Miami Shores Golf Club

Municipal golf in Troy predated Ross’s involvement. The city built a nine-hole course named “Miami Shores” in 1931; it opened in 1932 on riverfront land downtown. Local accounts credit Eddie Hetzel, professional at Troy Country Club, with assisting the city on that original layout. That downtown nine closed in 1949 as part of a civic trade: the Hobart Corporation helped finance both a new 18-hole municipal course “up the river” and Troy Memorial Stadium in exchange for the arena site, effectively relocating Miami Shores to its present grounds.

The Donald Ross Society’s directory lists “Miami Shores G.C., Troy, OH” with a 1947 date, identifying it as a municipal course and confirming Ross attribution. That date aligns with the period when the city pursued the new site, suggesting Ross (or his office) produced the plan set in 1947. Ross died on April 26, 1948; contemporary reporting in the region notes that he was ill and remained near Pinehurst late in life, and that “his company produced the plans” for the Troy project. The new Miami Shores opened for play in 1949. There is no evidence he returned for field visits; any construction supervision would likely have been handled by associates or the contractor.

Unique Design Characteristics

The present course retains several features that, whether original or subsequently altered, read as mid-century Ross office work on a municipal site of modest scale. The first green is presented as a pronounced “turtle-back,” shedding approaches that miss their yardage—a hallmark often associated with Ross’s small-pad push-up surfaces, though the exact construction provenance here is uncertain given later renovations. The par-5 fifteenth, a short dogleg left, relies less on bunkering than on arboreal and positional hazards: two large trees constrict the entrance some 100 yards short of the green, emphasizing placement over power. The sixteenth (409 yards from the back) plays straightaway to a green that requires staying “below the hole,” consistent with a general back-to-front cant found on many greens across the property; the seventeenth uses perimeter mounding and a firm back-to-front gradient to limit scoring; and the home hole is a long par five that rewards measured lay-ups into preferred approach yardages. These specifics are drawn from the club’s own hole descriptions rather than from historic plan sheets, and thus they describe current conditions rather than certify original contours.

Based on present topology, the clearest candidates for surviving Ross-era intent are routing relationships rather than exact green contours: the alternating cadence of modest two-shotters and reachable fives, and a generally walkable sequence that fits 18 holes onto approximately 130 acres. Without the 1947 plan set, however, it is not possible to assign individual hole architectures definitively to Ross or to later renovators.

Historical Significance

Within Ross’s corpus, Miami Shores belongs to the terminal phase of his practice: planned in 1947, opened in 1949, and regularly cited in regional timelines as among his last projects to reach completion. The course has local significance as Troy’s purpose-built municipal successor to the downtown nine of 1932, representing a civic investment in public recreation during the immediate postwar years. It did not host national championships; its role has been to anchor county and association play and the community schedule. That municipal mission, and the continuity of public access under city ownership, define its place in Ross’s body of work more than rankings or elite competitive history.

Current Condition / Integrity

The routing appears to follow the mid-century layout, but important surface details have changed. Multiple published course descriptions state that the front-nine greens were renovated in the 1970s and the back nine “updated” in the 1990s; one listing provides specific years—front greens in 1977 and back greens in 1997. This implies that few (if any) putting surfaces remain in their 1949 Ross-era construction, although some general green tilts and surrounds may echo earlier forms. Those same sources do not name an architect of record for either campaign; several third-party directories list “Ferdinand Garbin” in the course’s architect line, suggesting his involvement on a later remodeling, but without dates or scope. A project list formerly hosted by the Michigan State University library confirms that Garbin worked extensively in Ohio; however, the Miami Shores entry is not presently available for verification. In sum: later architects likely rebuilt greens and adjusted bunkers, but the exact authorship and scope require primary documentation.

As a municipal course, Miami Shores has also seen ongoing facility upgrades. City materials describe a newly renovated clubhouse and the presence of a full-length range and practice green, but do not claim historical restoration of original Ross features. Tree lines have matured substantially since opening (a common evolution on midwestern munis) and now frame many corridors; current hole descriptions emphasize staying “below the hole” on several greens, indicating modern contours maintain a back-to-front bias consistent with traditional playability.

Sources & Notes

Donald Ross Society, Final Ross Directory of Courses (June 2023) — Entry for “Miami Shores G.C., Troy, OH (1947); MUNY; Plans: YES.” Confirms Ross attribution and planning date.

Bucky Albers, “Recalling a 9-hole course in downtown Troy,” Dayton Daily News, June 29, 2018. Establishes the 1932 downtown “Miami Shores” nine, credits Eddie Hetzel with assisting the city, explains the Hobart arrangement, notes Ross’s office produced the plans, records Ross’s death in 1948, and the 1949 opening at the present site. City of Troy / Miami Shores official website (About and main pages). Current ownership and operation; acreage; turf types; facilities; opening year 1949; public/daily-fee status.

Miami Shores “Course Tour” (club website). Present-day hole characteristics for Nos. 15-18 (examples cited in text) and descriptive notes on green slopes and playing lines.

Miami Valley Golf — Regional timeline. Notes “1949: Miami Shores founded and designed by Donald Ross,” situating the course among late Ross projects in the region. miamivalleygolf.org Barstool Golf Time / Golfbook.io listings. Provide specific renovation years (“front greens 1977; back greens 1997”), consistent with GolfPass’s decade-level description; used cautiously as corroborative but secondary references.