Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Baldoc Hills Country Club (later Lincoln Hills Country Club) was a Jewish country club in Westmoreland County, located in Irwin near Route 30 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Baldoc Hills Country Club was established as a public course in 1941 by a group of non-Jewish investors. The club received attention at the time for the extra hole on its golf course, a “trick” hole surrounded by water, used for settling bets and staging hole-in-one contests. The club became a home for the early years of the Dapper Dan golf tournament.
McKeesport radio station owner Edward J. Hirshberg acquired the Baldoc Hills Country Club in March 1948 for approximately $350,000. With the sale, the club officially became private and non-sectarian, although the membership for many years was largely Jewish. A syndicate of 250 people led by Judge Samuel A. Weiss attempted to purchase the club from Hirshberg in 1949 for $420,000, but the deal fell through before closing. Real-estate developers Harry and Joseph Soffer acquired Baldoc Hills Country Club from Hirshberg and leased it back to members under the name to the Lincoln Hills Country Club. The members acquired the club outright for approximately $1 million in early 1966. At the time of the sale, Lincoln Hills Country Club had 359 members.
Greg Liprando acquired the club in 1977. It became semiprivate, allowing the public to use the facilities but requiring a dress code and reserving certain tee times for members.
Bibliography
- Baldoc Hills Country Club photographs [2022.0003] (catalog record).
- Lincoln Hills Country Club records, from Charles Kirshner papers [2006.0379].
Exhibit history
- Author: Eric Lidji
- Original: July 6, 2026
- Current: July 6, 2026
Acknowledgements
- This entry was made possible through a gift from Westmoreland Country Club.