Specialties
Open 7 days a week, Bala is the closest private golf club to Center City Philadelphia, with a challenging course spread over a secluded rolling countryside accentuated by towering pines and meandering creeks. Offering easy access and the area's best pace of play, Bala allows you to fit golf into your busy lifestyle in an idyllic setting just minutes from the bustling city life that sits outside our gates. With easy access to Bala Cynwyd, Philadelphia and the Main Line, Bala Golf Club offers the area's most convenient private golf experience.
Bala offers a wide range of membership opportunities to meet today's challenging lifestyle. Our diverse and welcoming membership invites you to visit Bala Golf Club to experience our exciting social calendar, exquisite dining options and classic William S. Flynn designed golf course, the current home of the St. Joe's Hawks Golf Team and host of the 1952 U.S. Women's Open.
Offering a majestic setting, outstanding cuisine, and unmatched service, Bala Golf Club is also proud to be Philadelphia's premier event venue. Whether you are hosting an intimate affair for 30 or an elegant event for 200, Bala Golf Club will provide you with the ultimate experience that will exceed every expectation. Our spacious and just renovated event facility is ideal for corporate meetings, galas, mitzvah celebrations, weddings, anniversaries, and other social events. Click here to learn more about Weddings and Events
History
Established in 1901.
Bala Golf Club has a long and storied history. The roots of the Bala Golf Club reach back to the spring of 1893 when two men - George Reach and Charles Hickman - watched a well-dressed foursome play the links along a City Avenue golf course. Getting the idea to start their own club, the two men joined with a group of prominent Philadelphians and purchased a plot of farmland just inside the city limits on Belmont Avenue - a location that was easily accessible by trolley or train. They decided to build their course on the site, roughly half way between the original homes of Philadelphia Country Club and Overbrook Country Club.
That site, laid out by Willie Tyler, provided the club members with a 9 hole, 2,747 yard layout with a par of 35 1/2. Although the original course was higly regarded, the pressure to go to an 18 hole course convinced the membership to act, and, in 1923, William S. Flynn, a noted golf course designer expanded the existing 9 into 18 holes.
Meet the Manager: Chris B.
Chris is the Head Golf Professional and General Manager at Bala Golf Club.