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Elbel opened 1965, on the city's own chronology
So the map is exact: Two of the names that travel with the country clubs are not clubs at all. Elbel Golf Course is a municipal course: the city parks department's own chronology records Elbel Park purchased in 1961 for $35,000, $800,000 in bonds sold in 1963 for the Pinhook, Elbel, and Voorde work, and "1965 — Elbel Golf Course opens at the cost of $550,000." The park, at more than 300 acres the city's largest, sits outside the city limits and carries the name of Richard Elbel, the park commissioner who retired in 1937 after 28 years on the board. Course databases variously date Elbel's opening to 1963 or 1964; the city's own chronology governs here, and the conflict is printed rather than averaged. The city's Erskine course is likewise municipal, and the Blackthorn course is city-owned and public. Membership at any of them is a greens fee; they stand in this section only to keep the private map honest.
Sources:
- City of South Bend, parks department chronology — Elbel Park purchased 1961 ($35,000); bonds sold 1963; Elbel Golf Course opened 1965 at a cost of $550,000; Richard Elbel's 28 years on the park board.
- Golf course databases (GolfNow and course directories) — Elbel's opening variously given as 1963 and 1964, against the city chronology.