Jungle Golf Course Architect A.W. Tillinghast Designed Iconic Courses

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A.W. Tillinghast was the architect of more than 100 golf courses ‒ many of them have hosted major championships including famed Baltusrol, Winged Foot, and Bethpage Black. He is in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

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He designed the Country Club at Davista course in 1915. It was renamed the St. Petersburg Country Club in 1916 and then the Jungle Country Club in 1925.

Jungle course architect A.W. Tillinghast

"He who plans any hole for golf should have two aims ‒ first to produce something which will provide a true test of the game and then consider every conceivable way to make it as beautiful as possible." 
‒ A.W. Tillinghast

"Tillinghast’s brilliance and creativity is found in some of the greatest golf courses in the United States." 
‒ World Golf Hall of Fame

"He was the quintessential man of the Roaring 20's ‒ big drinker, partier, rambunctious, flamboyant, flashy dresser ‒ lived the high life." 
‒ Tony Parker, golf historian

A professional golfer who grew up in the Jungle and regularly played on the Pasadena course had this to say about Tillinghast: "While I knew there had been a golf course located behind the Farragut Academy, I had NO idea it was a Tillinghast golf course! That was a stunning revelation for me. If you are a golfer you know that Tilly is one of the most revered course architects of all time. It's sad that economic conditions led to its [the Jungle golf course's] demise. Had it survived it would most certainly have been the premier country club in the city."

According to the Jungle Country Club History Project, "after a year of clearing the jungle near Boca Ciega Bay, the Country Club at Davista golf course opened in 1916 (it was renamed the Jungle Country Club in 1925). It was the first championship level course in St. Petersburg – designed by renowned course architect A.W. Tillinghast and touted as possibly the best course south of Baltimore. During the next three decades athletes, celebrities and notables of the era ‒ as well as residents and tourists ‒ played on the course. Hall of Fame golfers Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen, Hall of Fame baseball players Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx, and civic leaders mayor Al Lang, H. Walter Fuller and Walter P. Fuller all played on the Jungle Country Club course. The prestige of living near the golf course and Boca Ciega Bay inspired the affluent to build magnificent homes, many of which are still standing.

Recreated scorecard from The Jungle Country Club History Project: (click image to enlarge)

The Jungle Country Club officially closed in 1944 when the property was sold to Admiral Farragut Academy. In the mid-1950's a residential neighborhood was built on the property.

To see the last trace of the historic golf course, visit Jungle Country Club Creek on Farragut Drive in St. Petersburg, but leave your golf bag at home. There is a sign at the north end of the street – Hitting Golf Balls Prohibited.”

Tillinghast's diagram of the 18th hole at the Jungle Country Club.
Source: The  Bausch Archives, from the microfilm collection at Villanova University.
The treasure trove of golf writing by A.W. Tillinghast.

Two professionally produced videos on the extraordinary life of A.W. Tillinghast:

A.W. Tillinghast (Feature) - 2019 Road to the PGA Championship Show from PGA of America on Vimeo.



Induction into World Golf Hall of Fame: