WORTHINGTON — All black government helicopters swirling above, members of the United States Secret Service, back-to-back holes-in-one, breathtaking views and concerts filled with fun. You name it, The Links at Worthington has probably seen it.

Celebrating its 120th season this year, the 5,579-yard par 70 course has nine holes (technically 10, since hole 15 is an extra hole only played on the back nine) and a history as rich as they come.

Owners David and Helen Pollard took over at Worthington in 2018, and they’ve turned it into an inclusive place – where kids under the age of 18 play completely free of charge – that is about much more than just swinging sticks at a tiny ball.

“It's not a real huge money-maker, it’s a labor of love,” David Pollard said. “We do it because we feel it's important; another place for kids to go and people to feel welcome. A lot of people call this their safe space, their happy place – outside of their golf experience. There are other places that lean into the excellence of their golf course, and they should. We've got a great little course, but it's more than that. It's the community, it's fun, it's chill, it's a little looser environment. And so to us, that's what’s really important.”

The old, Scottish-style course was carved out of a hill in Worthington by farmers who used to own the land. Now a century and two decades later, who would’ve thought the course would have the resume it does.

Back in 1976, George Torrey and Art Rolland stepped to the ninth tee box, a 148-yard par 3, down one stroke in their match against a pair of golfers from Westfield. A birdie would likely square things up.

They both had other plans.

Torrey went first. He stepped up and one-hopped his ball into the hole for an ace. Then came Rolland. And evidently there was enough room in the hole for another ball, as he, too, sank a hole-in-one within minutes of his partner. The match swung in their favor, and they appeared in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for their improbable feat.

“Could you imagine that?” Helen Pollard said. “It was the only way they could win their round and they did it.”

Around the same time, George Shultz, former President Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of State and former President Richard Nixon’s Secretary of the Treasury, was a regular at Worthington.

The Pollards have been connected with Worthington for over 40 years, so they got to know Shultz really well. He even brought a $1 bill (one he signed) with the numbers “1904” on it – the year of the course’s inception – to Worthington as a souvenir in 1973.

Of course, Shultz could never stop by without making quite the entrance.

“He was a great friend to us, he’s a great guy,” Pollard said of Shultz, who passed away at the age of 100 in 2021. “But it was weird to see black helicopters land and the secret service guys with Uzis out, wearing sunglasses, it was like, ‘Whoa.’”

Shultz would play at The Links all the time throughout the summer, and he’d always be asked by members of the club why he – someone who could pull strings to play at any course in America – consistently came back.

His response was rather simple.

“Why would I play anywhere else?” Shultz inquired. “This is my happy place.”

And it’s certainly become exactly that to the over 130 current members at The Links at Worthington.

Struggles are common at No. 7

If you leave the seventh hole at Worthington with a bogey at worst, you’re probably happy. For a right-handed player, the tee shot is nearly impossible to keep in the fairway. A group of tall trees stand in the way of your path to the left side of the short grass, and there is nothing but woods and out-of-bounds all down the right.

And the entire hole slopes hard from left to right. That said, right-handed players essentially have to hit a draw (good luck if you’re an average player) to keep it in the fairway.

It’s a long and narrow 528-yard par 5 with a brook that runs in front of the green – causing it to almost always be a three-shot hole. The green – like a lot of them at Worthington – is undulating as well. There is nothing easy about No. 7.

“If you walk away with a five on seven, you feel really good about it,” David Pollard said.

So how do you do that?

Well, again, avoiding the trees on the right is a start. But that’s much easier said than done because the trees on the left don’t let righties play the traditional fade they’re accustomed to setting up for.

Pollard has seen players make some very high numbers on the seventh hole. Here’s how he would advise you to play it:

“Stay left, and stay in the upper side of the fairway,” David Pollard said. “Do not get caught up in the pine trees on the right below, or you'll never get out. So many guys will try to get cute coming out of those trees if they do get in them, and they never get out of them. Then there's a creek running across there. It's blind. You can't really see it. You gotta stay short of that. And it's a very tough green. There are no easy places to put the pin on seven. Ideally you hit your approach in the middle of the green and play for two putts.”

Through the uprights to No. 6

You can’t get to the sixth green without splitting two old maple trees that straddle each side of it. They act as field goal posts – your ball has to go through them in order to be rewarded.

In front of the green are two huge bunkers, and the green slopes from front to back with two tiers. Elite precision is required to hit the putting surface on this 148-yard par 3.

Pollard knows those two maple trees – which have been standing for about 150 years – don’t have much time before they come down. But he and Helen are clinging on to them because they make the hole what it is.

“They’re charming,” Helen said.

“If you cut those down, that hole becomes a whole lot easier,” David added. “We’re gonna have to replace them, but I don’t think we want to do that until we actually have to. Nobody that plays here wants to see them go.”

Garrett Cote is a Daily Hampshire Gazette sports reporter. He can be reached at gcote@gazettenet.com