Mohawk Golf Club was incorporated on May 10, 1919, at Tiffin’s Shawhan Hotel. After site visits, Donald J. Ross produced a plan for a nine-hole course, which opened for play in 1921 with the original clubhouse situated by the ninth green. These dates and details are attested by the Donald Ross Society’s historical notice, which cites contemporary club records.
Demand for more golf led to the purchase of an additional 107.4 acres in August 1965 and a subsequent project to expand to 18 holes. The additional nine was designed by ASGCA past president Ferdinand (Fred) Garbin and opened, along with a new clubhouse and pool, in April 1970. A local centennial feature in The Advertiser-Tribune notes the 1965 acquisition and (with a likely typographical error) attributes the work to “Fred Garvin”; the Ross Society page explicitly identifies “Fred Garbin.” The latter spelling aligns with ASGCA records for Ferdinand Garbin. The club rebranded from “Mohawk Golf Club” to “Mohawk Golf & Country Club” in 2004.
In 2013 the club engaged Ohio architect Brian Huntley to prepare a long-range improvement and restoration plan intended to steer features back toward the Ross idiom on the original nine while addressing infrastructure and playability across the property. Public summaries do not enumerate exact construction phases, and no published record details which recommendations were fully implemented.
Unique Design Characteristics
The clearest fingerprints of Ross at Mohawk survive in the older nine (commonly regarded by local players and several public listings as today’s back nine), where the terrain exhibits more natural pitch and the greens are guarded in the round by multiple bunkers. A contemporary course profile notes that several “notable Ross cross bunkers” once spanned lines of play; while some have been lost over time, their shallow trenching still registers visually and strategically, and most greens remain ringed by three or more bunkers. These features give the back-nine approach shots their bite despite modern yardages under 450 yards at the longest two-shot holes. The same source also remarks on water now fronting or flanking the home holes, with ponds at 9 and 18 creating hazard framing for balls returning toward the clubhouse—clear evidence of later, non-Ross embellishment at the finish.
Within this back nine, the par-3 10th (~190 yards) and the long two-shot 16th (~445 yards) illustrate the profile: direct but tightly defended targets at 10 require precise flight, while 16 stretches the back-nine’s driving challenge before a guarded green complex. The par-5 11th (~514 yards) remains an avenue for three-shot strategy, with bunkering influencing lay-up decisions. These hole-specific yardages are consistent with the current scorecard and align with the back-nine’s reputation among local players as the “Ross nine.”
By contrast, the Garbin nine added in 1970 sits on flatter ground, with a more open presentation off the tee and larger water features that influence the modern closing stretch near the clubhouse. Player accounts and independent profiles commonly differentiate the two nines this way, though the club’s own website simply affirms that Ross designed the “original nine holes” without specifying whether those are today’s holes 1–9 or 10–18. This identification—back nine as the Ross nine—should be regarded as probable but not confirmed by primary club documentation.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s Ohio portfolio, Mohawk represents his small-town commission model in the immediate post-World War I period: a compact nine-hole routing on former farm acreage that established golf in a community that later chose expansion rather than relocation. Unlike Ohio’s nationally prominent Ross venues (Inverness, Scioto’s era, et al.), Mohawk evolved into a hybrid course when Garbin’s nine arrived in 1970, rendering it a useful case study in how mid-century growth layered onto Golden Age cores. Its continuing use by Heidelberg and Tiffin Universities underscores how resilient the original nine remains in competitive play at the regional collegiate level.
Published rankings rarely feature Mohawk, but independent course profiles emphasize that, at roughly 6,700 yards, the course provides a credible test for local collegiate events and member tournaments even as it lacks the scale of Ross’s state headliners. That relatively modest yardage and the survival of multi-bunker green defense on the older nine are the course’s most frequently cited architectural talking points.
Current Condition / Integrity
Routing integrity for Ross’s nine appears substantially intact in broad strokes, with modernizations to hazards most apparent near the clubhouse: irrigation ponds now frame or intrude upon approaches at 9 and 18, and several cross bunkers noted in earlier descriptions have been removed over decades, leaving subtle trench traces in fairways. The greens on the older nine continue to be encircled by sand, preserving a key element of the original defense even as mowing lines and bunker shapes have evolved.
The 1970 Garbin nine introduced a contrasting aesthetic and strategy set on flatter ground, broadening member play options and completing the 18-hole circuit. Long-term maintenance and occasional in-house changes typical of private clubs (tree management, bunker repairs, irrigation) are evident in contemporary imagery and descriptions, but no published, detailed construction chronicle lists exact years for specific bunker rebuilds or tee expansions. The club’s engagement of Brian Huntley in 2013 to draft a restoration-leaning plan signals intent to recover Ross characteristics where feasible; publicly available sources do not document which elements have since been executed.
Operationally, Mohawk remains a private, member-owned club (the only such facility in Seneca County) that emphasizes everyday access and collegiate partnerships. Current website language and Ohio Golf Association listings corroborate its private status and its identity as a Ross-origin course.
Sources & Notes
Donald Ross Society, “Mohawk Golf and CC Celebrates its 100th Anniversary” (includes 1919 incorporation, Ross’s design of nine holes, 1921 opening, 1970 Garbin nine/clubhouse/pool, 2004 name change, 2013 Huntley plan).
The Advertiser-Tribune (Tiffin, OH), “Designs on a local course: Mohawk Golf Club founded 100 years ago,” May 4, 2019 (1919 founding; 1921 opening; 1965 land purchase; “Fred Garvin” attribution to the additional nine—likely a misspelling; useful local context). Note: Conflicts with Ross Society spelling of “Garbin.”
Mohawk Golf & Country Club official site—Golf home and Course Details pages (current facilities; practice areas; statement that the “original nine holes” were designed by Ross; private club positioning).
Top100GolfCourses.com—“Mohawk (Ohio)” course profile (commentary on removal of cross bunkers, multi-bunker green defense, and the presence of ponds at 9 and 18 near the clubhouse; general performance context for collegiate play).
Heidelberg University Athletics—facility page for Mohawk G&CC and team schedules (confirms the club as home venue and recurring host for collegiate events).
Ohio Golf Association club listing (confirms private status; lists 1918 as “Year Founded,” which conflicts with 1919 incorporation cited elsewhere). This discrepancy is noted below.
Uncertainties / Disputed Points
Which current nine is Ross’s original? Several third-party listings and player accounts state that the back nine corresponds to Ross’s 1921 nine; however, the club’s website does not explicitly confirm this, and no primary club map is publicly posted.
Spelling and authorship of the 1970 expansion architect: The Ross Society and ASGCA materials identify Ferdinand (Fred) Garbin. The Advertiser-Tribune article spells the surname “Garvin,” likely in error.
Founding year: OGA lists 1918 as the club’s founding year, while both the Ross Society notice and the local centennial feature place incorporation in 1919 with opening in 1921.
Scope and implementation of the 2013 Huntley plan: Public notices document the plan’s commissioning and intent but not the extent of subsequent work.