Fairview Golf Course

Fairview Golf Course is the municipal golf course for St. Joseph. With more than 200 acres, the 18-hole course of more than 6,300 yards accommodates players of all skill levels. Among the course amenities are a driving range, practice putting green, short game and bunker practice area, a concession stand and pro shop, and a banquet room. The course is open daily from 9-5, though hours of operation can vary according to weather conditions.

In 1922, the City of St. Joseph leased land for the purpose of creating a municipal golf course to replace an older course that was not considered to be up to the level required. There were many avid golfers in the city and the course was immediately popular. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s it was the site of closely watched championship tournaments. The local newspapers frequently discussed the condition of the course, in the summer of 1928: “The Fairview (Muny) Golf Club course is in better shape than it has been for some time. Golfers who have a tendency to play around in the roughs have had a tough time of it on the east side practically all season and on the west side for the last month. The reason is that buckweed had about taken the course and it is difficult stuff to play out of. However, practically all of the roughs have been cut in the last few days and some greens which were a bit rough have been top dressed.”

     The course saw increasing usage through the end of the 1920s and the 1930s. In 1929 the new club house with showers and lockers opened in order to accommodate the increasing number of players at the course. Not even the Great Depression decreased the attendance, “Golfing is one ‘business’ which held up very well in St. Joseph this year, despite the depression.” In the mid-1930s, the city utilized WPA and FERA labor to make improvements in several parks, including Fairview. They increased the length of the course, widened fairways, and made improvements to the greens.

     On January 17, 1939, the citizens of St. Joseph were startled by this headline: “Body on Golf Course.” Con Duncan discovered the body of Edward Worley, a homeless man, close to the clubhouse. St. Joseph police had arrested Worley the day before and had taken him to the cells soaking wet. They released him early on January 17 and he died later that day. The coroner stated that “death was due to exposure which probably followed a sudden illness. . . Corner Tadlock is of the opinion that the man had some spell of sickness, perhaps a heart attack before he collapsed as there were evidences in the snow that he had floundered about before he fell.” The man was described as “emaciated and poorly clad. There were no marks of identification. He was five feet seven inches tall, weighed about 120 pounds and had dark to gray hair. He wore blue trousers, a white shirt, brown overcoat, gray hat and white shoes that had been dyed black.”

     The condition of the course continued to be a point of concern. In the mid-1960s, golfers put pressure on the City Council to improve the conditions at Fairview. A plan to add more ponds to the course met with opposition as golfers contended that would simply slow play on the course. In summer 1989, a drought did such damage to the course that it was virtually unplayable. A grant from the George Bode Jr. Benevolent Trust in 1998 provided $100,000 to improve the greens at the course. In 2009 $1.1 million from the Community Improvement Program sales tax was allocated to do a substantial renovation of the clubhouse at Fairview.

     Fairview Golf Course continues to host a number of tournaments and other events and is a much-loved amenity.

“Index File: Park Data and Ordinance Cards by Location, 1911-1972.”

“Fair weather Brings Out Crowd of Golfers,” St. Joseph Gazette, April 7, 1923.

“To Use Permanent Greens,” St. Joseph News Press, Nov. 3, 1923.

“Donly Annexes City Golf Title,” St. Joseph Gazette, June 27, 1926.

The St. Joseph Gazette, July 11, 1927.

“Golf Tourney Starts Today,” St. Joseph Gazette, May 22, 1928.

St. Joseph News Press, July 28, 1928.

“Delay Meeting,” St. Joseph News Press, June 22, 1929.

“Horton Smith Here,” St. Joseph News Press, Dec. 28, 1929.

“Golf Receipts, $6,350,” St. Joseph News Press, Nov. 20, 1931.

“Improved Muny Course Planned,” St. Joseph Gazette, April 25, 1935.

“WPA Begins Construction of Nineteen Tennis Courts,” St. Joseph Union Observer, Sept. 18, 1936.

“Fairview Golf Course to Be Ready in Spring,” St. Joseph News Press, Dec. 2, 1936.

“Fairview Gold Course as it will Appear,” St. Joseph News Press, April 25, 1937.

“Body on Golf Course,” St. Joseph News Press, Jan. 17, 1939.

“Council Pushing for Improvements at Bowl, Fairview,” St. Joseph News Press, Oct. 26, 1967.

“Fairview Golfers Don’t Want More Ponds, Says Davis,” St. Joseph News Press, Sept. 17, 1968.

Bill Etling, “Arid Weather’s Made Fairview a Dust Bowl,” St. Joseph News Press, Aug. 19, 1989.

Scott Pummell, “$320,000 in State Grants Could Bolster Park Plans,” St. Joseph News Press, Oct. 6, 1998.

Kristen Hare, “The Grass is Greener,” St. Joseph News Press, July 10, 2005.

Ahmad Safi, “Council Approves Clubhouse Funds,” St. Joseph News Press, April 7, 2009.

“Golf Events Planned at Fairview,” St. Joseph News Press, April 27, 2019.