What were the first 76 Golf Clubs in the US?

[Sven Nilsen]

Copied below is an article from the November 22, 1898 edition of The Day.  The article is worth reading just for Tom Bendelow's thoughts on the early development of the game in this country, but for our purposes I am focusing on the statement that in 1895 there were 76 "established golf clubs" in existence (a number that would rise to 750 by the date of the article).

So what were those 76 clubs?

There's an 1895 book called "Golf In America; A Practical Manual" by James Lee that provides some answers.  Here are the courses noted in that work:

Colorado Springs GC
Unnamed course assumed to be Overland Park Club
Belmont GC (original site of Chicago GC)
Chicago GC*
Senator Farwell Estate (not sure if this would have been recognized as an established club)
Essex County Club***
Myopia Hunt Club***
Prides Crossing GC
The Country Club*
Montclair GC
Morris County GC**
Orange Mountain GC
Meadow Brook Hunt Club**
Richmond County CC***
Shinnecock Hills GC*
St. Andrews GC*
Tuxedo GC**
Germantown Cricket Club
Merion Cricket Club
Philadelphia CC**
Newport GC*

*Denotes USGA charter member
**Denotes a USGA Associate club in 1895
*** Denotes a USGA Allied club in 1895

In addition, the following clubs were also USGA Allied or Associate clubs in 1895:

Lenox GC
Baltusrol GC
Lakewood GC
North Jersey CC
Albany CC
Knollwood CC (NY)
Westbrook GC

That's 28 of 76 for the list of probable suspects.  What else?

[Jim_Kennedy]

         1854
 Philadelphia Cricket Club
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvani
          1856
 Germania Town & Country Club
 Saginaw, Michigan
          1875
 Vesper Country Club
 Tyngsboro, Massachusetts

          1878
 Rockaway Hunting Club
 Cedarhurst, New York

          1879
 Olympic Club
 San Francisco, California

          1880
Edgewood Club of Tivoli
Tivoli, New York

         1881
 Meadow Brook Club
 Jericho, New York
   
         1882
 Pittsburgh Field Club
 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

 The Country Club
 Brookline, Massachusetts

1885 Tuxedo Golf Club
 Tuxedo Park, New York

      1886
 Dorset Field Club
 Dorset, Vermont

       1887
 Dakota Dunes Country Club
 Dakota Dunes, South Dakota
 (originally located in Sioux City, Iowa)

 Essex County Country Club
 West Orange, New Jersey

 Foxburg Country Club
 Foxburg, Pennsylvania

 Onteora Club
 Tannersville, New York

 Quogue Field Club
 Quogue, New York

         1888
 Ausable Club
 Saint Huberts, New York

 Richmond County Country Club
 Staten Island, New York

St. Andrew's Golf Club
 Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
 (originally located in Yonkers, New York)

 Town & Country Club
 St. Paul Minnesota

         1889
 Binghamton Country Club
 Binghamton, New York

 Buffalo Country Club
 Buffalo, New York

 Exeter Country Club
 Exeter, New Hampshire

 Middlesboro Club
 Middlesboro, Kentucky

 The Country Club
 Cleveland, Ohio

 White Bear Lake Yacht Club
 White Bear Lake, Minnesota

         1890
 Apawamis Club
 Rye, New York

 Albany Country Club
 Albany, New York

Bluff Point Golf Club
 Lake Champlain, New York

 Philadelphia Country Club
 Gladwyne, Pennsylvania

 Plainfield Country Club
 Plainfield, New Jersey

 Ridgewood Country Club
 Ridgewood, New Jersey

 Westhampton Country Club
 Westhampton, New York

          1891
Grindstone Neck Golf Club
 Winter Harbor, Maine

 Maidstone Club
 East Hampton, New York

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club
 Southampton, New York

            1892
 Bedford Golf & Tennis Club
 Bedford Village, New York

 Chevy Chase Club
 Chevy Chase, Maryland

Chicago Golf Club
 Wheaton, Illinois

 Country Club of Farmington
 Farmington, Connecticut

 Downers Grove Golf Course
 Downers Grove, Illinois

 Fairfield Golf & Country Club
 Fairfield, Iowa

 Gearhart Golf Links
 Gearhart, Oregon

 Glen Arven Country Club
 Thomasville, Georgia

 Greenwich Country Club
 Greenwich, Connecticut

 Highland Golf Course
 Truro, Massachusetts

 Litchfield Country Club
 Litchfield, Connecticut

 Merchantville Country Club
 Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Milton-Hoosic Golf Club
 Canton, Ohio

