From the ruins of Anaconda, Montana’s first fire-spewing copper smelter, a 220-acre golf
course designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus ties together the old company town’s history
and a memorable golf experience. Nicklaus, along with city fathers, corporate heads and the
Environmental Protection Agency, has transformed the former eyesore into a public
showplace, readily accessible from Interstate 90 just west of Butte.
Warm Springs Creek, a
trout-stocked stream lined with granite slabs from the old mill, sweeps around the 1st,
10th, and 11th holes. Remnants of century-old stone furnaces and smokestacks blend with
turf grass and teal rocks, colored by the copper-smelting process. Bunkers filled with
ebony-black slag, a harmless by-product of smelting, accent green fairways. Course
amenities include a practice facility, a golf shop and brick clubhouse, and a restaurant
that’s reminiscent of buildings during Anaconda’s boom days.
For information, contact: Old
Works Golf Course, (888) 229-4833, oldworks.org.
