Elmhurst was incorporated in January 1914 and, that spring, secured property on the northern slope of Birds Hill. The club engaged Edward Legge to lay out the initial course while land was cleared and readied; a clubhouse was erected and both clubhouse and course formally opened on 5 August 1918.
By 1919 the club opted for “a radical change” and hired Donald J. Ross to execute major design work. The Manitoba Historical Society notes that Ross’s changes were completed by 1921, marking the transformation of the earlier Legge layout into the course recognizable as Elmhurst.
Contemporaneous accounts place Ross in Winnipeg in 1919 working on Elmhurst, Pine Ridge, and St. Charles. A Golf Manitoba centennial feature adds that Elmhurst “had nine holes at the time,” with Ross’s work expanding it to a full 18-hole course; that same feature also records a 1974 fire that destroyed the original clubhouse and its records, which helps explain why direct primary drawings and minute books are not readily available today. In the absence of those club records, the 1919–21 window and the expansion to 18 are best corroborated through period newspapers, Ross’s travel notices, and later institutional histories.
Elmhurst’s earliest championship era was also marked by exhibition visits—Harry Vardon and Ted Ray played a Winnipeg swing in August 1920 that included an Elmhurst match, reported at the time by Canadian Golfer. That reportage underlines Elmhurst’s quick prominence following Ross’s work.
The club returned to its architectural roots in the 2000s. In 2004 Elmhurst commissioned Ron Prichard to prepare a master restoration plan focusing on recovering Ross’s original bunker forms, green edges, and playing corridors. Subsequent implementation included Riley Johns leading 2016 work on the 16th and 18th green complexes and, most recently, Dan Philcox / Old World Golf completing restorations on 17 and 18 during 2023–24. These campaigns have been staged deliberately over multiple seasons, prioritizing historical accuracy and daily-member playability.
Unique Design Characteristics
Elmhurst is routed across sandy, glacially deposited terrain, a hallmark of the Birds Hill ridge. The ground enables firm conditions and subtle elevation changes that Ross used to sequence approaches from a variety of lies. One enduring test is the 7th hole (428 yards), a sharp dogleg-right where the uphill approach is frequently played from an uneven stance; this remains the course’s most difficult hole by stroke index, and it captures the way Ross set approaches to elevated targets rather than simply level landing pads.
Restoration has refocused attention on green-to-bunker relationships rather than only adding length. The 16th and 18th green complexes, reworked in 2016, were rebuilt to recapture edge contour and surround hazards consistent with Ross’s period drawings and photographs referenced in the master plan. The club has publicly documented the 17th green rebuild as significantly expanding usable pinning areas while maintaining the strategic premium on finding the correct section of the surface—an explicit corrective to attrition from decades of maintenance lines and tree encroachment.
Across the property, the bunker scheme emphasizes flanking and diagonal placement to bias angles into the greens rather than centerline carry hazards. This pattern is especially evident on the mid-length two-shotters through the interior of the routing and has been the subject of ongoing restoration under the Prichard plan and Old World Golf’s recent phases. The sandy subsoil and long vistas amplify the visual presence of these bunkers, which again aligns with the surviving period descriptions and the club’s stated restoration objectives.
If one were to identify the clearest surviving examples of Ross’s strategic intent, No. 7 (dogleg-right, uneven-lie approach), the restored No. 16 (greenside hazards re-tied to the target), and the finishing stretch at 17–18 (recently completed to period-appropriate scale and edge character) are the present course’s lodestars. Each demonstrates how the routing and green-surrounds work together to put the premium on the approach rather than only the tee ball.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s Canadian portfolio, Elmhurst is one of two full 18-hole Ross courses in Manitoba, alongside Pine Ridge, and part of a Winnipeg cluster that includes Ross’s contribution to St. Charles. This concentration is unusual north of the border and speaks to sustained local patronage and travel logistics during Ross’s 1919 western tour. Local press has repeatedly framed Elmhurst within that pair of 18-hole Ross designs in the province.
As a championship venue, Elmhurst’s most prominent modern role was hosting the 110th Canadian Men’s Amateur in 2014, when James Beale (New Zealand) won in a playoff at Elmhurst after the event’s concluding 36 holes were contested on the course; Golf Canada’s reports and schedule announcements document Elmhurst’s central role and the strength of that field. The club’s own history enumerates 11 national championships hosted over the decades, situating Elmhurst among Manitoba’s most active national-level venues. Looking forward, Elmhurst is in the rotation for the Manitoba Open (PGA TOUR Americas), currently slated to host in 2026.
