Byron Nelson
RCC Pro
1937-39
The Golf Chronicles
The story of golf at Reading Country Club and in Berks County
Number 35 • February 15, 2016
This Game Called Golf – 1939 Style
Riverside
Golf
This Game Called Golf
– 1939Club
Style
This is the fifth in a series of articles published in the
Reading Eagle in 1939 that reported on the state of the
game at Berks County’s seven golf courses. The Golf
Chronicles number 29 featured the first article, which
focused on Reading Country Club. Features on
Berkshire, Berkleigh and Galen Hall followed.
This Game Called Golf – 1939 Style
This Game Called Golf – 1939 Style
This Game Called Golf – 1939 Style
This issue highlights Riverside Golf Club, which was
built along the Schuylkill River, opposite Reading
Airport, by William H. Luden, the cough drop magnate.
An article from 1930 reports that Riverside was laid out
by Norman Findlay, Alex Findlay’s son. Alex Findlay
designed RCC and the original nine holes at Galen Hall
and consulted in the design of Berkshire.
The golf course opened on July 8, 1931. Riverside
hosted the first Berks Publinx championship in 1931
and every Publinx thereafter until 1945.
Nine holes were discontinued in 1943 and Luden sold
the club in 1946. The new owners reconditioned the
course and planned to open an 18-hole course in 1948.
Riverside’s riparian location—the Schuylkill to the north
and Laurel Creek running though it—was a blessing and
a curse. Blessing: ample water supply. Curse: ample
flooding.
By then, the state served notice that it intended to
acquire the property for a silt collection basin as part of
the Schuylkill River clean-up project. It is unclear from
news reports if Riverside ever opened for play in 1948.
Reading Eagle, December 20, 1930
These photos from the Reading Eagle, August 25,
1933, show extensive flooding at Riverside Golf
Course. In the photo to the left, the top of a car
that was carried downstream can be seen in a
temporary lake that formed on the golf course.
The flag in the flooded 11th green can be seen in
the photo below. The overflow came form Mt.
Laurel Creek, which ran through the golf course.