Latrobe Country Club
PO Box 616
Latrobe, Pa. 16505
Founded 1920
Latrobe Country Club
PO Box 616
Latrobe, Pa. 16505
Founded 1920
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Course record: 60, set by Arnold Palmer in 1969
The history of Latrobe Country Club spans
three-quarters of a century and it bears the stamps of many prominent
citizens of the Greater Latrobe community, none of more significance
than those of Milfred J. (Deacon) Palmer and his world famous
son, Arnold, its present owner.
Latrobe Country Club was founded in 1920 by a group of leading
industrialists, bankers and professional men of Latrobe, who acquired
some 63 acres of the Kennan Farm bordering what was then the national
Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 30) just west of the small community
of Youngstown. By the summer of 1921, work was well underway on
the golf course and clubhouse and among those on the job was a
teen-ager by the name of Deke Palmer. He worked with employees
of Latrobe Electric Steel Company in the construction of the club
in those years immediately after World War I.
From that hilly plot of ground, much of it covered with shale
and briars, emerged within the next two or three years a short
but imaginative nine-hole course. During the next two decades,
the club made slow but steady progress despite the tough economic
times. Small additional tracts of land were acquired, allowing
for revisions which improved the layout of the nine-hole course.
Major progress occurred following the formation in 1944 of the
Unity Land Company, which became the owner of the property and
financed the further acquisition of property and expansion of
the clubhouse and other facilities.
Ultimately, by the early 1960s, sufficient land has been acquired
to enable plans for an 18-hole course to be drawn. Both Deke and
Arnold Palmer contributed heavily to the design of the nine new
holes and the revamping of the existing holes to fit the layout.
Construction began in 1963 and the new holes and 10 new greens
were opened for play the following season on a course that, in
layout, was basically as it is today.
The 6,407-yard, par-72 course matured into a beautiful and demanding
test of golf, thanks primarily to the diligence and constant care
of Deke Palmer, second son Jerry, current superintendent Martin
Repko and their experienced grounds crews and the planting of
many thousands of pines and other trees over the years on the
club's 110 acres.
The progress of course improvement, along with other modernization
and expansion of the club's physical plant, was accelerated following
Arnold Palmer's purchase of the club in September of 1971. Construction
of a modern maintenance/storage building, tennis courts, a halfway
house, additional maintenance and cart storage structures and
the present mixed grille room, along with remodeling and refurbishing
of much of the clubhouse, inside and out, and the swimming pool/bathhouse
were major improvements during and since the early 1970s. The
course and structures on the grounds have been constantly upgraded
with many of the holes revised, a modern automatic irrigation
system installed, permanent cart paths constructed and a practice
range created.
Deacon Palmer, who had become the grounds superintendent in 1926
and the golf professional in 1932, remained active until his death
at the age of 71 in February, 1976, although he retired as golf
professional the previous fall. Jerry Palmer had begun to work
with his father in 1975 and took over as superintendent when his
father passed away. He became the general manager of all of Arnold's
Latrobe area properties in 1989, Repko becoming the superintendent
at that time. Randy Bisi, an area native and former assistant
to 11-year professional Bruce Rearick, succeeded him as head pro
in 1996.