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Jim McCann

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I was very surprised to discover today that the first golf club in the US is listed as South Carolina Golf Club
in Charleston as I'd always understood the first club was established a century later in the 1880's.

Can anybody tell me what happened to this pioneering club (did it disappear off the face of the earth) and
why did it take another 100 years for other clubs to get in on the act?

Thanks.

Jim_Kennedy

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Jim,
As far as the club itself, I don't know. The 'golf course' sounds rudimentary in this snippet from the Preservation Society of Charleston.

"It is thought that the first organized golf played in America was on Harleston Green, undeveloped pastureland near the corner of Pitt and Bull streets. As early as 1743, Charleston merchant David Deas received a shipment of 432 golf balls and ninety-six clubs from Scotland. Golf historians suggest that the early game was played without a set number of holes, no greens, and no designated teeing areas. Players used clubs to move a ball across the field and into a crudely dug hole in the ground. Because the holes were not clearly marked, golfers sent "finders," forerunners of today's caddies, to stand by the hole and alert others of the approaching shot by yelling "fore." After completion of a hole, a player would tee off at a distance of two club-lengths away from that hole. Equipment included a ball, or "feathery," made of leather and stuffed with feathers while clubs consisted of a "play club," a series of "woods," and a utility iron for tight spots.
Enthusiasts organized the South Carolina Golf Club on September 29, 1786, and five years later announced its anniversary in the City Gazette.
Charleston golfers moved north to the Chicora Golf Club Links in 1899.........."


In an older thread about SCGC,  http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,46375.0.html , Tom Doak said: "The Charleston club has no records between 1800 and 1899 when someone founded a new course and attached themselves to the old history".
« Last Edit: November 16, 2011, 06:52:27 PM by Jim_Kennedy »
"I never beat a well man in my life" - Harry Vardon

ward peyronnin

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Jim

The Savannah Golf Club has attached its provenanace to that original club:

from its website

"Welcome to The Savannah Golf Club

The Savannah Golf Club is a private, member owned club which has existed to serve the social and recreational interests of its members since 1794.

The full service facility provides friendly and gracious service in an atmosphere conducive to good fellowship and camaraderie only found in exemplary Golf Country Clubs. "
"Golf is happiness. It's intoxication w/o the hangover; stimulation w/o the pills. It's price is high yet its rewards are richer. Some say its a boys pastime but it builds men. It cleanses the mind/rejuvenates the body. It is these things and many more for those of us who truly love it." M.Norman

Jim McCann

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Jim and Ward.

Thanks for the replies.

Savannah's claim appears a little bit tenuous to me, actually, but I'm not going to argue over the matter.

Suffice to say, some sort of (semi)organized golf was being played at the end of the 18th century in the state of South Carolina.

Jim_Kennedy

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Ward,
I don't know how the SGC, Georgia, 1794, could be attaching itself to a Charleston, South Carolina club that was formed in 1786, but c'est la vie.  ;D

Jim,
You're welcome.
"I never beat a well man in my life" - Harry Vardon

RSLivingston_III

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Great topic. maybe the grounds will be identified and the US will have its own equivalent of Leith Links.
"You need to start with the hickories as I truly believe it is hard to get inside the mind of the great architects from days gone by if one doesn't have any sense of how the equipment played way back when!"  
       Our Fearless Leader

Jim_Kennedy

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RSL111,
The two streets Pitt and Bull, are still there.

Maybe Joel Zuckerman knows the exact location.



The first American golf club, the South Carolina Golf Club, was formed in 1786 and played on the Harleton Green. Local South Carolina low country resident Barbara Shipman was commissioned to paint the scene [in the style of the period]. This can be seen on flyleaf cover of the book Golf Charms of Charleston by Joel Zuckerman.

a bit more:

The Village of Harleston, also frequently called Harleston’s Green, more rarely Harlestonborough, and more recently Harleston Village, was originally part of a grant made to John Coming and Henry Hughes in 1671-1672. After the death of Coming and his wife Affra Coming, it was inherited by Ms. Coming’s nephew, John Harleston, and his decendants. The section bore the Harleston name when it was developed and streets were opened in 1770. The Harlestons, during the Colonial period, were active in the government of the Province and also accomplished breeders of racehorses.
Streets in the Village of Harleston were named for prominent men of the period, in England and the Province. The Royal Governor, Lord Charles Greville Montagu, along with Lt. Gov. William Bull; Hecter Beranger de Beaufain, Collector of Customs and member of His Majesty’s Council; William Pitt, the British member of Parliament who defended Colonial rights; as well as John Rutledge, Thomas Lynch and Christopher Gadsden, who were active in the Provincial government and later leaders in the American Revolution; all were commemorated.
Despite its early creation, Harleston was but slowly covered with houses, and in 1819, a contemporary described it as indented with marsh and creeks.
A large part of Harleston was acquired by Thomas Bennett, Sr., who with Daniel Cannon, used the ebb and flow of the tides to power large lumber mills. Thus, the part of Harleston near the Ashley River was covered by huge mill ponds. The ponds persisted after the development of steam power, and were not filled until the 1880’s.
The first golf club in America, established in 1786 by British merchants, mainly Scots, held its meetings and annual dinners in its "Club House on Harleston Green."


edit: I remember reading somewhere that the War of 1812 killed American enthusiasm for the game of golf. No way to back that contention up, but it doesn't sound too far-fetched.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2011, 05:07:07 PM by Jim_Kennedy »
"I never beat a well man in my life" - Harry Vardon

RSLivingston_III

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Thats great that it has been found. Last I had heard its location was unknown. Thanks for the update/correction. Thats what this site is ultimately all  about.

r3
"You need to start with the hickories as I truly believe it is hard to get inside the mind of the great architects from days gone by if one doesn't have any sense of how the equipment played way back when!"  
       Our Fearless Leader