Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield Township, N.J., is "hoping to join Merion, Oakmont and Pinehurst as a National Historic Landmark," according to Lisa Mickey of the N.Y. TIMES. The club's nomination will "go before the National Historic Landmarks Committee, a subcommittee of the National Park Service Advisory Board, in November." The club's designation as a National Landmark "could come as soon as late spring" or early summer of '14. Baltusrol 10 years ago was "placed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places," and later applied for "inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, which it achieved" in '05. Baltusrol member and historian Rick Wolffe said that among the "benefits of being on the state and national registers is to be recognized for playing a significant role in the history of golf" in the U.S. Wolffe: "The National Register and the National Historic Landmark designations provide various levels of protection from future outside development projects that could have a negative impact on the historic integrity of Baltusrol’s two Tillinghast courses and its clubhouse." National Park Service Public Affairs Specialist Mike Litterst said that sporting sites like golf courses must "undergo the same scrutiny as any other site hoping to be recognized for its historic significance." Mickey notes historic designations are "sometimes 'delisted' because of drastic departures from their original designs." Litterst said that Soldier Field's renovations in '03 altered the stadium's "character and integrity." It was delisted the following year "and lost its designation as a National Historic Landmark" in '06 (N.Y. TIMES, 7/29).
