The Greens at North Hills
Located in my hometown of Sherwood, The Greens at North Hills was originally named the Sylvan Hills Country Club and was built in the Sylvan Hills community along Highway 107 in 1926. It was built by real estate developer Justin Matthews to provide recreational opportunities for residents living in the Park Hill subdivision in North Little Rock, as well as residents of his planned community called Sylvan Hills.
A 1927 newspaper ad stated that the Sylvan Hills Country Club boasted of a “magnificent field stone clubhouse, a swimming pool, four other buildings, and an 18-hole golf course, which has been pronounced as one of the finest in the state.” The swimming pool was the first public one opened in Arkansas.
The Sylvan Hills Country Club was very successful up until the early 1930s, when America entered the Great Depression. As people had less disposable income for recreational activities, the country club closed. Milk cows from the nearby Salyer Dairy
Farm were herded to the golf course to graze the fields during the summer of 1936 and into the mid-1940s.
After the end of World War II, several original members of the country club returned, reorganized the country club, and repurchased the land. A new clubhouse was built around 1946 on the original clubhouse’s foundation. However, unlike the original twostory building, the new clubhouse was only one story. The greens were also rehabilitated following many years of neglect and misuse.
As finances were still tight after World War II, management purchased slot machines to help generate funds. Club members paid a hefty joining fee, but the fee was offset by the fact that there were no monthly dues.
The slot machines were successful, in that they made enough money to cover the club’s expenses, as well as turn a modest profit. However, when Gov. Sid Mcmath began a campaign to end illegal gambling in Hot Springs, club officials feared that state law enforcement authorities would soon be sent to destroy the machines at Sylvan Hills.
Club employees took the slot machines to a wooded area near the golf course at night and buried them, but the machines were found and destroyed.
In July 1950, Metropolitan
Trust Co. (owned by the heirs of Justin Matthews) began selling residential lots alongside Sylvan
Hills Country Club. As Sherwood grew, a huge demand was created for new homes in the area. In 1956, Sylvan Hills Country Club was renamed North Hills Country Club.
The club’s second clubhouse caught fire and burned in May 1961. Almost immediately, the leaders of the new North Hills Country Club made plans to rebuild. With money from their insurance claim, the club built a small “teen building” behind the swimming pool and used this as a clubhouse while a new clubhouse was being built. Construction on the new structure began in October 1962 and was finished in December 1963 at a cost of approximately $300,000.
In 1977, one of the world’s leading golf course architects, Robert Trent Jones, Sr. was brought in to redesign the outdated 1920s golf course.
The total cost to remodel the greens was around $800,000. This is the only course designed by Jones, Sr. in Arkansas.
No longer profitable, the North Hills Country Club officially closed in May 2007. An offer was presented to the owners to purchase the land for use as a residential development. This caused a major uproar among many of the citizens of Sherwood, especially those who frequented the links and owned homes alongside the golf course.
After much debate, the city settled all claims against the property and purchased it with taxpayer funds. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, making it one of only two properties in Sherwood granted the designation, the other being my favorite building in Arkansas -- the Roundtop Filling Station.
A sixth-generation Arkansan, Darrell Brown is a lover of all things Arkansas. He lives in Saline County with his wife, Amy, and their beloved Boston Terrier, Dixie. His previous columns can be found at Allaroundarkansas.blogspot. com.