Turtle Creek History

Our long awaited addition to the Waltz Golf Farm. This championship par 72 course combined with our existing facility makes this a truly unique golfing complex. Situated on 200 plus acres in the center of Limerick this property has been in the Waltz family since 1937. The land was originally part of a 500 acre William Penn grant of 1718 to Thomas and Hannah McCarty. The majestic stone farm house, which is situated along Landis Creek (Logel Creek), was built around 1740 by Phillip Dotterer. This structure and its surrounding greenspace will be preserved in its present state to serve as the aesthetic and historical core of the site. Due to its dominant location near the 18th green and 1st tees of the golf course, the house is visible from numerous vantage points throughout the grounds. Building materials (principally the stone) from remains of the barn have been incorporated into various improvements (retaining walls, planters, etc.) within the facility.

Raymond G. "Sandy" Waltz, a Montgomery County agricultural agent from 1935 to 1965, restored the farm house and began raising black angus cattle on the property in the late 1930's. In 1964, he and his sons, Raymond and William, created the beginning of the Waltz Golf Farm complex consisting of a miniture golf course, a nine hole par 3 golf course and a practice golf driving range. The addition of the eighteen hole regulation golf course shortly thereafter was always considered by the family but the plans were delayed with the passing of R. G. Waltz in 1965. Since 1965, the sons' Golf Farm prospered and grew along with the added Turf (sod) Farm, which helped to subsidized the family income. In 1989, the Pittsburgh golf course architectural firm of Hassenplug Associates was hired to begin the planning of a resurrected dream. Following the death of Mr. Hassenplug in 1992, his colleague, Edward M. Beidel Jr., now of Beidel Design Associates, Inc. stepped in to complete the project's golf design services. Six years of arduous planning, review, and permitting at all jurisdictional levels, utimatly lead to a final land development approval in November of 1995, with construction started in 1996 and completed in 1997.

The golf course comprises 165 acres of maintained open greenspace within the community. Due to the recent influx of residential and commercial developments with their allotment of impervious surfaces, this golf course development should be a welcome addition to the Limerick area. The crops have changed, but family farming has not been abandoned. Times are changing, but history has been preserved. Development occurs, but the resources are conserved and enhanced.