Hot Springs Golf & Country Club (Park)

Overview: The Park Course at Hot Springs Golf & Country Club is one of the oldest golf routings in Arkansas. The current profile lists 6,852 yards and par 72, while the club identifies Willie Park Jr. as the original designer. Tree-lined fairways, traditional parkland shaping and the hills around Hot Springs give the layout a historic character, but the course remains a practical playing route rather than a museum piece. Its strongest identity comes from the continuity between the original golf ground and the later course maintained on the property.

History: Golf began at Hot Springs Country Club in 1898. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas records construction beginning in January and formal play on March 19, 1898, with Willie Park Jr. responsible for the original nine-hole layout. The club's official golf page identifies the present Park Course as constructed in 1898 and extensively renovated in 2001. The earlier profile date of 1920 did not match that documented origin, so the course is now dated to the evidence-backed 1898 beginning.

Did You Know? Hot Springs' original course is credited as Arkansas's first golf course. The first layout was only nine holes and measured 2,465 yards, a reminder of how different early American golf was from the modern 18-hole Park Course now associated with the club.