Willow Creek Golf Ad – Sept. 28, 1963

When I was a kid and we were driving on State Route 2 west of Vermilion, I seem to recall that for years, there was a billboard for Willow Creek Golf Course. It was quite large, with an illustration of a golfer on it. The reason I remembered it was because 'Willow Creek' was the name of the creek near our house on Skyline Drive. 

I wondered where that golf course was located, since we never drove by it in our travels around the area.

Years later, I learned that the creek near our house wasn't named Willow Creek – it was Martin's Run. Willow Creek was the name of the subdivision encompassing W. 33rd, W. 34th, Maurer Drive and Pole Avenue. Thus the park was Willow Park and we assumed that 'Willow' was the name of the creek or stream that ran through it. (The 'Willow' name was also given to the nearby shopping strip with  – you guessed it – Willow Hardware.)

But I still didn't know where that golf course was. Decades after I first saw it, the sign was still out there on Route 2, but as the years went by, it was peeling badly – rendering it almost unreadable.

Anyway, when I saw the below ad for Willow Creek Golf Course from the Journal of September 28, 1963, I knew I had to feature it here.

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I was somewhat surprised to finally find out that Willow Creek Golf Club was in Vermilion, south of town on Darrow Road. And, happily, it still is. Here's the entrance sign.

Although I seem to remember the old highway billboard being out near Huron, it may very well have been on the golf course property, which fronts Route 2.

The ad features Bill Hovey, the golf pro at Willow Creek. According to his obituary, "He was an avid golfer and made 4 holes in 1 in his lifetime.  He served in the U.S. Navy during WWII, served as Gunner's Mate 2C on several ships, the last being the Nehenta Bay."