New Port Richey’s First Golf Course

By Paul Herman, Digital Media Archivist, West Pasco Historical Society

(This page is based on an article published in the Suncoast News on September 4, 2024)

If you ask just about anyone who is versed on West Pasco history, “What was the first golf course in New Port Richey?” … they will almost invariably say it was the Jasmine Point course, located along the west bank of the Pithlachascotee River. First announced in February of 1927, the course was a project of the Burns-Becker Corporation. And when completed, it became one of the most famous golf courses on Florida’s west coast.

Warren Burns – who made his fortune in the perfume business in New York City – moved to New Port Richey about 1917 and established his home here on property along the river called Burns Point. He, along with his brother Clyde, and partner James Becker, all became influential in the New Port Richey real estate development business. A big part of his ambitions were devoted to developing a championship golf course that would put New Port Richey on the map, and attract other rich and famous people to the area.

Warren Burns convinced world famous golfer Gene Sarazen to move here to help design the course and become the resident pro. The 80 acre course, when opened in February of 1929, lived up to all expectations – attracting many of the elite movie industry figures who were flocking to town in those glory years of New Port Richey. No sign of the original course exists today. But Gene Sarazen’s house still sits elegantly along the banks of the Cotee River across from Jasmine Park.

I should note that Gene Sarazen was the dominant PGA pro golfer in the 1920s and 1930s. He is also credited with inventing the sand wedge golf club right here at his home in New Port Richey. The history of the Jasmine Point Golf Course is interesting and well known, but it was not New Port Richey’s first golf course. Keep reading, and I’ll get around to that first course later in this article. But there are a couple of other early golf courses that deserve a mention here.

About the same time as the Jasmine Point course was being finished, a new municipal course was being planned that would encircle Orange Lake. A pet project of Gene Sarazen, the small “chip and putt” course would have 18 short holes, and be a perfect place for children to learn the game. It also served as a course for adults who were not rich enough to be members of the Jasmine Point Club. The Orange Lake golf course was a popular attraction for quite a few years. But on December 3, 1935, residents of the city voted to discontinue the course, and convert it into a park area.

Few people realize that there was also a miniature golf course on the grounds of the Hacienda Hotel during this same era. An article in the New Port Richey Press on April 26, 1929, describes the courses in town;

“If one does not feel quite equal to a round of golf on the Jasmin Point course, two miniatures, one at the Hacienda and one surrounding Orange lake afford practice and recreation combined with little effort.“

The nine-hole course on the grounds of the Hacienda Hotel was a pure “miniature” course where only a
putter was used.

I’ve described three of the earliest golf courses in New Port Richey. But the first course in the city has been a bit more elusive to discover. My first tip came in a wide ranging discussion with long time resident Terry Kline – past president of the West Pasco Historical Society, and former museum curator. Terry moved to New Port Richey as a small child in the early 1950s. And he related to me that when he was young, old-timers told him that the area around what is now the James E. Grey Preserve used to be a golf course.

When someone who is 75 years old speaks of learning as a child from “old-timers”, we’re talking about history that is close to a hundred years old. And that is the case here. In digging through old newspaper stories from the 1920s, I did, in fact, uncover articles detailing New Port Richey’s first golf course.

Almost two years before Warren Burns’ idea to start a golf club at Jasmine Point, and long before Gene Sarazen moved here to help in that project, the New Port Richey Golf & Country Club was founded on land one mile east of town. John W. Parkes, publisher of the New Port Richey Press, and several other influential businessmen announced in May of 1925 that the new golf course enterprise had 53 charter members, and that it had entered into a ten year contract with Norman E. Bowden to develop and operate the golf course. Mr. Bowden owned the 57 acre parcel of land that was located along what is now Baker Road, between Main Street and Plathe Road, including Echo Lake.

The proposed golf course site was just to the north of the Cotee River. The owners of land now occupied by the James E. Grey Preserve, Al G. Wright, Ed Wright and S.H. Harris, of St. Petersburg, agreed to give the golf club a five acre tract along the river to be used as a picnic area and provide boat access to the golf course in exchange for a membership share in the new enterprise.

By July of 1925, the golf course development was well under way, and was planned initially to have nine holes. On January 1st of 1926 it was reported that realtor E. A. Leeston-Smith – developer of the downtown New Port Richey block containing the Meighan Theatre – had the honor of making the first tee shot on the 200 yard first hole of the new golf course.

Shareholders of the New Port Richey Golf & Country Club consisted of many of the important movers and shakers of the business community. They included Warren Burns, Fred Shaw, L.C. Poole, Charles Herms, Charles Snell, Frank Grey, B.H. Hermanson, John W. Parkes and others. On February 2, 1926, the Tampa Bay Times said the course would be ready in 30 to 40 days, and that a contract had been let for an 80×60 foot clubhouse.

By early 1927, the golf course was completely done and open to the public for play. A “Dubs” tournament was played there that was open to anyone who wanted to play. I’m not sure what a “Dubs” tournament is … but I suspect it meant that inexperienced and amateur players – “dubbers” were welcome to compete.

E.A. Leeston-Smith, who had taken a leadership role at the new club, suggested in February of 1927 that he would like to see at least 100 members join the club. Membership cards were sold at the price of $6.00 per month. State Senator Jesse Mitchell even promised to introduce a bill for a special bond issue for a paved road to the golf course.

New Port Richey’s first golf course thrived for two years from its inception in 1925 until 1927. But then … it seemed to just disappear from the news. It is unlikely that the proposed clubhouse was ever built. What happened?

My best guess is that Warren Burns, who had become an influential member of the golf club organization, saw that there was no money to be made by supporting a golf course that charged only $6.00 per month for membership. He had much bigger goals. And it was in 1927 that he announced his
plans for the much more elite Jasmine Point Golf Course he had been planning behind the scenes.

In the February 18, 1927 issue of the New Port Richey Press, it was stated that, “The Burns-Becker company has been working quietly for some weeks, assembling sufficient land to make the area links sufficient.”.

So, with Warren Burns now developing his own golf coorse venture targeted toward the rich and famous residents who could afford membership, New Port Richey’s first public golf course went by the wayside – and became a long-forgotten piece of our history.