Trees line a fairway at the now-closed Hickory VFW golf course in Hermitage.
HERMITAGE – Hickory VFW announced on its Facebook page that its 18-hole public golf course is permanently closed, making official a move that had long been rumored.
In a two-sentence statement the VFW said: ”The VFW golf course is permanently closed effective January 2022. Thank you for your patronage.’’
The posting is dated Wednesday morning.
VFW leaders weren’t immediately available for comment.
Rumors that the golf course was closing and a sale was in the works have swirled for months. But VFW leaders were tight-lipped on the subject.
The organization’s Facebook page made no reference that the course had been sold. However, multiple members said early Thursday evening that they believe that it was being sold to a developer who was not immediately identified.
The course, located off East State Street in the eastern section of Hermitage, had already been in operation in 1933, when George S. Lee took ownership and renamed it Leeland. George Lee, who died in 1972 at the age of 71, handed over ownership of the course to his sons in the late 1960s.
One of those sons, James E. Lee, took over as co-owner and worked as course professional at Leeland Golf Course.
Lee was an accomplished golfer, according to his 1997 obituary. During his time in military service, he won the 1946 Air Force golf championship held in Frankfurt, Germany. He also had seven holes-in-one during his lifetime and tied the course record at New Castle Country Club.
After his retirement in the mid-1980s, when he sold the course to the Hickory VFW. At the time, Hickory VFW was one of only two posts in the state that owned golf courses.
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