 Moorestown Field Club
 Moorestown, New Jersey

Palmetto Golf Club
 Aiken, South Carolina

 Passaic County Golf Course
 Wayne, New Jersey

 Powelton Club
 Newburgh, New York

 St. Louis Country Club
 St. Louis, Missouri

          1893
 Burlingame Country Club
 Hillsborough, California

 Country Club of New Canaan
 New Canaan, Connecticut

 Eagle Springs Golf Resort
 Eagle, Wisonsin

 Essex Country Club
 Manchester, Massachusetts

Hampton Roads Golf Club
 Hampton Roads, Virginia

Harbor Point Golf Club
 Harbor Point, Maine

 Kahkwa Club
 Erie, Pennsylvania

Montclair Golf Club
 Montclair, New Jersey

Newport Golf Club
 Newport, Rhode Island

Riverside Golf Club
 Riverside, Illinois

Poland Spring Golf Club
 Poland Spring, Maine

 Segregansett Country Club
 Taunton, Massachusetts

Stockbridge Golf Club
 Stockbridge, Massachusetts

         1894
Baltimore Golf Club
 Baltimore, Maryland

Cohasset Golf Club
 Quincy, Massachusetts

 Country Club of Asheville
 Asheville, North Carolina

 Country Club of Bristol
 Bristol, Tennessee

 Glen Ridge Country Club
 Glen Ridge, New Jersey

 Janesville Country Club
 Janesville, Wisconsin

 Knollwood Country Club
 Elmsford, New York

 Milwaukee Country Club
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Morris Country Golf Club
 Morristown, New Jersey

 Myopia Hunt Club
 Hamilton, Massachusetts

Otsego Golf Club
 Otsego, New York

 Point Judith Country Club
 Narragansett, Rhode Island

 Portage Club
 Akron, Ohio

 Powelton Club
 Newburgh, New York

 Siasconset Golf Course
 Siasconset, Massachusetts

Storm King Golf Club
 Cornwall, New York

Tacoma Golf Club
 Tacoma, Washington

Washington Golf & CC
 Arlington, Virginia

 Waveland Golf Course
 Des Moines, Iowa

 Westchester Country Club
 Rye, New York

Weston Golf Club
 Weston, Massachusetts 1895
 Allegheny Country Club
 Sewickley, Pennsylvania

 Ardsley Country Club
 Ardley-on-Hudson, New York

Baltusrol Golf Club
 Springfield, New Jersey

 Brooklawn Country Club
 Fairfield, Connecticut

Cincinnati Golf Club
 Cincinnati, Ohio

 Clinton Country Club
 Clinton, Connecticut

 Concord Country Club
 Concord, Massachusetts

 Country Club of Rochester
 Rochester, New York

Cummaquid Golf Club
 Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts

 Duxbury Yacht Club
 Duxbury, Massachusetts

 Greenock Country Club
 Lee, Massachusetts

Lake Zurich Golf Club
 Lake Zurich, Illinois

Lexington Golf Club
 Lexington, Massachusetts

Loon Lake Golf Club
 Loon Lake, New York

Misquemicut Golf Club
 Westerly, Rhode Island

 Nittany Country Club
 Wayne, New Jersey

 Onwentsia Club
 Lake Forest, Illinois

 Pinehurst Country Club
 Pinehurst, North Carolina

 Portland Country Club
 Falmouth, Maine

Reservation Golf Club
 Mattapoisett, Massachusetts

Sadaquada Golf Club
 Whitesboro, New York

Salem Golf Club
 Peabody, Massachusetts

San Francisco Golf Club
 San Francisco, California

 Sharon Country Club
 Sharon, Connecticut

 Soangetaha Country Club
 Galesburg, Illinois

Springdale Golf Club
 Princeton, New Jersey

 Stockbridge Country Club
 Stockbridge, Massachusetts

 Tatnuck Country Club
 Worchester, Massachusetts

Twin Lake Village Golf Club
 New London, New Hampshire

Van Cortlandt Park Golf Club
 Bronx, New York

 Waterbury Country Club
 Waterbury, Connecticut

Wentworth-by-the-Sea Golf Club
 New Castle, New Hampshire

 Waumbek County Club
 Jefferson, New Hampshire

Wollaston Golf Club
 Milton, Massachusetts

[David_Tepper]

Jim Kennedy -

While the Olympic Club was founded in San Francisco over 150 years ago, making it the oldest athletic club in the U.S., I do not believe the club owned or operated a golf course until it purchased the Lakeside GC property in 1917.

