- The name Piqua comes from the Shawnee language and is commonly understood to mean “he has risen” or “one who grows from the ashes.”

It is a meaning rooted in renewal, resilience, and quiet strength.

That meaning has endured for centuries.
Today, it tells the story of Piqua Country Club.

Where It Began

Long before fairways were shaped and greens were cut, this land mattered.

In the late 1800s, the rolling acreage north of town—split by Rush Creek—was known as Kelly’s Bottom, later Kelly’s Grove. Anastasia Kelly and her husband transformed it into a picnic ground, a gathering place along the water where families fished, played games, and escaped summer heat. It was land meant for people.

By the mid-1890s, a small group of well-traveled Piqua sportsmen brought something new to Kelly’s Grove: golf. Having learned the game in Scotland, England, Ireland, and the eastern United States, they found that Piqua lacked only one thing, a place to play.

So they created one.

Golf has been played continuously on this property since 1896, placing Piqua among the oldest golf clubs in the United States and likely the oldest west of the Allegheny Mountains. Club championship matches began that same summer and, save for wartime interruptions, have continued ever since.

A Club Takes Shape

In 1920, the land was formally organized under the name Piqua Country Club. The following years marked a period of ambition and belief.

Members raised funds to build a new clubhouse and redesign the course. Legendary golf architect Donald Ross was hired, leaving his mark on the land, most notably the distinctive “chocolate drop” mounding that still defines parts of the course today.

When the new clubhouse opened in 1921, it was destroyed by fire within a week.

What followed matters more than the loss.

Rather than retreat, members rebuilt the same clubhouse the very next summer, stronger and unchanged in spirit. That response, quiet resolve instead of defeat, became part of the club’s DNA.

Endurance Through Change

The decades that followed tested that resolve.

The Great Depression reduced membership to just seventy. The club survived through an innovative insurance program funded by its own members, another example of community saving what mattered.

Growth returned. A swimming pool was added in 1936. Facilities expanded through the 1950s and 60s. When Interstate 75 cut through the original course, the club adapted again—purchasing land, rerouting holes, and continuing forward.

In 1975, with the noted Architecture Firm of Kidwell/Hurdzan as the designer, Piqua Country Club opened it’s second nine, a culmination of years of planning, land acquisition, and hard work.

Time changed the club, but it never erased its foundation.

A Legacy Worth Restoring

In recent years, Piqua Country Club faced a familiar challenge—not a lack of potential, but a lack of consistency and connection.

The fundamentals were still here:

• Exceptional land
• Deep history
• A meaningful place in the community

What was needed was stewardship.

A New Chapter Begins

Under a lease-to-own framework led by Piqua CC’s Members and the Melissa and Dalton Dodd, Piqua Country Club enters a new chapter—one built on accountability, local roots, and proven execution.

This approach is not theoretical.

The same hands-on leadership revitalized Jasper Hills Golf Club and Sugar Valley Golf Club, restoring trust through visible action, steady investment, and a commitment to doing things the right way.

Now, that model comes to Piqua.

Midwest Work Ethic. Community First.

This rebirth is not about flashy promises or shortcuts.

It is about:

• Putting the course first
• Putting members and guests at the center
• Rebuilding pride through action, not words

The work is intentional. The progress is measured. Trust is earned step by step.

Just like the meaning of Piqua itself—growth that comes from effort, not accident.

Rising Together

Long before the town carried the name, a Shawnee village stood here.
The name endured because it meant something.

Today, Piqua Country Club honors that meaning—not by living in the past, but by moving forward with purpose.

This is not a reinvention.
It is a restoration.

This is Piqua Country Club—rising again, with its community.