The Silver Bay Golf and Country Club
Part 1
Whether you are a seasoned golfer, a beginner, or not-for-me person, these series of articles are a community must read. Stories about how an unlikely golf course sprang up in a newly built small mining town, the golfers and country club status, and a Driven Dynamo who keeps it thriving season after season.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
In 1957 work was underway to rally interest and approval for a golf course, one of the recreational amenities for the new mining community, Silver Bay. The recreational amenities for the town were a must have to entice and ensure that the mine workers would make Silver Bay their home.
Donald E. Cooksey (chairman of the golf committee) and E.W. Davis led a group from the community to sponsor fundraising projects to support establishing a course. In April of 1957, Donald Cooksey also gathered community input, by mail, asking residents to complete a survey card requesting interest and participation in a golf course.
The Silver Bay News on July 2, 1957, announced “Silver Bay to Have New Park with Golf Course”. The planned 9-hole golf course had been authorized for construction by the Reserve Mining Company and construction would commence immediately. The location for the course was planned for a site 1½ miles SW of Silver Bay.
Interesting Fact: The golf course was built on what was part of the Betzler Farm/Homestead. Jenny Betzler Heinzen Hanson is quoted in Kent Kaiser’s book “Company Town” – “you know in the golf course where the old Betzler cemetery is – across the river from the country club buildings – over there is where my grandparents’ home was…..Our house was just about where the country club building is now….. Reserve (Mining Company) bought the farm.”
FORE! Watch for more Silver Bay golf course history coming soon!
(If anyone has photos of the location site prior to the course build, or pictures of the construction of the course, please contact the Bay Area Historical Society. Our email address is: bayareahistoricalsociety@gmail.com )