DT 

[Jim_Kennedy]

David,
This is an old list I had which either came from the USGA or one of the golf magazines, can't remember which as I saved it under "old courses". 

Feel free to edit it.

[Sven Nilsen]

David and Jim:

I think that list is based on the date of the formation of the club, which doesn't always coincide with the date they first built a golf course.  I took a crack at adding in golf course dates, and I'll try to go through the list breaking it down into groups.

1854
Philadelphia Cricket Club - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1895 – S. Handford)
-Course later expanded to 18 holes in 1898 by W. Tucker and a group of members.

1856
Germania Town & Country Club - Saginaw, Michigan (1930 – Unknown)
-Unless the club was known by a different name, the first reference I've seen of this course dates to 1930.

1875
Vesper Country Club - Tyngsboro, Massachusetts (1896 – Findlay/Bowditch)

1878
Rockaway Hunting Club - Cedarhurst, New York (Pre-1895 – Unknown)
-Earliest reference I've seen is from 1895.

1879
Olympic Club - San Francisco, California (1917 – Reid/Fovargue)
-As David noted, the Olympic Club is much older than its golf course.

[DMoriarty]

Sven,  As a starting point you may want to track down a series from Outing from 1898 or 1899 in which they devoted articles on the golf courses in certain big cities and then regionally.  It is from a few years later than your inquiry, but you could work backwards from there.  I don't have the articles handy but one was called something like Gotham Golf and another called Golf Around the Hub.  The others should be easily findable if you find those.

Hope this helps.

Wasn't Watson involved at Olympic?

[Bill_McBride]

What's that nine holer on the north shore of Lake Otsego?  That historic, fun little sucker is from about 1892. 

[Sven Nilsen]

Next set:

1880
Edgewood Club of Tivoli - Tivoli, New York (1900 – Unknown)
-1900 is the earliest reference for a date I have for this course.

1881
Meadow Brook Club - Jericho, New York (1894 – Unknown)
-1894 fits with the information in the first post of this thread.

1882
Pittsburgh Field Club - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Pre-1900 – Unknown)
-Noted in the Harper's 1900 Guide as a 6 hole course.

The Country Club - Brookline, Massachusetts (1892/3 – Curtis/Bacon/Hunnewell)

1885
Tuxedo Golf Club - Tuxedo Park, New York (1889 – Unknown)

Additions to the list:

1884
Oakhurst Links – White Sulphur Springs, WV (1884 – Montague)

[Sven Nilsen]

David:

I didn't think Watson was involved at Olympic until the 20's.  I'm only adding in the names I have for the original courses, if available.

Bill:

I have Otsego on my list of additions and will include it when we get to the early 1890's.

Sven

[Sven Nilsen]

1886-1888

1886
Dorset Field Club - Dorset, Vermont (1886 – Unknown)

1887
Dakota Dunes Country Club - Dakota Dunes, South Dakota (Pre-1900 - Unknown)
-I have this as Sioux City GC in Sioux City, Iowa, was Dakota Dunes a different course?  I've also seen references to a Sioux City Boat Club dating back to around 1889 - 1892 (not sure exactly when they had a golf course).

Essex County Country Club - West Orange, New Jersey (1896 – Findlay)
-Was there a course there before Findlay's work in 1896?

Foxburg Country Club - Foxburg, Pennsylvania (1887 – Fox)

Onteora Club - Tannersville, New York (1887? – Unknown)
-Sources have the golf course “established in the 1890’s”

Quogue Field Club - Quogue, New York (1887 – Hepburn/Wilson)

1888
Ausable Club - Saint Huberts, New York (Pre-1900 – Unknown)

Richmond County Country Club - Staten Island, New York (1894 – Hunter/Armstrong/Park)

St. Andrew's Golf Club - Hastings-on-Hudson, New York (1888 - Reid)
-Course moved a couple of times before settling in its final location.

