
DORNICK HILLS
Ardmore, Oklahoma
1913
Unknown Maxwell spends “two months looking at layouts in Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Boston before returning to Ardmore to begin planning Dornick Hills.” [The Daily Oklahoman, March 21, 1950]
1914
March 10 Maxwell plays golf “on the golf links of the local club” with Oklahoma Governor Cruce. “While the Governor is here there will be a meeting of the members and a permanent organization perfected. The grounds north of Lorena park are ideally located for a country club and before another year, the members hope to have a magnificent clubhouse erected.” [Daily Ardmoreite, March 10, 1914] Editorial Note: This was presumably the first 4 holes of the course that would eventually become Dornick Hills.
April 3 Maxwell is elected chairman of the board of Dornick Hills Country Club. Name of the club officially changed from Ardmore Country Club to Dornick Hills “in honor of one of the greatest golf clubs in Scotland, where the game originated.” [Daily Ardmoreite, April 5, 1914]
May 8 Maxwell is elected President of Dornick Hills Country Club. [Daily Ardmoreite, May 8, 1944]
June 1 Maxwell purchases 230 acre Primrose Hill “poor farm” from the County “adjoining the Country club to be used as an addition to the golf grounds.” [Daily Ardmoreite, June 1, 1914; Muskogee Times-Democrat, June 2, 1914]
June 7 Plans for the Dornick Hills clubhouse have been drawn and approved and “work on the building will begin within the next thirty days.” Maxwell’s acquisition of the County farm “has added sixty acres to the club grounds and a full eighteen hole golf course will be laid out.” [Daily Ardmoreite, June 7, 1914]
1915
February 12 Workmen are working on the greens at Dornick Hills. [Daily Ardmoreite, February 12, 1915]
April 14 Maxwell releases herd of sheep at Dornick Hills to graze fairways and reduce maintenance costs. [Daily Ardmoreite, April 14, 1915,]
April 30 Maxwell plays in match at Dornick Hills with Governor Cruce, so course open for limited play at least by this date. [Daily Ardmoreite, April 30, 1915]
May 21 Maxwell is re-elected as President of Dornick Hills Country Club. [Daily Ardmoreite, May 21, 1945]
June 17 Maxwell is in Ardmore for the official opening of Dornick Hills. [Daily Ardmoreite, June 18, 1915]
July 17 Maxwell donates the use of Dornick Hills Country Club’s “mowing machine” to cut the grass for play in Ardmore’s baseball park. [Daily Ardmoreite, July 16, 1915]
1916
February 12 Maxwell departs Ardmore “for Dallas and Ft. Worth where he will visit the country clubs in those cities.” Maxwell planning to make improvements to Dornick Hills “this spring and wants to observe clubs in order that he might use good judgment in making Dornick Hills a pleasanter place for its members.” [Daily Ardmoreite, February 13, 1916]
April 7 Maxwell plays golf at Dornick Hills in Ardmore with a group that includes Governor Cruce. [Daily Ardmoreite, April 6, 1916]
September 26 Maxwell plays golf in Ardmore at Dornick Hills. [Daily Ardmoreite, September 27, 1916]
October 12 Maxwell ties the amateur 9-hole course record at Dornick Hills of 37. [Daily Ardmoreite, October 13, 1916]
1919
April 25 Maxwell meets former President William H. Taft at Dornick Hills and offers to donate $10 to the Red Cross for each ball Taft can drive from the tee over a hill. Taft tries and fails. [Daily Ardmoreite, April 25, 1919]
July 5 Maxwell buries his wife on the hill overlooking the current 7th hole at Dornick Hills. [Daily Ardmoreite, July 5, 1919]
1921
June 27 New 7th green at Dornick Hills is completed. [Daily Ardmoreite, June 27, 1921]
July 4 New 7th green at Dornick Hills is played on for the first time. [Daily Ardmoreite, July 5, 1921]
July 7 Maxwell loses in finals of Presidents Cup tournament at Dornick Hills, “which is regarded as the banner event of the year in local golf circles.” [Daily Ardmoreite, July 7, 1921]
1923
February 20 Gene Sarazen and Jock Hutchinson play an exhibition match at Dornick Hills. [Daily Ardmoreite, February 20, 1923]
June 1 “Plans are under way for the extension of the” Dornick Hills course to 18 holes as part of the club’s bid to land the 1924 Oklahoma state tournament. [Daily Ardmoreite, June 1, 1923]
