World-class, working class: Reviving the legacy of Goat Hill Park Golf Course | Golf Channel
Goodill Park has a special place in Oceanside, in municipal golf, in golf in general. Come one, come all, and more importantly, come in what makes you feel comfortable. It’s a park where you happen to play golf and so much more. The place has gone from rags to a rich look, but has maintained an affordable rate. The question that might never have an answer or might never need to be answered. Did John Ashworth save Goatill Park? Or did Goatill Park save John Ashworth? John Ashworth and all of the folks that make Goatill Park tick are as golfy and true to the game as you can possibly be. Up here is a family. You know, I think that’s led by John. He’s really the heartbeat of this place. When your boss is the one up at 6:00 a.m. pulling the weeds and moving the dirt and building bunkers, uh there doesn’t need to be much said. I would say it is uh the title would be caretaker. Well, I was introduced by my father. He was a school teacher and so he’d get the summers off, so we played a lot of golf in the summer. And uh my mom went on this kick at one point and had us all go to Sunday school when I was about that age. And I went one time and I was just not into it. And I think I complained so hard that they gave me a choice. I could either go to Sunday school or go caddyy for my dad. That’s how I got introduced to golf. And I’m sure he probably pulled the cart half the time. But uh well, golf became this kind of retreat, this getaway, this I think it became my religion in a way. The story of Goatill is that they were going to turn this place into soccer fields and John and his buddies got together and went down to the courthouse and petitioned for them to be able to get the course and to keep it. This place certainly made me realize why I loved golf. We share the same passion for what golf can do for the community. What happened with Goatill Park was a lot of the courses around here, the three or four c the course I grew up on that I caddy for my dad, St. Louis Ray went away. Of course, I played high school golf. Eskanino Country Club went away and we would play Goatill Park and it was real scabby. It was mostly dirt, but it’s been around since 1952 and it was protected by a municipality that said if you change the use, you would have to go to the vote of the people. A handful of us got the crazy idea to go, let’s save Goat Hill and build a community around this place. They said, “Okay, we got to go with your plan, John.” And uh and then I was sort of like, “Oh my god, I didn’t I never thought we’d get it. We were just trying to look like we were doing something.” Came home and I said, “Honey, I bought a zoo, you know.” So, you know, we just kind of scrapped and clawed and one day after another and just kept, you know, working on still working on it to this day and everybody just, you know, believed in that we could fix it up. It’s not a country club. One of our little mottos is world class working class. You know, you just have to get up and do it every day and show up for the people that come here. And, you know, we got a fairly small crew. We got Laz who’s our superintendent and then six green keepers. And they all love it and give it their all. And I want them to feel like it’s their place. We’re just all passing through anyway. Nobody really owns anything. We get humbled and then we come back the next day. It’s a silly game and uh but it it does it does connect people.
Goat Hill Park Golf Course holds a special place in the Oceanside, California community – in no small part thanks to the efforts of its Caretaker, John Ashworth. The full episode of @Grass_League’s 2025 Summer Grind presented by LA Golf (held at Goat Hill Park) premieres at 8pm ET, September 18th, right here on Golf Channel YouTube. Tune in live for the premiere and see all the action! #Golf #GrassLeague #GolfChannel
» Subscribe to Golf Channel: https://www.youtube.com/golfchannel?sub_confirmation=1
» For the latest news around golf: https://www.nbcsports.com/golf
Welcome to Golf Channel’s official YouTube channel. We are the #1 destination for everything golf – 24/7. Find golf instruction tips, sneak peeks to our original series, news and tournament coverage. We are part of the NBC Sports Group.
Discover what else Golf Channel has to offer:
Live Coverage on Peacock: https://peacocktv.smart.link/v82e9dl56
Live Scores: http://bit.ly/GCScores
TV Schedule: https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/schedule
Instructional Tips: https://www.golfpass.com/learn
Golf Course Reviews: http://bit.ly/GCCourseReviews
World-class, working class: Reviving the legacy of Goal Hill Park Golf Course | Golf Channel
https://www.youtube.com/golfchannel?sub_confirmation=1
3 Comments
John Ashworth is the GOAT of Goat Hill Park! We feel incredibly lucky to have held a Grass League event there.
incredible and inspiring
I live in North County and played Goat Hill a lot back in the '90s and early 2000's. We had a lot of fun there but it was getting run down by the end and we started playing over in Escondido( Vineyard, Meadow Lake, etc.) I heard it was one of the sites considered for a new Chargers statium but I'm glad that fell through. My brother mentioned that it's been renovated and had a fun round there recently. Plan on playing there in a couple of weeks. Nice post. Thanks