This article first appeared in the September 2026 issue of NCGA GOLF Magazine
By Mike Jamieson
The year is 1940. Europe is embroiled in another war that threatens to go global while Japan is waging war in China and the Far East. The United States does not desire another war with either country, but it may be inevitable. Planners know that the U.S. has the manpower and the industrial base, but are there enough strategic materials? Rubber, oil, tin and copper are all strategic materials that will be needed, as well as an unexpected material--cork.
Most of us think of cork as the indispensable material holding in the flavor of our favorite bottle of wine, but in World War II it was so much more.
Whether you’re Mush Morton, Skipper of the submarine USS Wahoo, Jimmy Stewart flying B-17 missions or war correspondent Ernie Pyle, you depended on this simple material. Cork was used in submarine insulation, helmet liners, canteens, and many other military uses.
So where do golf courses enter the picture? First, a little context.
Cork Oak trees are found in Portugal, Spain and North Africa, markets that were closed to the U.S. in WWII. The trees are easily identified by their wrinkly bark, which when harvested by stripping the tree (which does not harm the tree) is processed into useful items like cork for wine bottles, stoppers and bottle caps, as well as their many military uses. Could America develop a long-term strategy to become “Cork Independent?”
If you want to grow Cork Oaks in the U.S. it helps to have good soil, and warm temperatures, which Northern California has in abundance. Researchers discovered groves of Cork Oaks near Napa and Davis that were thriving. They had been planted decades before to supply the growing wine industry with the needed stoppers. UC Davis grew hundreds of thousands of seedlings from those acorns. But where to plant them and make sure they are looked after?
If you said one idea was golf courses, you are on the money. Woodbridge Metcalf led the statewide project, and seedlings were given away to anyone who would promise to plant 25 or more.
I first heard the story in the 1960’s when, as a young junior golfer at Peninsula Golf & Country Club, Leo, a Dutch greenskeeper, would tell me stories about the course. It was 50 years later before I tracked down the full story. We had cork trees in three separate locations on the course, all dating back exactly to the 1940’s. But what about other golf courses?
I scoured hundreds of newspaper articles and found an assortment of courses. Contra Costa CC popped up right away.
Club Historians George Godfrey and Pam Thurston quickly confirmed the course still had the trees and sent pictures to me of the 9th hole.
Next came Salinas G&CC, now known as The Club at Crazy Horse Ranch. Superintendent Rafael Barajas Gomez hadn’t heard the story, but he was excited to know the history and graciously sent me photos of the five remaining trees. Likewise, Gerry Stratford from Menlo CC reported that they have periodic Cork Oaks as well.
Some golf courses seemed to just miss out. Stanford University has several cork oaks on campus but none on the course. Likewise, Tilden Regional Park and Coyote Park have their share in the Park area, but none reported on the courses themselves.
Author David Taylor’s excellent book, Cork Wars, detailed the entire history of this hidden story of WWII. He pointed me to a database on the Naturalist Website where you can post cork oak sightings. There were postings throughout Northern California, but golf course sightings were absent, likely because some clubs might not welcome random hikers, but we can improve on our Cork Oak census.
So fellow NCGA Members, the next time you stroll down a fairway, or better yet, in the trees, stop and look around for oak trees with wrinkly bark. Share it on social media channels or let us know.
As for Peninsula G&CC? The Club created a History Award for the employee who has distinguished themselves for helping to preserve Club History. Artist Jim Fitzpatrick, whose NCGA Hall of Fame paintings decorate the main hallway at Poppy Hills, created a bronze medallion designed after an actual Cork Oak on the property.
Cork may have helped win a war, but the golf courses that have them have benefited for over 75 years.