's bill was $196.75. In 1921 the club bought 26 acres west of Bernville Road, the remaining holes were built, and the full 18 opened in the spring of 1923 as the first 18-hole course in Berks County. Cirba wrote that Frank James built the course after the First World War and that Park probably rebuilt all the greens and set the bunkering. A further purchase in 1928 brought the club to 125 acres.

Donald Ross came after Park. The directory of Ross courses kept by the Donald Ross Society and the Tufts Archives lists Berkshire as a Ross remodel, a four-hole expansion of about 1921, and explains that Ross's drawings were the basis for taking the course from 14 to 18 holes when the club bought more land; that purchase, of 26 acres west of Bernville Road, was made in 1921. The directory does not say which holes he drew. The club's own history records only his later work: in 1929 "Golf Course Architect Donald Ross redesigned the tee and green placement on hole #3." The club's printed scorecard credits the course to "Willie Park Jr. 1916" alone.

Holes to Know

From the Blue tees our card measures 6,389 yards to a par of 71, 36 out and 35 in, with eleven par 4s, four par 3s and three par 5s. The round opens with a par 5, and two of the three par 5s come in the first four holes. The par 3s are the 6th, 9th, 11th and 16th, and four of the par 4s, the 2nd, 7th, 8th and 18th, are under 330 yards.

The 365-yard 3rd from the Blue tees, stroke index 4, is the hole Ross re-sited. It runs nearly straight with woods along its right side toward the river and has no sand; four mounds of tan, unmown grass line the left side short of the green instead.

The 302-yard 8th from the Blue tees, stroke index 14, is the shortest par 4. Its fairway stops about 60 yards short of the green, and about nine small bunkers fill the ground between; the club's local rules treat all of them as waste areas. The green lies below a ridge in its own bowl, out of sight from the fairway.

The 120-yard 9th from the Blue tees, stroke index 18, is the shortest hole on the card. The club describes the tee shot as played downhill over the quarry to a small green with three bunkers across its front; a fourth sits off its right side.

The 459-yard 13th from the Blue tees is stroke index 1 and, in the club's words, generally regarded as the hardest hole on the course. It plays over a ridge to a large green, in the club's words, much deeper than it is wide and rebuilt in 2016.

The 458-yard 15th from the Blue tees, stroke index 3, brings the round back to the clubhouse. The drive passes a pond and crosses what the club calls Minnie's Ridge to reach a two-tiered green, also rebuilt in 2016.

Ross's Design Here

Only the 3rd carries Ross's name, and the club's record does not say where its tee and green sat before 1929. The hole is older than his work: Cirba places its corridor within the 1902 nine, and Park's 1916 plan covered it. Today the tee sits beside the Schuylkill. Golfadelphia's Chris Mavros describes "teeing off literally right next to the river through a chute of trees," and Dan Herrmann, on Golf Club Atlas, put it about 50 feet above the water. The green sits on the bluff that runs north and south through the front nine. The club calls it the widest fairway on the course and credits its hazards, elevation change and uneven lies, to Park.

No source ties a particular feature of the course to Ross: the directory names a four-hole expansion but not the holes. The quarry crossed on the 6th and 9th, the bunker field on the 8th, the four "Alps" mounds the club describes on the right of the 10th fairway, and the tiered greens on the 7th, 13th and 15th appear in club hole notes that never mention Ross, and visiting writers credit the course to Park. Joe Bausch's 2015 photo album calls the 8th "a WPJr alps hole," and Mavros wrote that Park "used the billowy terrain more vertically than across."

Historical Significance

In Ross's record, Berkshire is a Park course that he completed and later adjusted: four holes around 1921, by the Ross Society's account, and the 3rd's tee and green in 1929. Its own standing comes from being Berks County's first 18-hole course and a tournament venue. In September 1929 it hosted the first Berks County Amateur Championship, won by club member Hawley Quier. The PGA Tour's Reading Open was played here in 1947, 1948 and 1950. Dutch Harrison won in 1947 with 277, three ahead of Bobby Locke; Ben Hogan won in 1948 with 269, one ahead of Fred Haas; and Sam Snead won in 1950 with 268, 20 under par and eight ahead of Jim Ferrier. The 1949 event went to Reading Country Club. The Eastern Women's Open, an early LPGA Tour event, came to Berkshire in 1951: Beverly Hanson won that year, Betsy Rawls in 1952 and 1953, and Louise Suggs in 1955. Jack Nicklaus played an exhibition here in 1976.

On August 3 and 4, 2026, the club hosted the Pennsylvania Senior Amateur Championship. Rick Stimmel of Pittsburgh won with rounds of 68 and 72 for a 2-under 140, holing a 10-foot putt on the 18th green to finish a stroke ahead of Neil Gordon of Doylestown. No national ranking is recorded; in 2015 Cirba wrote that Berkshire "may be the biggest surprise and most underrated course in the Philly region."

Changes Since Ross

The routing has changed little since Park. Cirba wrote in 2015 that, apart from the loss of Park's more elaborate bunkering and the planting of trees, only today's 17th differs much from what Park built: it was shortened from a long par 4 or short par 5 when the driving range was made. In 1985 the club opened a tunnel under Route 183, which golfers had been crossing an estimated 50,000 times a year.

