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Talamore at Oak Terrace - Club
History
James W. Hilty
XV. The switchover, 1993-1995:
More than a large line of credit was required to
bring Bob Levy's ambitious and costly plan for
Talamore at Oak Terrace to completion. Even before
it is built, a golf club needs members. Unlike the
Hollywood fantasy, “Field of Dreams,” Bob Levy, Jr.
did not hear, nor would he have believed, a voice
that said, “Build it, and they will come.” Indeed,
his experience and marketing knowledge told Levy
that he could not build a new golf club without
guaranteeing an adequate number of advance
memberships and without an adequate revenue stream
to carry the project through the crucial switchover
period between the demolition of the old course and
the building of the new. He also knew that he could
not rely on the new Talamore residents to subscribe
to enough memberships to sustain the new club either
through its switchover phase or even after the new
course was constructed.
Instead, Levy sought to solicit enough new members
and to retain enough of the old Oak Terrace members
to carry the club through construction and to
provide a critical core to place the club on a firm
foundation by its projected opening date of July
1995.
Beginning in December 1992, Talamore Development
Corporation offered several types of club
memberships with various categories of privileges,
each requiring a refundable membership deposit, or
initiative fee. With the new course still at least
two years away and with only the old Oak Terrace to
show prospective golf members, recruitment of new
members went slowly.
The saving grace turned out to be the number of
members from the old Oak Terrace who decided to
remain. Oak Terrace members were offered memberships
in Talamore, if they continued to pay dues and
remain with the club through the progressive
demolition of the old course and construction of the
new. Members of the old Oak Terrace were offered
Founding Memberships in Talamore with no initiation
fees, dues locked at 1992 levels until January 1,
1997, and complimentary bag storage, locker rental,
and handicap fee through the 1994 season. In return,
Bob Levy promised them a new course of the highest
quality, an enhanced country club environment, and
restoration of full membership and accreditation
with the Golf Association of Philadelphia.
Ten years later Levy remains grateful to the
Founding members, those 225 who remained on from the
old Oak Terrace through the demolition and
construction, as their dues guaranteed a cash flow
during construction and helped keep the project
afloat.
By the summer of 1994 demolition of the old course left
only nine holes of the old Oak Terrace available for
play. Members steered around bulldozers, choked on the
omnipresent dust, marveled at the changes taking place
before their eyes, chatted excitedly about their
expectations for the new course, and thanked Bob Levy
for his optimistic updates, sometimes wondering aloud if
the new course could possibly deliver all that was
expected.
On July 1, 1995 Talamore at Oak Terrace opened with
style. A Scottish bag-piper in full regalia marched up
the ninth fairway through the morning mist, his whaling
announcing the opening of a new era and reminding all
gathered of our spiritual connection to the ancient and
noble heritage of the game. Few who participated will
soon forget the opening ceremony, their first shots
struck on the grand new course, or their playing
partners that memorable day.
Bob Levy kept his promise and, beginning with the 1996
season, Talamore at Oak Terrace received full membership
into the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP),
competing in interclub matches, gradually moving up the
ladder in both the men's (GAP) and women's (WGAP)
divisions.
 In
1997 Talamore hosted GAP's Mid-Amateur championship and
since then several of Talamore's members have competed
regularly in GAP competitions. In March 1997 the
Philadelphia Golfer carried a review of Talamore that
simply announced, “Talamore at Oak Terrace has joined
the ranks of excellent golf courses in the Philadelphia
region.”
Special recognition and awards quickly accrued. In 1997
Talamore was nominated as a “Best New Course in USA.”
The next year Golf for Women magazine named Talamore as
one of the Top 100 Courses for Women. In 1999 Golf
Digest ranked Talamore at Oak Terrace among the top 25
golf courses in Pennsylvania (no. 24). The United States
Golf Association selected Talamore to host regional
qualifying for the 2000 U.S. Amateur Championship and as
a local qualifying site for the 2004 U.S. Open
Championship (played at Shinnecock Hills).
Talamore's Head professional when the new course opened
in 1995 was the capable and personable Curt Fuhrmannek,
who soon after left Talamore to accept a position with
PGA National headquarters in West Palm Beach. Eileen
Kraemer who remained for only a year succeeded him.
A quantum leap in professional standards and the quality
of golf operations occurred with the arrival of Jim
Smith, Jr. who assumed responsibilities as Head Golf
Professional in November 1996 and a year later was named
General Manager. Under Jim Smith the pro shop was named
Regional Ping Club fitter of the Year (2001) and in 2002
Talamore was recognized as one of the Top 100 golf shops
in America by Golf World/Golf World Business magazine.
