History of Jake Gaither Golf Course

On May 1, 2023, the City of Tallahassee's Jake Gaither Golf Course celebrated another milestone in its rich 66-year history. The legendary golf course's much anticipated historical marker was unveiled during a special community celebration.

Added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug. 9, 2022, by the National Park Service, the nine-hole course was opened in 1956 by the City, giving African Americans a place to play golf during a time when they were restricted from playing elsewhere. It quickly became a community hub, serving as the site of Guinness World Record attempts and home base for the Florida A&M University Golf Team until the early 1970s. Today, Jake Gaither Golf Course shines brighter than ever, welcoming thousands of golfers each year from every walk of life.

Attaining this prestigious designation took years of research and documentation, an effort spearheaded by Scott Edwards, a historic preservationist and the Florida Historic Golf Trail Coordinator at the Florida Department of State. To encapsulate this newest milestone, the City created a book of the research completed to earn the historic designation, taking the reader on a journey from the arrival of golf in Florida circa 1886 to the 1952 land purchase by the City that would allow for the development of the Jake Gaither Golf Course to course renovations in 2021.

Read the Full History of Jake Gaither Golf Course.