Ron Forse and Jim Nagle of Forse Design have advised the club since about 2000. Bausch wrote in May 2015 that they had spent 15 years with the club bringing back lost features. Nagle wrote that they were working with the club on a tree management plan, mainly to remove dying ash and over-planted areas, alongside a master plan the club was implementing; that the superintendent was expanding greens in-house to lines they painted; and that earlier bunker work had often been done without their oversight.

In 2016 the club began a $3 million project that replaced the irrigation system, built a holding pond for water pumped from the river, and rebuilt the greens on the 7th, 13th and 15th. Mavros, playing in 2017, took the water in front of the 15th tee to be a recent addition. He judged that some greens had been flattened and Park's character had faded in places, though the design remained largely intact.

Uncertainties

• Ross before 1929. The Ross Society directory credits Ross's drawings for the 1921 expansion from 14 to 18 holes, and the previous listing cited a Pennsylvania Golf Association history PDF quoting a Reading Eagle report of November 22, 1920 that Ross "consulted on the design." That newspaper item was not found, and the club's timeline names Ross only for 1929. The text follows the directory for the expansion and the club for the 3rd.

• Attribution. Albright College's athletics page credits the course jointly to "Willie Park, Jr./Donald J. Ross"; a search snippet suggests Golf Digest's listing does too. The club's scorecard, the Pennsylvania Golf Association and Golfadelphia credit Park alone. The text follows the club.

• Eastern Women's Open years. The club says the event was held here annually from 1951 to 1955; Wikipedia's list of winners shows no event in 1954. The text names the winners and gives no count.

Sources & Notes

1. Berkshire Country Club, "History" (club timeline). https://www.berkshirecountryclub.org/history 1897 formation as Berkshire Golf Club; 1899 incorporation; 1902 land purchase and 1903 opening; 1916 Park plan, 14-hole caveat and $196.75 bill; 1921 land and 1923 opening of the 18; 1929 Berks County Amateur; 1929 Ross work on hole #3; Reading Open 1947, 1948, 1950; Women's Eastern Open from 1951; 1976 Nicklaus exhibition; 1985 tunnel; 2016 irrigation, pond and greens on 7, 13 and 15.

2. Berkshire Country Club, "Golf Course" (hole notes). https://www.berkshirecountryclub.org/golf-course Hole descriptions: 3rd widest fairway, no bunkers, hazards credited to Park; quarry on the 6th and 9th; 8th bunker field and bowl green; 10th Alps mounds; 13th hardest hole; 15th Minnie's Ridge and two-tier green; range and short-game area.

3. Berkshire Country Club, printed scorecard (PDF). https://www.berkshirecountryclub.org/files/Berkshire-Scorecard-Web.pdf Architect credit "Willie Park Jr. 1916"; 6,401 yards from the Blue tees; local rule making all bunkers on hole #8 waste areas.

4. Berkshire Country Club, "Amenities" and "Membership". https://www.berkshirecountryclub.org/amenities and https://www.berkshirecountryclub.org/membership Pool, tennis and pickleball, dining; invitation-only membership.

5. Pennsylvania Golf Association, "Berkshire Country Club". https://www.pagolf.org/golf-membership/clubs.asp?cid=13 April 1899 incorporation; Wyomissing six-hole course; May 1902 move; land purchases in 1916, 1921 and 1928 to 125 acres; Park's background; Reading Open players.

6. Golf Club Atlas forum, "Berkshire CC (Reading, PA): a super fun Willie Park, Jr design", May-June 2015 (Joe Bausch, Mike Cirba, Jim Nagle, Dan Herrmann and others). https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,61097.0.html and https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,61097.25.html John Reid's 1902 nine; Frank James; 17th shortened; Forse and Nagle's work, master plan and tree plan; 3rd tee above the river; 2015 Chapman Cup; Cirba's assessment.

7. Chris Mavros, Golfadelphia, "The Berkshire Country Club", December 3, 2017. https://golfadelphia.com/2017/12/03/the-berkshire-country-club/ Hole-by-hole account; bluff and river setting; 11th-14th across Bernville Road; 15th water; flattened greens.

8. Joe Bausch, The Bausch Collection, "The Berkshire Country Club (Reading, PA)", photos May 2015. https://homepage.villanova.edu/joseph.bausch/images/albums/Berkshire/index.html Early Dallin Collection aerials; the 8th as a Park alps hole.

9. Wikipedia, "Reading Open". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Open Venues by year; winners, scores and runners-up, citing contemporary Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

10. Wikipedia, "Eastern Women's Open". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Women%27s_Open Berkshire as venue 1951-55 and winners.

11. AmateurGolf.com, "Rick Stimmel Claims Pennsylvania Senior Amateur by One", August 4, 2026. https://www.amateurgolf.com/golf-tournament-news/rick-stimmel-claims-pennsylvania-senior-amateur-by-one 2026 Pennsylvania Senior Amateur result.

12. Albright College Athletics, "Berkshire Country Club". https://albrightathletics.com/sports/2010/4/13/MGOLF_0413100712.aspx?id=83 Home course of Albright's golf teams; joint Park/Ross credit (see Uncertainties).

13. Donald Ross Society and The Tufts Archives, Directory of Golf Courses Designed by Donald J. Ross, updated 2025 (January 2026 PDF). https://rosssociety.org/resources/Documents/Ross%20Course%20List/Final%20Ross%20Directory%20of%20Courses%20Jan%202026%20website.pdf Berkshire listed as a Ross remodel, "c. 1921 Four hole expansion"; 2023 revision note on Ross's drawings for the 14-to-18-hole expansion.