Jim Smith did much more for Talamore than move
merchandise in the pro shop. Under Smith's direction
Talamore developed tutorials for new golfers, began a
markedly successful junior golf program, launched a Golf
Academy, and commenced highly successful teaching
programs, featuring a distinguished instructional staff
headed by John Spina ("2004 Philadelphia PGA Teacher of
the Year") and drawing on the talents of Bill Sautter
and Tony Deroba. Talamore's junior program has produced
such standouts as Dayna Burleigh, John Smaha, Kristen
White, and Victoria Arena. Hatboro-Horsham High School
plays its matches at Talamore, and under Coach Don
Neill, a Talamore member and many times Talamore Senior
Club Champion, the team has enjoyed considerable
success, earning Don “2004 Coach of the Year” honors for
Southeast Pennsylvania. Under Jim Smith's guidance
Talamore awakened interest in the game for countless new
golfers, taught the basics of the game to many more, and
enhanced members' appreciation for the game
immeasurably. A recent Philadelphia Golfer feature
article on Talamore was very appropriately titled,
“Talamore at Oak Terrace: Where golfers
learn to play, appreciate and respect the game.”
When Talamore opened in July 1995 it played to just over
6900 yards. With the extension of the teeing grounds on
several holes, the course now plays to just over 7000
yards from the tips. Few players dare challenge the
course from the back tees. The USGA, GAP, and
Philadelphia district PGA competitions held at the club
have so far prudently avoided the back tees.
In its relatively short history Talamore has undergone a
number of significant cosmetic changes to improve play
and change the way in which the course is played. Over
the years the brush and overgrown areas just beyond the
fairways has gradually been cut back and tamed, thus
widening the rough and allowing a little more room for
errant shots on a few holes. The addition of two
strategically placed fairway traps on the eighteenth
hole now force many players to reconsider going for the
par 5 green in two. Under the excellent direction of
grounds superintendent John Roedell,
 who
has been at Talamore since 1998, a tee expansion and
tee-leveling project commenced several years ago, adding
new teeing angles on several holes, plus reducing the
wear and tear and extending the seasonal lives of
several tee surfaces.
To support teaching programs and to improve play for all
members, Talamore's practice facilities have been
expanded and improved several times since 1995,
highlighted by the addition of two practice putting
greens in 1996 and the construction in 2002 of a
state-of-the-art short-game practice facility at the top
of Talamore drive behind the fourth green. The practice
range was completely re-graded and re-contoured in late
2004, bringing it up to a new standard of excellence.
Other amenities added since 1995 include a swimming pool
and fitness center that came online in 1998, along with
two Tennis courts added the year before. Renovations to
the clubhouse have included construction of a Members
Grill available
 only
to full golf members, new covered verandahs and expanded
and renovated dining and entertainment spaces for
weddings, meetings, and special events. Interior
renovations to the dining areas and coverings over the
patios next to the Members' Grill and the Governor's
Room opened to Members at the beginning of the 2005
season.
Talamore at Oak Terrace is a private club, with
management and exclusive control of the club facilities
in the hands of the Talamore Group, which pays all
operating deficits and retains all operating profits.
Members are not permitted to vote on matters related to
club management or financial expenditures, but neither
are they subject to operating or capital assessments.
Soon after opening the new course, Bob Levy invited
members to elect an advisory Golf Committee broadly
representative of the club's various constituents to
serve as liaison between club members and the ownership.
The Golf Committee is a self-perpetuating group that
oversees handicaps and tournament play, advises
ownership and management on selected aspects of golf
operations, and recommends dispensing of annual activity
fees.
 Another
of the benefits of a Talamore at Oak Terrace membership
is accessibility to Talamore at Pinehurst, also owned by
the Talamore Group. Over the years many of Talamore at
Oak Terrace members have enjoyed the privilege of
playing the four-star Talamore at Pinehurst resort
course and lodging in its guest villas, some of which
have been purchased by Talamore at Oak Terrace members.
The connection between Ambler and Pinehurst was
broadened and dramatically enhanced in April 2004 when
Bob Levy announced the purchase of the Mid South Club
(formerly known as Pinehurst Plantation) across the
street from Talamore at Pinehurst. The Mid South Club
features a 4.5 star Arnold Palmer designed golf course,
recognized by many to be one of Arnie's best. Levy and
the Talamore Group immediately began construction of a
new clubhouse and surrounding residential community.
Chapters
I. Earliest History
II. Pine Run Farms - The McKean Estate
III. McKean Manor House - Pine Ridge
IV. Horace Trumbauer and Talamore at Oak Terrace
V. Scandal and the Declension of the McKeans
VI. Pine Run Country Club and Alexander Findlay
-- Brushing Against Golf Immortality
VII. Bankers' and the Great Depression.
VIII. Oak Terrace - The Wingel Years
IX. The “Old Oak”.
X. “Slammin' Sammy” Snead Comes to Oak Terrace.
XI. Location, Location, Location
XII. Oak Terrace - The “Bud” Hansen
Years.
XIII. Talamore
at Oak Terrace - Realen and Bob Levy,
Jr.
XIV. Talamore at Oak Terrace: The making of a golf
course
XV. The switchover, 1993-1995:
XVI. THE END OF THE BEGINNING |
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