The yearslong project to restore West Philly’s Cobbs Creek Golf Course will be the subject of a three-part docuseries and the first installment will premiere this month on the Golf Channel.
The public course, built in 1916, was instrumental in the sport’s integration of Black golfers into the PGA and became nationally recognized for its inclusion of women. The grounds once served as a U.S. military annex during the early stages of the Cold War and then gradually fell into disrepair. Decades of neglect and flooding depleted the land, resulting in the eventual closure of the course in 2020.
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“Cobbs Creek Rising: Headwaters to Horizons,” produced by NBC Sports’ GolfPass, will examine the history of the course and follow progress on the $150 million renovation being led by the Cobbs Creek Foundation. The first episode will feature interviews with historians, golfers and planners who have spent years envisioning a new era at Cobbs Creek.
“The Cobbs Creek story is far more than a golf course renovation,” Justin Tupper, producer of the docuseries, said in a statement about the project. “It’s a powerful testament to resilience, vision, and community commitment.”
A trailer for the first part of the series shows footage of the weathered course and the start of construction on the new amenities headed to Cobbs Creek. The course is expected to reopen in stages over the next few years.
“What happened here throughout history transforms this place to an icon at a different level for this city, this community and the game,” Cobbs Creek Project Development Manager Don Dissinger said in the hourlong first episode. “Cobbs Creek is the American dream in golf course form.”
Part 1 of the series will get an exclusive streaming debut on June 5 on the GolfPass website and mobile app before the episode airs on the Golf Channel at 7 p.m. on June 17. Part 2 will premiere in 2026, followed by the final episode in early 2027.
Renovations bring youth learning lab
In April, the Cobbs Creek Foundation opened a new science education center that was created in partnership with Tiger Woods’ TGR Foundation. The learning lab is a cornerstone of the new golf course and was the first new amenity to debut on the 350-acre grounds within Fairmount Park. The facility will offer free after-school, weekend and summer camp programs for kids of all ages.
“The whole model of the Cobbs Creek Foundation is that all of the revenue that is generated on the campus will go to maintenance of the entire campus and educational programming,” said Erin Cleary Cook, the foundation’s head of strategy execution.
Cook pitched the docuseries to NBCUniversal as a way to bring the story of Cobbs Creek to the wider world of golf enthusiasts, particularly younger generations who may not be familiar with its influential past.
Provided Image/Cobbs Creek Foundation
The Smilow Woodland TGR Learning Lab shown above opened at Cobbs Creek Golf Course in April. The education center was created in a partnership with Tiger Woods’ TGR Foundation.
Charlie Sifford, the first Black golfer to become a PGA member in 1961, spent years refining his game at Cobbs Creek after moving to Philadelphia from North Carolina as a teenager in the 1930s.
“He couldn’t believe that there was a place where Blacks could play golf,” Cook said.
After Black golfers like Sifford and Howard Wheeler showed sustained success in the United Golf Association — which hosted three Negro National Open Championships at Cobbs Creek — the dawn of the civil rights era led the PGA to drop its “caucasian only” policy.
Beyond illustrating Cobbs Creek’s land and history, the docuseries will be divided into three parts to allow film crews to capture different phases of the course’s restoration.
“We didn’t want them to just take a snapshot of where we are right now this year and say that’s the story,” Cook said. “We really wanted them to get an in-depth look at the history of what has happened up to this point and all of the challenges that we’ve overcome.”
Provided Image/Cobbs Creek Foundation
Construction is progressing on the two-story driving range that will open in September at Cobbs Creek Golf Club.
The Cobbs Creek Foundation is on track to open its campus hub building in September with a 68-bay driving range, pro shop, restaurant, event space and heritage center to showcase the history.
“We have a lot of artifacts that will be displayed at the heritage center,” Cook said. “We have pictures of when there were missile silos buried here on the seventh and the eighth holes. There were actually military barracks where people lived for a period of time during the Cold War.”
September is also targeted for the opening of a new nine-hole short course created by Woods’ TGR Design and a 20,000-square-foot putting green built with support from PGA golfer Jordan Spieth’s foundation.
The renovation of the 18-hole championship course will begin this summer — joined by the docuseries crew — with a timeline to open in 2027. Another nearby nine-hole course (the former Karakung beginner’s course) also will undergo work starting later this year for an opening by 2028.
Sights set on hosting a future PGA Tour event
The original Cobbs Creek Golf Course was envisioned and laid out by famed designer Hugh Wilson, who also designed the storied Merion Golf Club in Delaware County.
“The legend goes that when he finished Merion in 1915, he walked down Cobbs Creek and saw this incredible, beautiful property inside the city,” Cook said. “And he thought, why don’t we have a course as great as Merion, but one that’s public, and everyone can have access to it?”
The Cobbs Creek Foundation’s restoration of the course aims to retain its inclusiveness and community-driven mission while striving for a place on the PGA Tour. All of the courses are being built in consultation with the PGA Tour and special events companies to ensure Cobbs Creek is able to host a professional event in the future. PGA events historically have been been held at private suburban courses like Merion, Aronimink Golf Club and the Philadelphia Cricket Club, which hosted the 2025 Truist Championship in May.
“It’s a pretty big deal that they’re listening,” Cook said. “We want to provide a golf experience here at a public course that rivals all of the top private courses in the country.”
If Cobbs Creek ever hosts a PGA Tour event, Cook said it will be played on a composite course that combines holes from the championship course and the nine-hole course made by TGR Design.
When Cobbs Creek’s courses open to the public in the coming years, Cook said they will have tiered pricing with lower rates given to Philadelphia residents in surrounding ZIP codes.
“We really want to make sure we’re taking care of Philadelphia residents,” Cook said. “We think there’s going to be a huge demand to play at Cobbs Creek. There are so many people in this area who played Cobbs Creek years ago and loved it. Our renovation is only going to make it better.”
