Member Clubs

Union League Golf Club at Torresdale

Course Information
Club Type: Private
Founded:1896
Architect:Donald Ross
General Information
Address: 3801 Grant Ave
Philadelphia, PA  19114
Phone:(215) 637-7500
Fax:(215) 637-5269
Website:unionleague.org
Email:cataldis@unionleague.org
Club Contacts
  Golf Professional:   Brandon Klakowicz   (215) 824-2155 
  General Manager:   Sandi Cataldi   (215) 637-7500 
  Superintendent:   Andrew R. Dooley   (610) 374-2952 
Club Events
2023 Monday, July 17  GAP USGA Amateur Qualifier (2) 
2015 Sep 8  GAP Senior Amateur Championship   
2014 May 19  GAP Amateur Championship Qualifier   
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Course Yardage & Ratings
Handicap Conversion Charts:  [Mens]  [Womens]

BLACK/BLUE TEESFront 9Back 9Course
RatingSlopeRatingSlopeRatingSlope
  Men  35.9 140  35.8  142 71.7 141 
 HOLE123456789OUT101112131415161718INTOTAL
 Par 444344443345345345343670
 Yards 345390408181348416441449185316348419933357019130256119037532056368
 HCP 1195151373117 12616281841410  
BLACK TEESFront 9Back 9Course
RatingSlopeRatingSlopeRatingSlope
  Men  36.6 143  36.4  144 73.0 144 
 HOLE123456789OUT101112131415161718INTOTAL
 Par 444344443345345345343670
 Yards 345390430181348450484500185331348423033357021530256122540033206633
 HCP 1195151373117 12616281841410  
BLUE TEESFront 9Back 9Course
RatingSlopeRatingSlopeRatingSlope
  Men  35.5 139  35.5  141 71.0 140 
 HOLE123456789OUT101112131415161718INTOTAL
 Par 444344443345345345343670
 Yards 340377408168315416441449165307947119932355719129255019037531486227
 HCP 1195151373117 12616281841410  
BLUE/WHITE TEESFront 9Back 9Course
RatingSlopeRatingSlopeRatingSlope
  Men  34.9 137  35.3  140 70.2 139 
 HOLE123456789OUT101112131415161718INTOTAL
 Par 444344443345345345343670
 Yards 340377394168315385414385165294347117032355719129255018236431006043
 HCP 1195151373117 12616281841410  
WHITE/GREEN TEESFront 9Back 9Course
RatingSlopeRatingSlopeRatingSlope
  Men  33.4 130  33.5  133 66.9 132 
 HOLE123456789OUT101112131415161718INTOTAL
 Par 444344443345345345343670
 Yards 329345337153291340370305150262044015231442018028744018229527105330
 HCP 1195151373117 12616281841410  
GREEN TEESFront 9Back 9Course
RatingSlopeRatingSlopeRatingSlope
  Men  32.8 128  32.8  129 65.6 129 
 HOLE123456789OUT101112131415161718INTOTAL
 Par 444344443345345345343670
 Yards 291315337125265340370305130247839015226542014126044017029525335011
 HCP 1195151373117 12616281841410  
WHITE TEESFront 9Back 9Course
RatingSlopeRatingSlopeRatingSlope
  Men  34.4 136  34.6  137 69.0 137 
 HOLE123456789OUT101112131415161718INTOTAL
 Par 444344443345345345343670
 Yards 329345394153291385414385150284644017031447518028752518236429375783
 HCP 1195151373117 12616281841410  
History
At the close of 1896, golf saw its first stirring in a section of the city that has come to be called "the great Northeast." A form letter was circulated to a number of the more prominent business and professional men there:
In response to a desire that has been frequently expressed, it is proposed to organize a Country Club at Torresdale, where Golf, Cricket, Foot-Ball, Tennis, Bicycling and other sports may be indulged in.
A preliminary meeting will be held at the Red Lion Inn on Friday evening, December 11, 1896, at 8 o’clock. Stage will meet the 7:27 train from Broad Street, at Torresdale Station ....
Twenty men attended the December 11 meeting (and six others sent their approval), at which "it was decided to form a Country Club . . . with an initiation fee of $10 and annual dues of $20." Later that same month another meeting was held to adopt by-laws. Membership categories set forth were "active, contributing, summer, bicycle, Lady, and Junior." Lady, summer, and bicycle members paid annual dues of $5; for Juniors, the charge was $2. The by-laws also stipulated that "Bicycle Members... shall not have use of grounds." The Whelen property, on Knight’s Road and "in close proximity to Colonel Morrell’s race track," was chosen as a temporary meeting place for the club (the Colonel was one of the founding members).
Six months later, the membership count had climbed to a total of 195 (123 Active, 47 Lady et al) and 15 candidates for admission were posted. But by the turn of the century, serious internal dissension had arisen and a group headed by Colonel Morrell (for a time golf had been played on the infield of his racetrack) took over. The result was fiscal soundness, a change of name to Torresdale Golf Club, and the development of a nine-hole course, which was laid out by Scottish-born professional James Campbell and the club’s green committee.
The course was very long for the time—3,252 yards, but, like Springhaven’s first layout, not well-balanced. The final three holes—550 yards, 500 yards, 600 yards—accounted for fully half the length. Yet nothing in the first six holes—231 yards, 206, 300, 325, 375, 165—had prepared the player for this backbreaking conclusion. There were, it should be noted, at least two members able to handle this challenge. One was George Crump, who, not ten years later, would embark almost singlehandedly on what many still consider the noblest project in the history of the game, the creation of Pine Valley. The other was Crump’s very close friend, Reverend Simon Carr, a Roman Catholic priest. In the early years of this century, it was Father Carr who held the Torresdale scoring record, a 38, which, as it happened, was also par for the course.

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