June 25, 2025
Provided Image/EwingCole
The Little Horse Tavern, shown in a rendering above, is on track to open at the restored Cobbs Creek Golf Course in September. The restaurant is inspired by the nickname of Charlie Sifford, the trailblazing golfer who considered Cobbs Creek his home course and became the first Black member of the PGA Tour in 1961.
The $150 million restoration of West Philly's Cobbs Creek Golf Course will include a new bar and restaurant serving wood-fired pizza and a campus-wide food program run by Center City's Fitler Club, the foundation behind the multi-year project announced Wednesday.
Little Horse Tavern, the main dining establishment at the new clubhouse, is set to open this fall in the same facility that will house a two-story driving range. The restaurant is inspired by the nickname of Charlie Sifford, the trailblazing golfer who starred at Cobbs Creek during its heyday and later became the first Black PGA Tour member in 1961.
Cobbs Creek Foundation, the nonprofit spearheading the renovation of the century-old course, will partner with the Fitler Club and Strother Enterprises for food and beverage at the 340-acre public campus. The two local hospitality firms will provide catering for private and community events, refreshment carts on the restored courses and food service for the youth-focused TGR Learning Lab that Tiger Woods' foundation opened in the spring.
The campus hub that will house the new restaurant is on track to open in September with a 68-bay driving range, pro shop, rooftop event space and heritage center showcasing the club's history. It will also have an indoor bar and outdoor lounge.
Fitler Club, an upscale hotel and social club with a gym and spa, opened in 2019 at 2400 Market St. in the same building as the Aramark headquarters. Strother Enterprises is a Black- and veteran-owned business that offers catering services for a variety of industries.
"Both partners share our commitment to creating a destination that is welcoming for all guests, providing golfers and non-golfers a world-class experience in an open, inclusive environment," Cobbs Creek Foundation President Jeff Shanahan said in a statement.
When Cobbs Creek opened in 1916, it was one of only a few golf courses in the United States that allowed Black golfers and women to compete in integrated facilities. The course hosted the United Golf Association's Negro National Championships in 1936, 1947 and 1956, and it held the PGA Tour's Philadelphia Daily News Open twice in the 1950s.
The U.S. military annexed the campus during the early stages of the Cold War, beginning a period of decline that saw the grounds heavily damaged by flooding over the ensuing decades. The golf courses were closed in 2020. Two years later, the city announced a partnership with the Cobbs Creek Foundation to revitalize the course and make the campus more resilient to flooding.
A nine-hole short course created by Woods' TGR Design and a 14,500-square-foot putting green built with support from the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation are expected to open in September along with the campus hub.
The renovation of the 18-hole championship course will begin this summer, and the nearby nine-hole course (the former Karakung beginner's course) also will undergo work starting later this year for an opening by 2028.
The Cobbs Creek Foundation hopes the restoration of the historic course will put it on the map for future PGA Tour events, offering an alternative to the region's private courses like Merion Golf Club, Aronimink Golf Club and the Philadelphia Cricket Club. The restoration is being featured in a three-part Golf Channel documentary that also traces Cobbs Creek's history. The first episode premiered this month and the final two will be released in 2026 and 2027.
