Wheeling Country Club (Wheeling, WV)

Wheeling is is a well visited place for most northeast Ohioans. Besides dog racing and gambling, it sports a wonderful state park with two golf courses at Oglebay. Unbeknown to most is a hidden gem named Wheeling Country Club, the oldest golf course in West Virginia, halfway up the hill before one gets to Speidel. This private course does reciprocal play with guests staying at the resort. (Oakhurst lays claim to being the oldest in West Virginia but it laid dormant for many years until it was restored) 

Devereux Emmet designed Wheeling in 1902 on the sides of a large hill. With no heavy machinery to move dirt around, one is treated to a true lay of the land course. You will be stunned by the severity of the slope and the skill it takes to work the ball off the sidehill lies. The greens are small and you can see how they dug into the hill and dragged the dirt to create them. The bunkering is super cool and Devereux placed a trap on the high ground above the green to thwart players from bouncing it on from the side. 

(The 498 yard par five first hole plays to rounded fairway…

…the green is reachable in two shots although a couple traps guard it. It’s a benign start that gives one a chance to snag a stroke early.) 

(The 290 yard par four second is downhill and blind off the tee. A roping draw can ride the hill all the way down…

…the two traps guarding the high side stop any ball from meeting the putting surface. The staircase style feature is a cool look.) 

(The 382 yard par four fifth plays across a severely sloped fairway. My drive hit up top and rolled all the back to the left, losing distance as it did…
…the approach is then uphill to a spacious green. I had 200 yards in for my second shot and never came close to hitting it. Note the upper land above the green is bunkered like several other holes.) 

The course has undergone some reworking. The clubhouse was originally what is now the Stratford Springs Restaurant. (One sees it on the thirteenth and fourteenth holes) A land swap in 1980 is responsible for where the new clubhouse is today. Fred Garbin did the work when the course had to be altered. Devereux‘s greens are small and Garbin’s are larger. Garbin did a lot of work in the tri-state area of Ohio-PA-WV. 

(The downhill 195 yard par three sixth is one of five par threes, four over 190. Hitting long irons or hybrids is key to parring these holes. Left is a big no-no.) 

(The 165 yard par three ninth has one of the smallest greens you’ll see anywhere. A steep falloff on the left almost forces you to err towards the bank on the right. This is the shortest par three on the course but plays the hardest. The water on the left is more in play than you think.) 

(The 206 yard par three twelth plays downhill in a corner of the property. The ladies tee is directly to the right where it’s only 140 yards. The men’s tee is actually backwards from eleven green and makes me wonder which part of the course was changed to get that walk, especially since most of the Devereux design had tees just yards from the previous green.) 

Wheeling Country Club has hosted several big events including a few West Virginia Opens and even a PGA Tour event. In 1936, it held the Wheeling Centennial Open won by Billy Burke at 206 (-4). There were five eventual major champions at that event. In 1948 Wheeling held its first West Virginia Open won by Slammin’ Sam Snead with a 268 total. It was Snead’s fourth West Virginia Open victory. His 268 (-12) featured a first round 63. (For the record, Snead won 17 West Virginia Opens!!) It held another West Virginia Open in 1982 won by Zanesville CC pro Scott Davis with a 212 (+2) total. His final round 67 was enough to overcome Linden Meade for a two stroke victory. 

(The 495 yard par five thirteenth originally was the finishing hole. A roping draw off the tee will ride the slope to bring the green within range…

…a cross bunker forty yards short of the green prevents balls from bounding onto the putting surface…
…this view from fourteen shows how the terrain drops off from the side of the green into the bunkers. This is a nice view of the former clubhouse.) 

(The 368 yard par four fifteenth plays downhill to a bulbous fairway. The long hitter can get to the top but most will be behind it…
…the green is crazy small especially if your approach is blind. Thankfully the house serves as a good aiming point. Note OB left and long.) 

(The 330 yard par four seventeenth is a short dogleg left. After laying up to the turn, one has a pitch into a small green. The concave surface has a false front and is well bunkered.) 

Wheeling is just over 6000 yards but it plays much harder than the slope and course rating supposedly say.  The long par three by themselves will prove to be tough pars. Overall the round is about the topography and how one handles the variety of shots in such a setting. Being on the same mountain as Oglebay, comparisons will undoubtedly be part of that process and Wheeling compares favorably. It’s a good golf course. I give it a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour to play). 

(The 365 yard par four eighteenth doglegs right in a cape style fashion. It’s only a hybrid or metal wood to hit the beginning of the fairway…

…if one wants a short iron approach then they must challenge the trees off the tee with driver…
…the green is very receptive with a short iron in hand. A conservative tee shot leaves a considerably longer yardage and is a really tough approach.)

[I played with my friend Missy who is the golf coach for John Carroll’s women’s team. Rich, the GM, is the golf coach of the mens team at Wheeling University. It was fun listening to them talk since they knew many of the same people. In fact, half of his team was from Mentor, and they played baseball with her son. Small world! I shot a respectable 79 but couldn’t keep up with my playing partner who carded a very good 76. It reminded me of the old days when she was the number 1 at Michigan and routinely shot mid to low seventies!]