Cobbs Creek Golf Course makeover will feature a full restaurant and bar starting this fall

When the storied Cobbs Creek Golf Course reopens, it will have food and beverage service provided by the Fitler Club and Strother Enterprises, a family-owned catering business.

The partners will operate a full service restaurant and bar called the Little Horse Tavern, named for the moniker of Charlie Sifford, the Black golfer who led the integration of the PGA tournament in the 1960s. The partners will provide an array of other offerings, including event catering, service to the golf club’s 68 driving bays, and refreshment carts on the courses.

The land is owned by the city but operated by the not-for-profit Cobbs Creek Foundation, which is contracting with Fitler and Strother. The tavern, driving range, and events space will be based out of a building called the Lincoln Financial Center at Cobbs Creek.

“Like the Cobbs Creek Foundation, Fitler Club and Strother Enterprises are catalysts for positive change in this community,” Jeff Shanahan, president of the Cobbs Creek Foundation, said in a news release. “Both partners share our commitment to creating a destination that is welcoming for all guests, providing golfers and nongolfers a world-class experience in an open, inclusive environment.”

The Cobbs Creek Golf Club operated for almost a century as West Philadelphia’s public course, offering access to a wide array of players when the game was largely off-limits to anyone but white men who could afford memberships at private clubs.

But the course fell into decrepitude in the 2000s and was closed in 2020.

Now after a yearslong process of fundraising and rehabilitation, it is set to reopen in a dramatically reimagined form beginning in the fall of 2025. That’s when the Little Horse Tavern, a nine-hole short course, and the driving range will open. Further courses will open in the coming years, including an 18-hole course slated for 2027.

The Fitler Club fashions itself as a more diverse and accessible city club than its rivals like the Union League or the Racquet Club. It is a members-only institution, which opened in 2019, and boasts a younger membership than the other urban clubs.

The partnership with Strother and Cobbs Creek will be Fitler’s first expansion outside its original location on the western edge of Center City, although the club’s members will get no special treatment.

“There’s nothing with any benefit or privilege at all in our contract,” said Jacob Smith, president of the Fitler Club. “To be a part of a project that’s all about community empowerment as part of a world-class hospitality offering — for us, that’s a perfect fit.”

Smith was introduced to the owners of Strother Enterprises by a Fitler member. The self-described “minority-owned, veteran-owned, family-owned and operated” catering company is known for offering concessions at large Philadelphia institutions like the airport, Convention Center, and the stadiums.

The co-founders of the company, Ernest and Robert Strother, got their caddy certifications at Cobbs Creek as teenagers in the 1960s.

“This would be a full circle moment, getting back to our roots,” said Natasha Strother Lassiter, the chief strategy officer for the company. “We are just happy to be able to bring jobs and create an impact in the local West Philadelphia community.”

In addition to the Little Horse Tavern, which will open in the first week of October, Fitler and Strother will operate a ground-level indoor-outdoor lounge at the Lincoln Financial Center at Cobbs Creek beginning this fall. They will roll out services to other corners of the course and club as they open.

The menu will have the vibe of a friendly neighborhood restaurant, Smith said, with wood-fired pizzas, burgers, and shareable offerings.

After paying for staff and operating costs, any additional revenue from food and beverages will support educational and community events at Cobbs Creek, which include free year-round youth programming, begun this year in partnership with Tiger Woods’ TGR Foundation.

For the Fitler Club, whose membership of over 2,500 is mostly based in the city, the partnership is a chance to connect with a new pool of potential members, as the rejuvenated Cobbs Creek attracts players from across the region.

“It was important for us as we looked for our first expansion outside of our current location to be in Philadelphia, to be part of something local, to be part of something world class, and to be part of something that has major community impact,” said Smith.