George C. Thomas Jr

Ojai, CA

Ojai Valley Inn's golf course was built in 1923 on land developed by glass industrialist Edward Libbey, laid out by George C. Thomas Jr. with Billy Bell. Architect Jay Morrish renovated the greens and course in 1988. In 1999 the resort restored two original 1923 holes, lost after World War II, as the current 16th and 17th. The par-70 layout plays 6,292 yards from the blue tees with a course rating of 71.0 and a slope of 132, set among oak trees with views of the Topatopa Mountains. The course is open to resort guests and day guests.

Marion, MA

Marion Golf Club is a nine-hole public course in Marion, Massachusetts, near Cape Cod. It opened in 1904 as the first design credited to George C. Thomas Jr., who later created Riviera, Bel-Air, and the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club. The course winds through former farmland, with original stone walls still in play as hazards on several holes. Playing to about 2,685 yards and a par of 34, Marion Golf Club is a walking-friendly layout with flat fairways, circular greens, and squarish bunkers reflecting its early-1900s design. It is the town's only public course and has been kept afloat over the decades by local caretakers and, more recently, a group of Marion natives who took over its lease to preserve public access.

Los Angeles, CA

Wilson Golf Course is a public, 18-hole municipal course in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, opening in 1927 as part of a pair of courses built alongside the earlier Harding course, following the era of architect George C. Thomas Jr.'s work in the park. Superintendent William Johnson and architect William P. Bell later modernized the layout in the 1930s, adding irrigation and building the clubhouse still used today. At more than 7,000 yards from the back tees, Wilson is one of the longer municipal courses in the city, with mildly rolling fairways set in a forested section of the park near the Los Angeles Zoo and Griffith Observatory. It has hosted rounds of the Los Angeles Open and remains a heavily used, city-operated course popular for its accessible location.

Los Angeles, CA

Griffith Park's Harding Golf Course is a municipal layout in Los Angeles, designed by amateur architect George C. Thomas Jr. and opened in August 1923. It was originally called the Riverside links before being renamed for President Warren Harding, who died the night before its planned opening. Thomas, who also designed Riviera, Bel-Air and Los Angeles Country Club, routed the course through sand and brush on newly acquired parkland along the Los Angeles River, creating an all-grass 18-hole layout when most municipal courses still used sand greens. The course has been altered over the decades, including changes tied to construction of the Los Angeles Zoo, though a number of original 1923 holes remain. Harding is a public, city-operated course run by LA's Recreation and Parks Department, sharing a clubhouse with the adjacent Wilson course.