Town & Country Club - St. Paul Minnesota (1893 – McRee/Peet)

[Mark Bourgeois]

Outing is a good one. Also, if you go to the Seagle online at usgamuseum.com you can find The Golfer's Annual Guide 1899. It lists courses' dates of incorporation and when play began.

For example, Morristown (aka Morris County) incorporated in 1895 and its course existed in that year. It was maintained entirely by women. Subsequently the course was completely redone and reopened Nov 1897. Lot of stuff like that in the book. Hole by hole yardages, pictures.

[Sven Nilsen]

1889 and 1890

1889
Binghamton Country Club - Binghamton, New York (Pre-1899 – Unknown)

Buffalo Country Club - Buffalo, New York (Pre-1900 – Unknown)

Exeter Country Club - Exeter, New Hampshire (Pre-1900 – Unknown)

Middlesboro Club - Middlesboro, Kentucky (1889 – Unknown)

The Country Club - Cleveland, Ohio (1898 – Mitchell)

White Bear Lake Yacht Club - White Bear Lake, Minnesota (1912 – Watson)

1890
Apawamis Club - Rye, New York (1890 – Unknown)

Albany Country Club - Albany, New York (1894 – Unknown)

Bluff Point Golf Club - Lake Champlain, New York (1890 – Unknown)

Philadelphia Country Club - Gladwyne, Pennsylvania (1894 – Tucker)

Plainfield Country Club - Plainfield, New Jersey (1890 – Unknown)

Ridgewood Country Club - Ridgewood, New Jersey (Pre-1901 – Unknown)

Westhampton Country Club - Westhampton, New York (Pre-1900 – Unknown)

Additions:
Dutcher Golf Course – Pawling, New York (1890 – Unknown)

Here's an article from the July 9, 1929 edition of The Lewiston Daily Sun discussing the origins of Middlesboro:

[Sven Nilsen]

Outing is a good one. Also, if you go to the Seagle online at usgamuseum.com you can find The Golfer's Annual Guide 1899. It lists courses' dates of incorporation and when play began.

For example, Morristown (aka Morris County) incorporated in 1895 and its course existed in that year. It was maintained entirely by women. Subsequently the course was completely redone and reopened Nov 1897. Lot of stuff like that in the book. Hole by hole yardages, pictures.

Mark:

I've been through most of the early source materials, but don't think I've seen the 1899 guide you referenced.  There's nothing on the SEGL list of books that matches the title you noted.  There is a Harper's Guide from 1899 listed (I've fully examined the 1900 and 1901 versions), but for some reason if I try to access it it does not show up in the search results after being selected. 

Sven

[Sven Nilsen]

1891

Grindstone Neck Golf Club - Winter Harbor, Maine (1891 – Unknown)

Maidstone Club - East Hampton, New York (1891 – Unknown)

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club - Southampton, New York (1891 – Davis)

Additions:

Aetna Springs GC – Pope Valley, CA (1891 – Unknown)

Kebo Valley Golf Club – Bar Harbor, Maine (1891 – Unknown)



1892

Bedford Golf & Tennis Club - Bedford Village, New York (1896 – Unknown)

Chevy Chase Club - Chevy Chase, Maryland (1896 – Unknown)

Chicago Golf Club - Wheaton, Illinois (1895 – MacDonald/Whigham/Foulis/Foulis)

Country Club of Farmington - Farmington, Connecticut (1896 – Fenn)

Downers Grove Golf Course - Downers Grove, Illinois (1892 – MacDonald)

Fairfield Golf & Country Club - Fairfield, Iowa (1896 – Unknown)

Gearhart Golf Links - Gearhart, Oregon (1892 – Unknown)
-Other sources have 1891

Glen Arven Country Club - Thomasville, Georgia (1892 – Unknown)

Greenwich Country Club - Greenwich, Connecticut (1892 – Curtiss)

Highland Golf Course - Truro, Massachusetts (1892 – Unknown)

