The club began play on a nine-hole layout in the early 1900s. In 1913, after acquiring an additional 46 acres, the membership retained Donald Ross to lay out a new eighteen, and Ross returned in 1914 to complete the placement of traps and bunkers; the course opened that fall. The club’s own history page presents this sequence clearly, and it is echoed in contemporary notices. No primary-source Ross plan set or correspondence is publicly available online, but the club maintains that sixteen of today’s holes still follow Ross’s original eighteen.
Ross’s work at Verona was initially known as Westmoreland Country Club; the Donald Ross Society’s directory lists Green Oaks “OKA Westmoreland Country Club,” reflecting that early naming. In 1954, Westmoreland Country Club moved east to Export while the original Verona course continued under the reorganized name Green Oaks, a change confirmed by a period Pittsburgh Press clipping. This institutional history explains the dual naming seen in Ross bibliographies and directories.
The historical record does not document additional post-opening design phases by Ross at Verona beyond the 1913–14 build. Construction oversight on many Pittsburgh-area Ross jobs was handled by J.B. McGovern, and one secondary compilation attributes McGovern as construction supervisor at Green Oaks; this has not yet been corroborated by a surviving plan sheet or the Tufts Archives catalog.
Unique Design Characteristics
As it plays today, Green Oaks emphasizes approach play into tilted targets on a compact, up-and-down site. Club materials call out “slick sloping greens” with prominent front openings and “strategic bunkering,” a profile consistent with what members experience on the short-par-4 tenth—described by the club as “heavily” bunker-guarded—and on the long par-4 ninth, which begins with what the club characterizes as the course’s most demanding tee shot. While those descriptions are modern, they sit on a routing the club says is substantially original.
The clearest identity piece at Green Oaks is a late stretch of stout one-shotters. The current card shows three long par-3s over the final five holes: No. 14 at 213 yards, No. 16 at 219, and No. 17 at 227 from the Black tees. That sequence shapes match strategy and, given the club’s statement that sixteen Ross holes remain, likely reflects the original distribution of one-shot holes and green sites on this hillside property. Precise confirmation of those three greens’ 1914 origins would require plan sheets or early aerials; however, their positions within the routing and the club’s broad claim of continuity support their lineage.
Green contours are predominantly back-to-front with pace, and the course emphasizes ground approach options into several targets—traits the club highlights when describing day-to-day play. Those traits, coupled with diagonal bunker placements that influence lines of charm on the mid-length par-4s (e.g., 10 and 12 on present cards), are where golfers most readily perceive the hand of the original design. Hole-by-hole yardage confirms a balanced card—36 out/35 in—with a pair of par-5s on the inward nine (13 and 15) bracketing the demanding trio of par-3s.
Historical Significance
Green Oaks occupies a particular niche in Ross’s western Pennsylvania work because of its naming and institutional continuity. Built for what was then Westmoreland Country Club, the course stayed in Verona when the club identity moved in 1954, leaving Ross’s ground work to continue as Green Oaks. The Ross Society directory’s “OKA Westmoreland” notation and period reporting of the name change preserve that lineage and help explain why older sources sometimes attribute Verona play to “Westmoreland.”
The course has remained visible in the region’s competitive calendar. The Western Pennsylvania Golf Association lists Green Oaks among its championship hosts, including the WPGA Amateur in the mid-1950s (Tommy Smith, 1955) and, more recently, the 2025 WPGA Mid-Amateur. The club also cites a 1982 U.S. Open local qualifier hosted at Green Oaks, after which Ben Crenshaw reportedly remarked that “playing here was like playing in heaven.” The qualifier reference and quote appear in modern club and trade-press accounts, but primary USGA records for that qualifier round have not been located online.
Current Condition / Integrity
By the club’s account, sixteen of the original 1914 holes remain in today’s routing, implying two significant alterations or replacements since opening; the club does not specify which. In 2021 the club undertook a multi-year restoration of infrastructure—full-coverage irrigation, sub-surface drainage beneath every green, and the addition of both senior tees and extended championship tees—work portrayed by the club as completed and intended to improve agronomics and setup flexibility rather than alter the routing or green pads. The present scorecard shows the Black tees at 6,384 yards, par 71, with a 36-35 balance; some third-party databases list different totals, likely reflecting older or alternate tee ratings.
Bunkering has evolved—club language emphasizes “strategic bunkering” today—but publicly available records do not identify a named architect for a comprehensive bunker restoration. Trade-press coverage in 2024 focused on new club management and reiterated the 1913–14 Ross history without detailing architect-led restoration scope. Until plan comparisons or aerial time-slices are examined, it is prudent to treat today’s bunkering patterns as “sympathetic to” rather than “documented as” Ross originals.
Tree lines and vista openings are typical of western Pennsylvania parkland courses that matured through the mid- to late-20th century; the club’s recent irrigation/tee program did not publicly advertise large-scale tree clearing or green-expansion to recapture perimeter pinnable area. Whether any green perimeters have been restored to original edges is not stated in available sources.
Sources & Notes
Green Oaks Country Club — “History of Green Oaks” and club overview pages (accessed Sept. 2025). The club states: nine-hole origins; Ross engaged 1913; returned in 1914 to place traps/bunkers; course opened fall 1914; “we still play 16 of the original holes”; and, beginning in 2021, a multi-year restoration of irrigation, drainage under all greens, and new senior/championship tees.
Donald Ross Society, Directory of Golf Courses Designed by Donald J. Ross (June 2023). Lists “Green Oaks Country Club (OKA Westmoreland Country Club), Verona, PA,” with 1913 date. Supports the Westmoreland/Green Oaks naming continuity.
Bobby Jones Links and trade-press coverage of 2024 management announcement. Reiterates 1913–14 Ross build sequence and present par-71 description; does not detail architect-led restoration scope.
Western Pennsylvania Golf Association records. Lists Green Oaks as site of WPGA Amateur (1955 champion Tommy Smith) and as host of the 2025 WPGA Mid-Amateur.
Club/industry references to a 1982 U.S. Open local qualifier at Green Oaks and the Ben Crenshaw quotation. These appear in club marketing and trade-press items; a primary USGA record has not been located online. Treat as club-reported history pending archival confirmation.
Newspapers.com clipping (“Green Oaks takes over WCC,” Pittsburgh Press, May 28, 1954) and GolfClubAtlas forum discussions. Together with the Ross Society directory, these support that the Verona course originally operated as Westmoreland Country Club before the 1954 identity split/move. Primary club minutes from 1954 would be the ideal corroboration.
Tyler J. Rae “Donald Ross” compilation page. Attributes J.B. McGovern as construction supervisor at “Green Oaks CC (FKA Westmoreland CC).” This is a secondary compilation; confirm against Tufts Archives plan sheets or Westmoreland/Green Oaks board minutes for definitive crediting.
Uncertainties & Items Requiring Verification
Which two holes are not original (post-1914) at Green Oaks: the club states that sixteen original holes remain but does not identify which were replaced/altered; verification would require access to 1913–14 Ross plans, early aerials (e.g., 1930s Penn Pilot imagery), and club minutes describing subsequent alterations.
Construction supervision attribution to J.B. McGovern: cited in a secondary compilation without a digitized primary document. Tufts Archives plan attributions, a Ross firm field report, or contemporaneous Pittsburgh press coverage would settle the matter.