Notably, Elmhurst participated early in the transatlantic exhibition culture of the 1920s: Vardon and Ray—fresh off their 1920 U.S. tour—played a match at Elmhurst, as reported in Canadian Golfer. That appearance underscores how quickly the course became a stage for elite itinerant professionals in the immediate aftermath of Ross’s work.
Current Condition / Integrity
Given the 1974 clubhouse fire that destroyed many original records, the precise extent of as-built 1921 greens and bunker lines is not fully documented in surviving club archives. Research today therefore relies on period newspapers, the Manitoba Historical Society’s synthesized chronology, and the 2004 Prichard master plan which collated remaining evidence to guide restoration.
On the ground, the routing is widely understood to remain Ross-era, with changes over the 20th century mostly involving tree encroachment, bunker simplification, and green shrinkage from mowing patterns—issues that the club began reversing in the 2000s. Trade coverage of Elmhurst’s program emphasized opening vistas and tree management to restore long-range sightlines more in keeping with the course’s early decades. The 2016 work on 16 and 18 and the 2023–24 restorations at 17–18 specifically targeted green-perimeter contour, bunker tie-ins, and playability at modern green speeds, guided by the Prichard plan and carried out by practitioners versed in Ross restoration. The present scorecard yardage—6,832 yards, par 71—reflects incremental back-tee additions but does not materially alter Ross’s sequence or the second-shot emphasis that local sources consistently associate with Elmhurst.
What remains to be verified. Because original Ross plans or detailed construction correspondence for Elmhurst have not been located publicly, several granular questions (for example, exact 1921 bunker counts on particular holes or intended mowing lines) remain partially inferential. The Prichard plan (2004), while authoritative as a restoration roadmap, is a secondary synthesis; confirmation against any surviving Ross field sketches, contractor daybooks, or contemporary aerials would refine the record. Researchers should prioritize: (1) Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Tribune archives from 1919–1922 for construction notices; (2) any Ross office plan registers or blueprint sets that survive in private collections; and (3) the club’s commissioned centennial history volume for reproduced imagery predating 1974.
Sources & Notes
Manitoba Historical Society, “Manitoba Organization: Elmhurst Golf and Country Club,” rev. 1 June 2025. (Founding in 1914; initial layout by Edward Legge; opening 5 Aug 1918; hiring Donald Ross in 1919; major design changes completed by 1921.)
Manitoba Golfer (Golf Manitoba), 2014 Journal, pp. 31–33 (“Elmhurst’s 100th”): Ross’s 1919 presence in Winnipeg working on Elmhurst, Pine Ridge, St. Charles; Elmhurst expanded from nine to 18; 1974 clubhouse fire destroyed records.
Elmhurst Golf & Country Club, official “Golf” page (accessed 2025): 2004 Ron Prichard master restoration plan; 2016 Riley Johns work on 16 and 18; 2023–24 restorations by Dan Philcox / Old World Golf.
Top 100 Golf Courses – “Elmhurst Golf & Country Club” profile: description of glacially formed sandy site; difficulty and dogleg-right 7th with uphill approach; note of 2014 Canadian Amateur at Elmhurst. (Use descriptively; confirm event details with Golf Canada.)
Golf Canada – Press and results, 2014 Canadian Men’s Amateur: event format, Elmhurst’s role as final-round venue; winner James Beale (playoff at Elmhurst).
Elmhurst club History page: early notables (Vardon, Ray, Hagen) hosted; count of national championships; institutional narrative. (Treat as a secondary, club-authored source.)
Canadian Golfer, September 1920: coverage of Vardon & Ray Winnipeg exhibitions including an Elmhurst match. Golf Manitoba / PGA TOUR Americas announcements (2024–2025): Manitoba Open five-course rotation with Elmhurst slated for 2026; corroborated by press and local news.
Turf & Rec (2012): “Elmhurst aims to recapture its original look,” quoting course staff on tree management and restoring vistas consistent with early-era presentation. (Trade-press context for restoration objectives.)
turfandrec.com
Elmhurst Instagram (club-operated), Oct. 2022: update on 17th green reconstruction expanding pin areas and reinforcing shot-value—documentation of recent phase work. (Use as supplemental, club-authored evidence.)
Uncertainties and disputed points.
• Exact content of Ross’s original Elmhurst plans (bunker counts, green-edge geometry by hole) remains under-documented publicly because original records were lost in 1974; current restorations rely on compiled evidence and comparative Ross studies. Verification would require locating surviving Ross drawings or contractor records outside the club’s archive.
• Some listings (e.g., course-directory sites) describe Elmhurst as a “1914 Ross design,” which compresses a more nuanced sequence: Legge’s 1914–18 course followed by Ross’s 1919–21 redesign. Researchers should favor the Manitoba Historical Society chronology unless new primary documentation surfaces.