Litchfield Country Club - Litchfield, Connecticut (1893 – Unknown)

Merchantville Country Club - Cherry Hill, New Jersey (1892 – Unknown)

Milton-Hoosic Golf Club - Canton, Massachusetts (1895 – Unknown)
-The list Jim posted has this in Canton, Ohio

Moorestown Field Club - Moorestown, New Jersey (1892 – Findlay)

Palmetto Golf Club - Aiken, South Carolina (Pre-1892 – Hitchcock)

Passaic County Golf Course - Wayne, New Jersey (1925 – Unknown)

Powelton Club - Newburgh, New York (1898 – Findlay)

St. Louis Country Club - St. Louis, Missouri (1895 – Foulis/Foulis)

Additions:

Homestead (The) – Hot Springs, Virginia (1892 – Unknown)

Mare Island Golf Club – Vallejo, California (1892 – Unknown)

[PCCraig]

Sven,

At my home course there is a list/plaque that shows the first 50 member clubs of the USGA, I believe. Next time I'm there I can take a picture and post to see if it matches up with your work above.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Outing is a good one. Also, if you go to the Seagle online at usgamuseum.com you can find The Golfer's Annual Guide 1899. It lists courses' dates of incorporation and when play began.

For example, Morristown (aka Morris County) incorporated in 1895 and its course existed in that year. It was maintained entirely by women. Subsequently the course was completely redone and reopened Nov 1897. Lot of stuff like that in the book. Hole by hole yardages, pictures.

Mark:

I've been through most of the early source materials, but don't think I've seen the 1899 guide you referenced.  There's nothing on the SEGL list of books that matches the title you noted.  There is a Harper's Guide from 1899 listed (I've fully examined the 1900 and 1901 versions), but for some reason if I try to access it it does not show up in the search results after being selected. 

Sven

Sven:

1. Go here: http://usgamuseum.com/researchers/usga_segl/
2. In Keywords enter "guide" (without quotes)
3. In Limit by Specific Years enter 1899
4. Click Search button

Should be first result that pops up.

Good luck,

[John Burnes]

Great thread.  Related to this, I've always been interested in knowing the following for the United States:

How many courses (any number of holes), existed by year?  This does not mean including clubs that existed but did not have golf.

1891: How many courses, if you can include names, great.


1900 :


1910 :


1920 :

[Sven Nilsen]

Mark:

Thanks for the guidance.  I've actually seen that guide before.  The name threw me off, as I thought you were talking about something different. 

Pat:

There's a 1905 USGA book that lays out all of the member clubs at that point, indicating when they became members.

John:

Hoping to narrow that information down, at least for the early years.  Once you get past 1900 it gets hard to narrow it down to an exact number, as courses moved, changed names or simply just disappeared with no real record of when they went out of existence.

Here are some estimates from different sources at different times:

1895 - 76 clubs (from the article in the first post)
1898 - 750 clubs (from the same article)
1900 - 1,300 clubs (from the article below, which I believe was published in 1900 - I need to verify the source)

[John Burnes]

Sven-

What are the dates and source of the above mentioned articles?

Also, any idea of number of courses for 1910 and 1920?

[Sven Nilsen]

John:

The source info for the article in the first post is noted in that post.  As I stated, I'm not sure where the article in my last post came from, I'm trying to figure it out.

The various guides over the years contained listings of the courses in existence, but those listings were certainly not complete.  But they do give you a good idea as to a baseline.  Here are the number of courses included in these various guides (keep in mind that these numbers only reflect the courses that received an information request from the guides, and filled it out and sent it back in):

Harper's 1900 - 791
Harper's 1901 - 1018
1916 Annual Guide - 959
1917 Annual Guide - 1224
1920 Annual Guide - 1316
1921 Annual Guide - 1386
1922 Annual Guide - 1810
1923 Annual Guide - 2143
1925 Annual Guide - 2736
1926 Annual Guide - 3425
1927 Annual Guide - 3198
1928 Annual Guide - 3351
1929 Annual Guide - 3458
1931 Annual Guide - 3667

By my estimate, there were close to 7000 courses built before 1940.  Many of these did not survive and many were replaced by newer iterations.

