Turkey Creek Golf Course and Country Club

(December 2004)

This article was written by Dorothy Myers (date unknown)

The Turkey Creek Clubhouse, home of David and Keitha Van Dolah

          Lexington was really buzzing in March of 1922.  The latest at the Home Cafe was the newly organized Turkey Creek Golf Course.  A twenty year lease was signed between the organizing group and Brittania Van Dolah.  The group had the option of renewing the lease for an additional twenty years.  The lease, which Ivan Claudon has in his bank lock box, states that the twenty-one acres in Tract A shall be rented for $210 per year.  Tract B, which includes the club house buildings, shall be rented for $150 for the ten acres.  There was an additional twenty acres, which could be added later should the number of holes of the course be increased, which was to rent for $15 per acre.

          Dr. Hammers was one of the instigators of the country club and golf course.  L. A. Strayer served as its president and F. W. Wald served as secretary.  Several members came from the Gridley and El Paso areas, and there were members from as far away as Dwight.  Kenneth (Tug) Wilson, one time Big Ten Athletic Commissioner, son-in-law of the Harry Schades was a frequent golfer.  Women were also seen on this golf course, and one of the better women golfers was Mrs. Basil (Carrie) Dawson.

          The course was considered a good one in its day.  This nine hole course had its first hole  back toward a corner in a high spot.  Number nine hole was just east of the club house, and from an aerial view, this hole is still somewhat visible today.  Par for the course was thirty-three.

          The club house was made from two existing buildings on the site.  They were once occupied by the newlywed Doug and Juanita Mahan.  Men from the Pontiac Prison Reformatory provided the labor for the remodeling of these buildings.  The house had running water, but the plumbing was provided by outdoor “privies”.  The only source of heat was a large fireplace.

          The club house was a popular spot for bridge games.  The east side of the club house was used for the main dining hall.  A monthly pot-luck meal, usually held in the evening, provided social interchange.

          Grounds keepers included William Cheever I and Paul Bodley.  Cheever’s grandson, William Cheever recalls caddying for members, especially during tournament play.  Several members had their own caddies.  Virgil French was P. J. Keller’s caddy, and Ed Dawson caddied for A. P. Schantz.  Bill relates going with his grandfather to care for the grounds at six o’clock in the morning.  Several boys could usually be found at this early hour scouring the grounds for golf balls.  Around the edges and near the creek were favorite hunting spots.

          Many a lad waded Turkey Creek in search of golf balls.  They usually found a ball or two, and most likely had a leech to pull form their leg.  Streams were polluted at this date, too, most probably due to a cow herd grazing in the surrounding pasture through which the creek flowed.  If the day proved to be hot, skinny dipping in the waters in the timber region was always fun.  When the creek was low, the boys would dam up the water to make it deeper.

          Virgil French and William Cheever were reminiscing recently and recalled how after a heavy rain a golfers, who was proud of his long drive, stepped back in excitement, only to go sprawling in a mud hole.  They remembered the old wooden bridge across Turkey Creek.  When Basil Dawson drove over the bridge in his new Jewett car the whole country side resounded.

          In 1932 the Turkey Creek Golf Club and Country Club dissolved, partly due to the depression.  The formation of the “Silent Twenty”, who built a cabin at Lake Bloomington, occupied the interests of some of the members.

          When the club house was vacated, the area teenagers took it over and held dances there.  Ask Ivan Claudon about the Saturdays he spent cutting logs to burn in the fireplace to provide heat for the building.  He still claims to have had enough energy left to spend the night folk or square dancing to records.  Harold Siron recalls an occasion or two when Emmett Douglass played fiddle and his wife accompanied on the piano.  The hills became a popular spot for winter sledding.

          After the building was no longer used as a club house, different individuals lived in it as it stood.  One such person was a horse trainer, and Ashby Jenkins and Hale Hardman lived in it at different times.  Then in 1947, when David and Keitha Van Dolah were contemplating marriage, the club house was remodeled into a home.  David said nine windows were removed from the dining room and the area was made into three bedrooms. A bathroom, kitchen and living room were provided.

          As one drives on Keller Highway toward Lake Bloomington and looks southward when reaching the cemetery, one can see this house today with much resemblance to the Turkey Creek Club House.  Are there still golf balls in Turkey Creek?  Probably so, but covered over with silt from the forty-four years since its use.

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