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GAP MEMBER CLUBS

Delaware National Country Club

Course Information
Club Type: Private
Founded:1937
Architect:North Course - Alfred H. Tull
General Information
Address: 400 Hercules Road
Wilmington, DE  19808
Phone:(302) 993-3200
Fax:(302) 993-3201
Website:www.delawarenationalcountryclub.com
Email:rmancill@denatcc.com
Club Contacts
  Golf Professional:   Jeff Frederick   (302) 993-3200 
  General Manager:   Matthew S. Lewis   (302) 993-3209 
  Superintendent:   Joseph Lee   (302) 993-3217 
Location/Directions
From 95 North or South - Take Exit 5-B (Route 141 North) to Route 48. Turn left on 48 (which is Lancaster Pike) to Hercules Road. Turn left on Hercules Road to club entrance on left.
From Route 202 South - Take 202 South to Route 141. Go right onto Route 141 South to Route 48. Turn right onto 48 to Hercules Road. Turn left on Hercules Road to club entrance on left.
From Route 100 South - Take 100 South on Route 141, turn right on to 141S to Route 48 and turn right to Hercules Road. Turn left on Hercules Road to club entrance on left.
Course Yardage & Ratings
Handicap Conversion Charts:  [Mens]  [Womens]

BLUE TEESFront 9Back 9North Course
RatingSlopeRatingSlopeRatingSlopeBogey
  Men  36.5 142  36.1  133 72.3 138  98.0 
 HOLE123456789OUT101112131415161718INTOTAL
 Par 453443544365434344453672
 Yards 346504121390430158616407364333650243116034016738935841251232716607
 HCP 1171759151313 82181210416146  
WHITE TEESFront 9Back 9North Course
RatingSlopeRatingSlopeRatingSlopeBogey
  Men  35.5 140  35.1  132 70.4 135  95.5 
 HOLE123456789OUT101112131415161718INTOTAL
 Par 453443544365434344453672
 Yards 340498115370352147603397315313749641714934016736333034348830936230
 HCP 1171759151313 82181210416146  
YELLOW TEESFront 9Back 9North Course
RatingSlopeRatingSlopeRatingSlopeBogey
  Men  34.4 130  34.1  122 68.1 126  91.6 
 HOLE123456789OUT101112131415161718INTOTAL
 Par 453443544365434344453672
 Yards 332483108362342137495328302288949037214032410729432333643328195708
 HCP 1171759151313 82181210416146  
History
Hercules is unique in GAP annals: it is the only club that was founded during the Depression. As far back as 1928, the Men’s Club at Wilmington’s Hercules Powder Company appointed a special committee to investigate the possibility of forming a country club. Seven and a half years later, the company decided to build a golf course at the Experiment Station, proposing a country club that would be separate from the Men’s Club. But not until February of 1937 was the first meeting held. The new organization was named the Hercules Country Club. A constitution and by-laws were adopted, and the first board of governors was elected. Among the twelve were R. N. McAdams, George Whitehead, Charles J. Seitz, Miles Jurisch, John Tinsley, and D. R. Jones.
At a meeting on March 4, 1937, R. N. McAdams was elected president. Other officers were chosen and chairmen of the several committees (grounds and greens, house, admissions, entertainment) were also appointed. Admitted to full membership were 151 men and 30 women. Only employees of the Powder Company were eligible for membership.
In late May the club commissioned Alfred H. Tull to lay out a nine-hole course. Tull had begun his career on the construction side of the golf course business, working on courses designed by Walter Travis, A.W. Tillinghast, and Devereux Emmett. The course for Hercules was one of his first projects after deciding to go out on his own. During the latter stages of construction, his brother Frank was named grounds superintendent. And on June 1,1937, Ed Ginther assumed the duties of golf professional.
The formal opening of the club and the course took place on the 3rd of July, 1937. Ice cream and cake were served at noon; in the evening a dance was held for all employees, their families and guests.
The summer of 1938 was marked by the establishment of a handicapping system (under the board’s control), a decision to join the Golf Association of Philadelphia ($40 per year dues), a match with DuPont Country Club at Hercules followed by a dinner dance, and a brief caddie strike at the end of August.

Additions to the Hercules clubhouse are reflected in this 1940 photograph.
In 1939 the club built a swimming pool and added two tennis courts, and in 1940 work got underway for additions to the clubhouse and for the development of a second nine. The new nine opened for play on June 29,1941, less than six months before Pearl Harbor. With 18 holes now available and war contracts spurring the growth of the employee body, membership reached 1,200 by August, 1944.
In February, 1947, Helen I. Pollock became the first woman to be elected to the board of governors and M. A. Hoopes the first woman to be elected an officer, secretary of the club. At the same time—though there does not seem to be a connection—permission was obtained to serve liquor.
Over the next two decades, as membership climbed to 1,500, plans were developed for a third nine. Also designed by Alfred Tull, it opened on June 1, 1967. It was combined with the original nine to make up what has since been called the North course. The nine that opened in 1940 has become the South course.
In 1991, with the membership at about 2,000, the doors would be opened for the first time to welcome new members who were not employees of Hercules Chemical Company.

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