Lindenwood Golf Club celebrates its 50th anniversary
Russell Wylie and his son, David Wylie. Russell opened Lindenwood Golf Club 50 years ago.
Green fees for Lindenwood Golf Club when it opened back in 1965.
For Russell Wylie, it started with a trip to a South Park golf course 60 years ago.
As Wylie tells the story, he arrived at the course at 6 a.m. and found 200 people waiting to play. He asked how long it would take to get on the course.
“They told me I would be lucky if I got on by noon,” he said.
Rather than waiting to play, Wylie, who worked in the dairy business with his father, went home to his wife, Marilyn, and told her he was going to build a golf course.
“She thought I was crazy,” laughed Wylie, now 86.
But it worked for Wylie, who built Rolling Green Golf Course in Eighty Four, the oldest public course in Washington County. The first nine holes opened in 1958 and the second nine in the 1960s.
The next golf course for Wylie was Lindenwood Golf Club in North Strabane.
The first nine holes at Lindenwood, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary, opened in 1965, the second nine in 1967. The course is a par 72.
David Wylie, Russell’s son and business partner, built Lindenwood’s final 18 holes, including the third nine in 1993. In 2013, David Wylie acquired Chippewa Golf Club in Somerset Township, near Bentleyville. All three are public golf courses.
“Sometimes people expect it (a public course) to be like a country club,” Russell Wylie said.
During a recent interview at their Lindenwood office, the Wylies said the secret to their success is giving the customer what they want.
“We just try and give the customer a better product,” said David, 58, who as a youngster began working for his father, collecting his first greens fee when he was nine. “It’s the whole picture.”
The Wylies were nonchalant about their success as golf course owners, or about Lindenwood’s golden anniversary. They credit their 70 employees, most of whome are part time, for their success, adding that some have been with them for more than 30 years.
Lindenwood has changed during its 50 years of existence. It has grown from the original nine holes to 27 holes and 400 acres in size. It now includes a driving range, putting green, pro shop, grille and banquet facility which can be rented for weddings and receptions.
“I was very fortunate,” Russell Wylie said. “Both Rolling Green and Lindenwood caught on immediately with golfers.” Lindenwood averages 45,000 visits a year and the busy season is May through Labor Day, the Wylies said. The course has attracted the likes of professional athletes and even Willie Nelson, who was in the area for a concert.
“It’s a work in progress,” David Wylie said. “We’re just trying to make a living.”
Greens fees have climbed a bit in the last five decades, when 18 holes could be played for $3.25. At that time, there were only nine holes. When the first round was completed, golfers would get in line to play the same nine holes again. During the week, Lindenwood now charges $46, which includes a cart fee, for 18 holes. That amount increases to $55 during the weekend and on holidays.
David Wylie said he likes owning golf courses because they are always changing and it’s not a stagnant business. But, the golf business has also become competitive in recent years. There are more golf courses that are competing for the consumer’s time and money, he said.
“There’s also a shrinking golf population,” he said.
Indeed. According to Bloomberg Business, 14 new 18-hole courses were opened in the U.S. in 2013.
But, the Wylies say they have no plans to make any additions at Lindenwood and will continue doing what they do.
“We’ve been lucky,” they said.