There were three major periods of growth:

1.  The period between 1895 and 1900, when golf first exploded onto the scene in this country.
2.  The late teen years, although WWI certainly curtailed a lot of development.
3.  The 20's, when development was rampant.

Sven

PS - Here's a copy of one of the early Guide's request form for information:

[Sven Nilsen]

Here are the lists for 1893 and 1894:

1893

Burlingame Country Club - Hillsborough, California (1893 – Unknown)

Country Club of New Canaan - New Canaan, Connecticut (1893 – Unknown)

Eagle Springs Golf Resort - Eagle, Wisconsin
-I have no information on this course, was it known by a different name?

Essex Country Club - Manchester, Massachusetts (Pre-1894 – Unknown)

Hampton Roads Golf Club - Hampton Roads, Virginia (1895 – Unknown)

Harbor Point Golf Club - Harbor Point, Maine
-Another club that I have not seen referenced anywhere else.

Kahkwa Club - Erie, Pennsylvania (1916 – Ross)

Montclair Golf Club - Montclair, New Jersey (1894 – Unknown)

Newport Golf Club - Newport, Rhode Island (1890 – Unknown)

Riverside Golf Club - Riverside, Illinois (1893 – Havemeyer)
-Current course dates from later.

Poland Spring Golf Club - Poland Spring, Maine (1896 – Fenn)

Segregansett Country Club - Taunton, Massachusetts (1893 – Unknown)

Stockbridge Golf Club - Stockbridge, Massachusetts (1894 – Unknown)


1894

Baltimore Golf Club - Baltimore, Maryland (1894 – Unknown)

Cohasset Golf Club - Quincy, Massachusetts (1894 – Unknown)

Country Club of Asheville - Asheville, North Carolina (1895 – Unknown)

Country Club of Bristol - Bristol, Tennessee (1900 – Findlay)

Glen Ridge Country Club - Glen Ridge, New Jersey (1894 – Bendelow)

Janesville Country Club - Janesville, Wisconsin (1895 – Unknown)

Knollwood Country Club - Elmsford, New York (1894 – Park)

Milwaukee Country Club - Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1895 – Foulis/Wall)

Morris Country Golf Club - Morristown, New Jersey (1894 – Unknown)

Myopia Hunt Club - Hamilton, Massachusetts (1894 – Members)
-Certain sources have the clubs first course dating from 1894.

Otsego Golf Club - Otsego, New York (1892 – Unknown)

Point Judith Country Club - Narragansett, Rhode Island (Pre-1899 – Unknown)

Portage Club - Akron, Ohio (1894 – Goodrich/Raymond)

Powelton Club - Newburgh, New York (1898 – Findlay)

Siasconset Golf Course - Siasconset, Massachusetts (1894 – Findlay)

Storm King Golf Club - Cornwall, New York (Pre-1899 – Unknown)

Tacoma Golf Club - Tacoma, Washington (1894 – Unknown)

Washington Golf & CC - Arlington, Virginia (1894 – Unknown)

Waveland Golf Course - Des Moines, Iowa (1901 – Dickinson)

Westchester Country Club - Rye, New York (Pre-1895 – Sands)

Weston Golf Club - Weston, Massachusetts (1894 – Harland)

[John Burnes]

Sven-

What is the date of the requet for info template?  I find it interesting that it includes "laid out by.."

[Sven Nilsen]

John:

My guess is that it is from 1898/1899 and was used for the same Guide the Mark referenced above (that being the Official Golf Guide - 1899).

Sven

[John Burnes]

Like I said before, very interesting topic for me.  An additional subset you might considering looking at, are the courses that are developed during this time, if they were 18 holes, 9 holes, or some other number, and then when (if) they go to 18 holes.  For example, with some help of my friends here, I was able to determine my club's founding (1897), when they first started playing golf (1898, 9 holes), when the 9 hole course was re-done/lengthened (1906) and then when it became 18 holes (1914).

[Sven Nilsen]

John:

Was hoping to take this thread in that direction, but just focusing on those first 76 or so clubs in existence in 1895 (an appropriate number for American golf courses).

Lets call it a work in progress.  Right now I'm just trying to weed out the clubs from the list Jim provided that did not develop golf until after the 1895 cutoff.

Next step will be to add in any additional courses/clubs that weren't included.

Sven