GEORGE THOMAS

A native of Whitemarsh Township, Thomas was also known as a botanist and an author. His book, Golf Architecture in America, is considered one of the best books on the subject. But it was his golf course designs that brought him fame.

As a teenager, Thomas began designing a golf course on his father’s estate, just outside the Philadelphia city limits in Montgomery County. The course became the famed Whitemarsh Valley Country Club – the site of the PGA Tour’s IVB Classic in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.

In his early days, he was able to observe some of the pioneers of golf course design. He was a founding member of Sunnybrook Golf Club and witnessed Donald Ross’ 1914-15 construction of the club’s original course in Flourtown.

Most of Tillinghast’s Montgomery County designs no longer exist, but the Wissahickon Course at Philadelphia Cricket Club still stands proudly. It has long been ranked among the top courses in the Greater Philadelphia area and gained even more recognition after a major renovation in 2014 by Keith Foster that included the removal of more than 2,500 trees.

“Philadelphia Cricket Club was a great course before the renovation and is an even greater one now,” says Cricket Club Head Pro Jim Smith.

The acclaim was immediate after the renovation, resulting in the Wissahickon course hosting the 2015 Club Professional Championship and the 2016 Constellation Senior Players Championship.

He was friends with Hugh Wilson, who designed Merion Golf Club’s original East Course in 1912, and its original West Course in 1914; with George Crump, who designed Pine Valley’s original course in 1915; and with A. W. Tillinghast, who later designed the Wissahickon Course at Philadelphia Cricket Club.

His work on Whitemarsh Valley’s punchbowl layout brought him immediate acclaim and caused him to branch out to the west. Thomas designed 20 golf courses in California, including the famed Riviera Country Club – another PGA Tour site.