The antecedent to Wanango was the Oil City Golf Club (1899–1907). After a hiatus, local organizers re-formed the club in September 1912 as Wanango Country Club, commissioned a clubhouse, and began planning a nine-hole course. The club’s own history states that the Building and Grounds Committee “set up meetings with both Donald Ross and Tom Bendelow to discuss the layout of a nine-hole golf course,” with the property formally opened to members in June 1914. The current printed scorecard goes a step further, attributing the original nine to Donald Ross (1912) and the second nine to Tom Bendelow (1914).
By December 1916 the membership resolved to add nine more holes, and in June 1917 A. W. Tillinghast visited “to reconstruct the course extending it to 18 holes.” The club’s narrative preserves Tillinghast’s colorful description of crossing rod-lines—the cables powering nearby oil pumps—strung across fairways like “clotheslines,” a practical constraint that framed routing choices. On May 27, 1919 the Grounds Committee was authorized “to proceed with the renovation of the original nine holes [and] the addition of nine more holes based on A. W. Tillinghast’s design,” and the redesigned 18 opened in 1920. These dates and Tillinghast’s role are explicitly recorded in the club’s history.
The historical record after 1920 shows steady use with clubhouse expansions in the 1920s and 1950s–60s. A modern remodeling by Ferdinand Garbin is documented for 1986 in the ASGCA/Michigan State University architect database; the scope of Garbin’s work (e.g., bunker program, tees, irrigation) is not detailed in the public entry and would require club or architect office files to confirm.
Unique Design Characteristics
Wanango’s present-day playing character centers on small, tight greens and prominent sand bunkers, which the club itself describes as “bombshell type”—a succinct clue to the visual depth and steep faces that defend many targets. This emphasis on compact greens and sharp-edged sand marries logically to a course that, even at 6,246 yards, demands exact yardage control into firm, tilted surfaces. The hillside site yields repeated elevation-influenced approaches and sidehill stances, consistent with the setting that Tillinghast found “marvelously blessed” for golf when he wrote about Wanango following his 1917 reconnaissance. While the club does not publish a hole-by-hole architectural analysis, the surviving combination of small greens, deep sand, and rolling corridors reflects the classic-era intent to stress angles and carry, rather than penal rough.
Because Wanango’s early history involved multiple figures—Ross consulted and (per the scorecard) laid out a first nine; Bendelow is tied to early construction; Tillinghast later re-routed and expanded—the clearest surviving “Ross” elements are best sought in the older green pads and original nine corridors if one can match them to archival drawings. That said, in daily play the dominant architectural handwriting appears Tillinghastian in its present sequencing and hazard placement after 1919–20, overlaid by later maintenance and Garbin’s 1986 modernization. Without access to original plans, it is prudent to treat specific green contours or bunker shapes as interpretations of period work rather than unaltered Ross features.
Historical Significance
Wanango’s significance within Ross’s corpus lies at the margins of attribution rather than in marquee tournament history. The club’s own printed materials credit Ross with the original nine in 1912, placing his involvement at the inception of organized golf at Reno. The expansion story then becomes a case study in how early-1910s clubs layered multiple architects: Bendelow’s name appears for 1914 work, and Tillinghast’s 1919–20 redesign established the enduring 18. For researchers focused on Ross, Wanango matters as a potentially early, nine-hole commission in western Pennsylvania whose subsequent full routing seldom resembles a “pure Ross” because of the 1919–20 transformation. The club does not claim major championships; its relevance is as a survivor of the region’s oil-boom landscape with an unusually well-documented Tillinghast redesign narrative and a club-asserted Ross origin.
Current Condition / Integrity
Routing and sequence. The holes in play today derive from the 1919–20 Tillinghast program, with subsequent incremental adjustments. The course still plays short by modern standards, but the hillside landforms and small greens maintain scoring resistance. No public routing map from the Ross period is posted online; the 1920 reopening implies that the present routing skeleton largely reflects Tillinghast’s work.
Greens and bunkers. The club’s own language—“small, tight greens” and “bombshell type sand traps”—matches day-to-day reports from visitors and tee-sheet listings touting the traditional character of the greensites. Absent a published restoration report, it is unclear how much original contouring remains from the pre-1919 nine; in Western Pennsylvania, 1980s remodeling frequently included bunker reshaping and tee rebuilding, which aligns with Garbin’s documented 1986 role here. Verification would require construction drawings or superintendent records.
Yardage and par. The current scorecard totals 6,246 yards, par 71 (White tees), with a course/slope on the club pages around 69.5–69.7 / 120.
Later work. The 1986 Garbin entry confirms a modernization project but does not specify scope. Third-party directories list multiple architects (Ross, Bendelow, Tillinghast, Garbin), with some variability in who is credited for which phase; those lists should be considered secondary to the club’s own documents and any archival plans.
Citations and Uncertainty
Two attribution issues require explicit flags for any scholarly directory entry. First, who laid out the first nine: the club scorecard asserts Ross (1912), while independent researchers have pointed to a contemporaneous 1913 notice crediting Tom Bendelow with laying out the initial course; the club’s longer history page records that meetings were held with both men in 1912–13 without naming a sole designer. Second, while the Tillinghast redesign (1919–20) is well documented in the club narrative, the extent to which his plans overrode or preserved earlier Ross/Bendelow features is not described in surviving public materials.
Sources & Notes
Wanango Country Club — Scorecard (PDF). Current yardages/par and explicit attribution line: “Original Nine Hole Donald Ross 1912 • Second Nine Hole Thomas Bendelow 1914 • Redesigned by A. W. Tillinghast.”
Wanango Country Club — History page. Oil City GC origins; 1912–13 reorganization; meetings with Ross and Bendelow; 1917 Tillinghast visit; 1919 authorization; 1920 reopening. Includes Tillinghast’s “rod-lines” anecdote.
Wanango Country Club — “Your Golf Visit.” Present-day description; rates; “A. W. Tillinghast redesigned” language; alternate par/yardage/rating figures.
ASGCA / Michigan State University Libraries — Ferdinand Garbin portfolio (remodels by location). Confirms Wanango CC, Reno, PA — remodel 1986.
GolfPass course page. Aggregates architect credits as Ross (1914), Bendelow (1914), Tillinghast (1919), Garbin (1986); use with caution against the primary club materials.
GolfClubAtlas forum thread (“Wanango Design Attribution Assistance?”). Cites a 1913 notice that Bendelow “laid out the first 9 holes on May 21, 1913,” and notes that the Donald Ross Society has at times listed Wanango as a 1913 Ross nine (pointing to Tufts Archives for underlying material). Secondary but useful in mapping the dispute.