Old Works Golf Course (Old Works)

Overview: Old Works Golf Course in Anaconda is one of the most unusual public courses in the United States. Jack Nicklaus designed the 18-hole, par-72 layout on the former Old Works copper-smelter site, placing fairways and greens among historic industrial remains and the open Montana landscape. The course's most recognisable visual feature is its black slag bunkers, made from inert material left by the smelting process. The result is a playable modern layout whose identity is inseparable from Anaconda's mining history and the careful environmental work that made the redevelopment possible.

History: The Old Works area was the site of Anaconda's original copper-smelting facilities from 1884 to 1902. After the smelter closed, the land became part of a federal Superfund cleanup site. Local citizens began promoting a golf redevelopment in 1989, and construction under Nicklaus began on May 26, 1994. The completed course opened in 1997 after collaboration among the community, ARCO, state and federal agencies, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Historic foundations, the brick smokestack and the black slag were retained as part of the design language.

Did You Know? Old Works was the first golf course built on a federal EPA Superfund site. The redevelopment used engineered caps and lined features to protect the cleaned site, while the bunkers turned a remnant of copper production into the course's signature design element.