June 3 Maxwell departs Ardmore for Tulsa to compete in the Oklahoma state tournament and to participate in the Ardmore delegation attempting to bring the 1924 tournament to Dornick Hills. [Daily Ardmoreite, June 1, 1923]
June 4 Maxwell is elected President of the Oklahoma State Golfers Association at the association’s annual meeting in Tulsa. Dornick Hills is awarded the 1924 Oklahoma state championship tournament provided the course is expanded to 18 holes. “It is anticipated that as soon as Mr. Maxwell and his delegation return from Tulsa action will be pushed to improve the links and club house.” [Daily Ardmoreite, June 5, 1923]
June 26 Maxwell is appointed to lead the committee in charge of making “tentative arrangements for the construction of the new 18-hole course” at Dornick Hills in anticipation of the 1924 Oklahoma state championship tournament. [Daily Ardmoreite, June 27, 1923]
July 8 Maxwell is in the process of adding a second 9-holes to Dornick Hills and converting greens to grass in advance of 1924 Oklahoma State championship tournaments. Maxwell ”personally superintended all work done on the course.” [The Daily Oklahoman, July 8, 1923]
December 25 New 9-holes at Dornick Hills are used for the first time. “The splendid condition is attributed to the flock of sheep which C.P. Maxwell has kept on the property for a few years.” All work on the new 9 is expected to be completed by the summer of 1924. [Daily Ardmoreite, December 28, 1923]
1924
April 24 Maxwell is in Ardmore putting finishing touches on the second nine holes at Dornick Hills for 1924 Oklahoma State Amateur. [The Oklahoman, April 20, 1924]
June 14-20 Dornick Hills hosts Oklahoma State Open and Oklahoma State Amateur tournaments on new 18 hole course with grass greens. [Tournament Program]
1925
January 22 Maxwell declines to seek re-election after serving as president of Dornick Hills for 11 years since the club’s inception. The club honors Maxwell for his service by naming him “president emeritus” for the remainder of his life. [Daily Ardmoreite, January 25, 1925]
1926
Late January Dr. Alister Mackenzie is Maxwell’s guest in Ardmore, Oklahoma and tours Dornick Hills. [“The Midwest Associate”, by Christopher Clouser (2006), Pg. 43] Editorial Note: Clouser’s information is based in part on interviews he conducted with now deceased descendants of Maxwell. We accept their recollection of events in the absence of any information to the contrary.
1929
May 18 Maxwell arrives in Ardmore for the 1929 Oklahoma state tournament at Dornick Hills. He “has been in Ann Arbor, Mich., designing a course.” [Daily Ardmoreite, May 19, 1929]
1933
October Maxwell introduces seaside bent grass on six greens at Dornick Hills, which is “the farthest south that seaside bent has been successfully grown.” [Daily Ardmoreite, March 18, 1934]
1934
February 26 Maxwell is “reelected” Secretary of Dornick Hills. He is also named to the greens, finance and out of town members committees. [Daily Ardmoreite, February 27, 1934]
March 18 Maxwell is pleased with the six seaside bent grass greens introduced at Dornick Hills and plans to extend “the system to the other greens at the club.” [Daily Ardmoreite, March 18, 1934]
1936
Unknown Maxwell moves the 10th green, 11th tee and 12th tee at Dornick Hills in Ardmore, Oklahoma. [“The Midwest Associate”, by Christopher Clouser (2006), Pg. 29]
1937
March 7 9th hole (currently the 18th) at Dornick Hills “is being revamped to penalize the wild swingers who come slicing up the fairway. Under the direction of Dean Woods, foreman of construction for Perry Maxwell, nationally-known golf architect, a sand trap is being installed on the west side. Another suggestion from Woods that will be carried out is the filling in and sodding of traps back of the famous cliff hole” (original #7, current #16). [Daily Ardmoreite, March 7, 1937]
December 21-22 Maxwell and Dean Woods meet with E.R. Steiniger and Fred Grau at Dornick Hills. [Steiniger and Grau Travel Log]
1945
February 6 Maxwell is elected to the board of Dornick Hills Country Club. [Daily Ardmoreite, February 7, 1945]
1952
November 19 Maxwell’s funeral held at the First Presbyterian Church in Ardmore, Oklahoma and he is buried in family plot overlooking Dornick Hills. [Daily Ardmoreite, November 18, 1952]
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