A project to recapture AW Tillinghast’s original vision for Swope Memorial Golf Course in Kansas City, Missouri, is in progress. Work is being led by Todd Clark and Brent Hugo of CE Golf Design, alongside golf writer and consultant Ron Whitten.
The project was originally conceived by the Kansas City Missouri (KCMO) Parks & Recreation Department as a bunker restoration.
Doug Schroeder, KCMO Parks director of golf services since 2009, says one of the first documents he found in the course records was a 2006 bunker renovation plan created by Tony Bertels, who was then course superintendent for Swope Memorial.
“Tony had carefully studied historical photos and drawings to develop a detailed plan that aimed to bring the course’s bunkers closer to their original form,” said Schroeder. “It captured my imagination, but unfortunately, the timing was not right – we were just beginning to recover from the effects of the financial recession.
“Fast forward to the early 2020s: golf, along with many other outdoor activities, experienced a resurgence. Simultaneously, the debt service on Shoal Creek Golf Course – built in 2000 – was finally being retired. With financial pressure easing, we saw an opportunity to reinvest in our courses, particularly the bunkers at both Swope Memorial and Shoal Creek.”
CE Golf Design was appointed to develop a bunker plan that would align with future course renovations. “As the plan evolved, it became clear that isolated bunker restoration would not be sufficient,” said Schroeder. “In collaboration with our management company, we analysed long-term revenue trends and operating costs. And after careful consideration, we determined we could responsibly take on enough debt to comprehensively address the course’s various issues – poorly draining greens, outdated irrigation system, failing cart paths, unplayable bunkers and a water system dependent on unreliable city pressure – and, in the process, restore Swope Memorial to reflect AW Tillinghast’s original vision.”
Contractor Mid-America Golf and Landscape began construction in January 2025 but has experienced delays relating to freezing temperatures and snow. Mid-America Golf's director of business development Casey Hames expects shaping, drainage, irrigation and feature construction to be completed by mid-summer, while grassing is due to be finished by the end of August. This will allow time for grow-in and conditioning of the surfaces ahead of reopening in spring 2026.
“The scope of work includes new greens, bunkers, tees, cart paths, drainage, irrigation, tree removal and a new irrigation lake and pump station,” said Clark. “The course had fallen into some disrepair, with the last renovation in the early 1990s. Once we complete our work, golfers will definitely notice the new tees, greens and bunkers. They may not see some of the other improvements, such as drainage and irrigation, but the investment in that infrastructure will create better playing surfaces. The new irrigation lake will capture stormwater, which will be supplemented with the city’s water as the main source for the irrigation system.”
The project will see greens expanded, with more contouring and pin locations which have been chosen to resemble the original Tillinghast design. Bunkers, meanwhile, will be returned to the original flashed design, which is intended to improve their visibility. They will feature Better Billy Bunker liner and Priemer White sand from Turf Materials.
“While we are trying to be true to Tillinghast’s original design, we also have to consider the changes to the game of golf since the course opened in 1934,” said Clark. “Tees are being extended where possible, and sand bunkers are being located accordingly to make the course play true to its original design.”
The total yardage will increase to just over 6,300 yards from the back tees. Forward tees will be added too, with the furthest forward of the four sets of tees to play at a total just short of 4,400 yards. All new tees will be rectangular with bentgrass surfaces. Fairways will remain as zoysia with turf-type tall fescue rough that is expected to grow thicker following tree removal and the introduction of the new irrigation system. Other work includes converting the sixth hole – originally the fifth – from a par five to a par four. “We are also restoring a carry bunker on the seventeenth hole and adding a new carry bunker on the eleventh to reflect some of Tillinghast’s designs,” said Clark. “Some original mounding around the green complexes, which was lost with the 1990 renovation, is being restored.
“This course will play totally differently from what golfers have played for the last 35 years. Hopefully it will be closer to what Tillinghast had envisioned for this property.”
Whitten carried our extensive research into Tillinghast’s original design of the course at Swope Memorial, referencing hole photos from 1935, routing plans from 1934, an aerial photograph from 1940 and more.
Whitten says that very little of Tillinghast remained. “His routing is still intact, but the greens and bunkers had been rebuilt so many times that very few original features still exist. Tillinghast made his plans in early 1934, then left an assistant in charge, Thomas Henry Riggs-Miller. But Tillinghast never returned during construction and in 1935 began his three-year stint as a consultant to the PGA of America, driving around the nation, inspecting courses and making recommendations on how to cut budgets. Tillinghast did stop by Swope in 1936 as part of his tour and told a reporter his plans were not carried through as originally planned.
“Anyway, there wasn’t much Tillinghast to preserve. There is a good amount of Tillinghast to ‘restore’. We call our process a sympathetic restoration, trying to address 21st century demands to an early 20th century design. For instance, we suspect the greens were surfaced drained and thus had distinct slopes on which pin positions could still be placed because the greens were mowed higher in those days. But the greens we found at Swope today were ones installed in a 1989 remodelling. We have some decent photos of each green (except the second) from 1934, and while a couple of two-level greens could be found among the originals, there weren’t that many. As there are no original detailed hole-by-hole green plans from Tillinghast in existence (if indeed he ever prepared any), we’ve had to guesstimate on Tillinghast’s original contours with what little photographic help we could muster, keeping in mind present day green speeds, of course.”
Whitten adds: “After reading my description of Tilly’s Dolomites – miniature mountain ranges – our shapers have had fun creatively building clusters of these things at various locations around the course. We are reintroducing Dolomites at several locations and adding them to others – for instance, along the fairway of the short par-four second to discourage players from using driver off that tee. As most of these will be grassed with a prairie mix and won’t be routinely mowed, I hope that Swope’s Dolomites will become so distinctive that, when seeing photos of them, people throughout the golf world will immediately associate them with Swope Memorial Golf Course in Kansas City. We shall see.”
According to Hames, the project is moving forward smoothly despite the early weather delays. “Our crews are working with great care and precision, and there’s a collective pride in being part of a project with this kind of historical significance,” he said. “The strength of this project lies in the collaboration between designer, owner and builder. Everyone shares the same goal: to restore Swope Memorial in a way that honours its past, improves its playability, and secures its relevance for generations of Kansas City golfers to come.”
Schroeder adds: “This project is about honouring a historic gem and providing the people of Kansas City, and anyone who travels to play it, with a special golf experience unlike any other in the region. It’s about creating a place where memories are made, and where golfers can step back in time while enjoying the comfort and reliability of modern amenities.”
The July 2025 issue of Golf Course Architecture will include additional insight about Swope Memorial from Ron Whitten. Subscribe today to receive your copy.