History

History of Latrobe Country Club

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 l920 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 l92l, 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 l944 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.

Untimately, by the early l960s, sufficient land has been acquired to enable plans for an l8-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 l963 and the new holes and l0 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 ll0 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 l97l. 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 l970s. 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 l926 and the golf professional in l932, remained active until his death at the age of 7l in February, l976, although he retired as golf professional the previous fall. Jerry Palmer had begun to work with his father in l975 and took over as superintendent when his father passed away. He became the general manager of all of Arnold's Latrobe area properties in l989, Repko becoming the superintendent at that time. Randy Bisi, an area native and former assistant to ll-year professional Bruce Rearick, succeeded him as head pro in l996 and is the longest- tenured LCC golf professional since Deacon Palmer. Club operations came under joint management with Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club (Orlando, Fl) in 2010 when Jerry Palmer joined his brother’s personal staff in his Latrobe office.