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Clubhouses as they once were - old photos

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Pete Lavallee:
Wonderful thread ATB! Surely Woking’s clubhouse has the most interesting location just a foot behind the 14th green. One must be on high alert whilst sipping their gin and tonic as a stray shot could be fatal!  I’ll never forget sitting there and a group of young British golfers approached the green. It was quite warm and they were wearing short pants. However they did not have the obligatory traditional knee socks; only ankle socks. I’ll never forget the nearby members comment: “so this is what we’ve come to!”

Mike_Clayton:
The original Royal Melbourne clubhouse is still there - Turner St in Malvern. It's a beautiful house now, the only 'Victorian' era house  in a street full of 'Edwardian' houses.


it's a pity they knocked over the original Royal Queensland clubhouse - no doubt the architects told them it'd be more expensive to restore it than knock it over and build a new one.

Greg Hohman:
The 1967 clubhouse at Tahquitz Creek, originally Palm Springs Municipal, is worth a look, which can happen here if someone is willing and able to post a photo (pm me). Its design was thought to be an homage to the 1962 USS Arizona Memorial at the Pearl Harbor Memorial. It reminds me of Henry Hornbostel’s 1939 clubhouse for South Park near Pittsburgh (see above). Architect Hugh Kaptur said the roofline represents a golf swing.

If there is a picture or mention of the clubhouse at the Tahquitz Creek website, I did not find it.
 
At some point, the roofline and archway were spoiled by the addition of a timber-and-canvas roof thingy, perhaps added to provide shade. In 2023, the structure was removed.
 

Michael Morandi:
This is all very impressive but how important is a clubhouse and can it detract from the soul of a club?  When it first opened, Hudson National operated out of trailers. They were nicely outfitted but their  presence, with the soon to be renovated clubhouse lurking in the background, made for a better connection to the course. Members had no choice but to know each other in the intimate setting. No place to hide. In my view, the same was true of Friars Head. I haven’t been back to FH since the new clubhouse opened but I preferred the original days when there were picnic tables and coolers with food and drinks behind 18. I know it’s unrealistic for prominent clubs to not have “important” clubhouses but in some cases smaller and simpler is the way to go. You see that in the impressive array of photos displayed in this thread.

Carl Johnson:

--- Quote from: Michael Morandi on March 30, 2025, 04:31:00 PM ---This is all very impressive but how important is a clubhouse and can it detract from the soul of a club?  When it first opened, Hudson National operated out of trailers. They were nicely outfitted but their  presence, with the soon to be renovated clubhouse lurking in the background, made for a better connection to the course. Members had no choice but to know each other in the intimate setting. No place to hide. In my view, the same was true of Friars Head. I haven’t been back to FH since the new clubhouse opened but I preferred the original days when there were picnic tables and coolers with food and drinks behind 18. I know it’s unrealistic for prominent clubs to not have “important” clubhouses but in some cases smaller and simpler is the way to go. You see that in the impressive array of photos displayed in this thread.

--- End quote ---
Agreed, for myself.  But how important is it to have a clubhouse you'd be proud of and proud to take guests too?  For some, this is very important, if not critical.  Could not smaller and simpler fit that bill?

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