Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Grand Opening of Hi-Acres Golf Course – June 1963

For all of you golfers out there: do you have an all-time favorite Northeast Ohio course – one that you particularly enjoy?

Perhaps it's one where you always played well. Or maybe you favor it because of the interesting layout, or even its sheer lush beauty.

Although I wasn't a golfer for very long (and I wasn't very good), I found that I felt right at home at Aqua Marine. It was close, conveniently right on the way home from work; it was a Par 3, so I could play nine holes quickly; and I was usually the only one there when I was playing, which was perfect for my brand of golf links hijinks.

I still have a polo shirt from Aqua Marine.

Anyway, sixty years ago, a brand new course that may have eventually become somebody's favorite opened up on Frailey Road just west of Vermilion: Hi-Acres Golf Club. Below is the Grand Opening ad that appeared in the Journal on June 6, 1963.

Is that Lauren Bacall in the background in those long socks, admiring the man's swing?

Here's a recent aerial view of the course property, courtesy of Google Maps.
Wayne and Carol Langham owned and operated the course from 1979 until 2012, when the course apparently closed. Carol Langham passed away in September 2018.
Today, a Google Maps drive-by shows a forlorn, overgrown sign near the course's location at 9517 Frailey Road.

5 comments:

  1. I know that golf advert is a fake because everyone's smiling and having a good time. The odds of three golfers doing that all at once are astronomical. Unless, of course, the guy hitting *thinks* he's doing well and the two watching are (literally) laughing behind his back!

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  2. She looks more like Nancy Kulp to me.

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  3. It’s interesting that back then there were several 9-hole courses around like hi-acres…Midway in south Amherst, cherry ridge in Elyria, vermilion country club. I played them all as a kid

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