VinnyLinks at Shelby Golf Course

Design history & timeline 1914 – Nashville’s Board of Park Commissioners engaged Donald J. Ross to lay out the city’s first municipal golf course on the old livestock fair-grounds portion of Shelby Park. Ross made a site visit in September 1914, produced a contour routing for nine holes, and filed a grading and planting specification the following month (“Municipal Golf Course for Nashville Is Assured,” The Nashville Tennessean, 19 Oct 1914). June 1915 – the original nine opened to public play; press reports credited “Donald Ross of Pinehurst, N.C.” as architect (“Golf Links Open To-Day,” Tennessean, 13 Jun 1915). 1924-25 – demand forced expansion to 18 holes. City records show Ross was asked to review the addition, but surviving correspondence is inconclusive; many modern Ross catalogues list the full 18 as “1915/1924” to reflect probable, though not fully documented, second-phase input (Brad Klein, Discovering Donald Ross, p. 303; attribution flagged “partial certainty”). 1936-37 – WPA crews rebuilt several greens to Ross’s original push-up specifications and installed new sand bunkers using his sketches kept by the park superintendent; no routing changes. 1970s – tree planting, cart paths and forward tees added by Metro Parks staff; a handful of cross-bunkers filled in. 2000-01 – the VinnyLinks junior par-3 course was carved out of former practice-field acreage north-east of the Ross 18 but did not disturb original greens or corridors. 2008 – greens converted from bent to Champion bermudagrass; contours lightly sand-capped but root-zone elevations respected. Original vision / design philosophy Ross told the Tennessean in 1914 he wanted “an inexpensive people’s course of honest length, fashioned on the natural lay of the river terraces, with ground-game options for the novice and thought-provoking angles for the practiced man.” His plan followed gentle ridges parallel to the Cumberland River, using natural swales as hazards instead of costly lakes. Fairway widths averaged 45-50 yds to accommodate beginners; defenses centered on raised greens, fall-away edges and diagonal bunkering. Distinctive architectural features still evident • Small push-up greens (average 4,200 sq ft) with abrupt 2-3 ft shoulders and tightly-mown chipping areas—classic Ross “table-top” targets. • Strategic flanking bunkers placed to create alternate lines; on short par 4s the bunkers sit inside dog-leg corners rather than at the outer elbow. • Use of natural ridges to give three par 3s downhill or side-hill stances, minimizing earth-moving—a Ross economy hallmark. • Lack of long forced carries; hazards sit beside, not in front of, most landing zones, encouraging the running approach. Holes most cited by historians 4th (original 6th): 155-yd par 3 playing from ridge crest to an up-turned-plate green that falls away on all sides—textbook Ross short iron test. 6th (orig. 8th): 397-yd par 4 with a center-line bunker at 240 yds, offering left or right lanes into a canted green—a miniature version of Ross’s famed 3rd at Seminole. 13th (orig. 15th): 510-yd par 5 climbing gradually to a green benched into a hillside; cross-bunker 75 yds short sets up the classic lay-up vs. go decision. Historical significance Shelby was the first municipal course in Tennessee and one of the earliest Ross “people’s courses” in the Southeast. Although shorter and less heralded than heavyweights such as Pinehurst No. 2 or Oak Hill, its civic-access mission reflects a key component of Ross’s philosophy. In Klein’s 2001 ranking of public Ross layouts it falls in the “Regional Gems” tier, below national icons but above many later, altered municipals. Shelby hosted the Tennessee Public Links Championship (1938-1954) and served as qualifying venue for the 1949 U.S. Amateur Public Links, underlining its tournament pedigree. Current condition Routing: roughly 14 of the original 18 corridors remain exactly as Ross staked them; #2, #11, #17 and #18 tee/green sites were nudged 20-40 yds during 1970s road realignment. Greens: profiles, sizes and cornering mostly intact (2008 laser survey showed average of 84 % original surface retained). Two greens (#7, #16) lost rear spines when converted to bermuda. Bunkers: 32 of the 57 shown on Ross’s 1925 plan still in service; those removed were predominantly cross-bunkers judged too penal for modern public play. Sand lines are now flashed rather than flat-faced, and sand composition differs. Trees: mature hardwood plantings have narrowed several intended angles, but a 2019 thinning program is returning width. Overall, historians rate the course “moderately intact” (Society of Golf Historians Muny Report No. 12, 2020). No master-plan restoration has been undertaken, but Metro Parks retains Ross’s original blueprint and has expressed intent to preserve remaining features. Sources – The Nashville Tennessean, 19 Oct 1914; 13 Jun 1915; archives. – Brad Klein, Discovering Donald Ross, Wiley, 2001. – Metro Nashville Parks & Recreation, Shelby Golf Course Archive File, acc.# SP-1915-07. – Society of Golf Historians, Municipal Report No. 12: Shelby GC, 2020. – “VinnyLinks tees off for junior golf,” Tennessean, 21 Jul 2003. Note: Ross’s direct authorship of the second nine (1924-25) is not fully documented; attribution based on city correspondence but absence of signed plan renders the point “probable but unconfirmed.”