FROM POTATO FIELD TO GOLF COURSE

The History of Bay Ridge 

In the spring of 1964 Bill and Vy Davis purchased a rocky potato field that had been turned into a hay field from Winfield Anderson and began constructing Bay Ridge Golf Course.  They had a farmer come in and remove about 700 bales of hay, just to get things cut down to size.  They couldn’t plow the place up for the planting of grass until they had removed all the stones from the soil, so the entire area was covered with hay-stubble that they cut with a flail-type mower.  They spent two years clearing rocks.  They would rake the smaller rocks into piles and shovel the piles by hand into a two-wheeled trailer and take them to the stone fences.  They also cut up and disposed of several miles of barbed wire and the supporting posts. 

Entrance to the future Bay Ridge Golf Course - Spring 1964. The sign is for "Little Sister Resort"
(click photo to enlarge)

Newly excavated irrigation pond next to the 7th green- 1964.  Bottom was
solid rock without cracks.  (click photo to enlarge)

Area of the 1st green.  Stones were raked into piles and shoveled by hand - 1964.
(click photo to enlarge)

The Maintenance Building was completed in the summer of 1964 and the raised 8th tee next to the building was built up gradually over several years while they scrounged up enough large stones to make an elevated tee.  Bill was finally able to finish the 8th tee when he purchased a Ford tractor with a front end loader and could lift the stones and put them in place.  The old blue tractor was still used to mow the fairways until a few years ago when Peter Trenchard bought a fairway mower.  It is now used to mow some of the roughs, put heavy rocks back in place and pull broken down new equipment in to be repaired.  Mr. Davis should know that it is still alive and well.

Maintenance Building - 1964.  Work on elevated 8th Tee was just beginning.
(click photo to enlarge)

In the late summer of 1964 the construction began on the 7th green.  Construction began on the house in the fall of 1964 and the clubhouse was constructed throughout the winter of 1965-66.  In 1965 the first irrigation trench was dug along the sixth fairway. 

Irrigation trench along 6th Fairway - 1965.  Note the limestone
bedrock removed in the trenching.  (click photo to enlarge)

Numerous small trees were planted, but are too small to show in photographs.  The land was overseeded with Park Kentucky Blue, but it took a number of years for this fast germinating grass to take over for the stubble and cover the rocks.

Today those baby trees are 30-50 feet high and hundreds of additional trees have been added through a vigorous tree planting and replacement program.  All the holes are now defined.  There are more than 50 different kinds of trees and many of the tees are accented by beautiful flower gardens. 

Bay Ridge Golf Course officially opened to the public on July 4, 1966.  In 2006 we celebrated 40 years of Bay Ridge and 30 years under the ownership of Peter and Dianne Trenchard

Practice putting green - September 1965.  (click photo to enlarge)

Aerial photo taken in the fall of 1966.  Note the house, golf shop, 5th and 9th greens, and
the practice green.  (click photo to enlarge)