Set in Atglen on rolling farmland, Moccasin Run Golf Club seems like an oasis. The course is meticulously maintained. Large granite stones mark the entrance and the holes. It’s a public course—meaning you can play by paying just greens fee—no initial investment or membership fees are required, though you can become a member.

“We try to make it like a private club, but available to the public,” says Curt King, who has owned and operated the course since 1988 with wife Grace. She offers family hospitality in the new modern, comfortable clubhouse, surrounded by a deck with expansive views of the course.

Curt clearly is a hands-on owner. He talks about acquiring the former farmland from his father and his brothers; about how his father Paul chose the architect John Thompson because Thompson fit a PGA Championship course—required in King’s mind—into about 100 acres. “Maybe we lucked out. The customers: they just love this layout. 

Placement of trees, positioning of bunkers, water hazards, changes in elevation and equipment to maintain the turf are topics dear to Curt’s heart. And in his mind, he’s constantly tinkering. He modestly credits John Thompson for the course, but in the years since, he has become its new architect.