Foxburg Golf Club 1887 ??

[Karl Jensen]

I collected the below newspaper articles for the Foxburg aka Clarion Golf Club. Seeing that the Club has an 1887 Project going on to restore the course, can anyone square the below newspaper articles with the stated history of the Club. It looks to me that there was not a golf course till 1897 - 1898, reading the 1897 article, even though the Fox Estate had golf holes on it in 1900 given a golf picnic was hosted there by Joseph M. Fox.


This all seems to contradict the 1899 Official Golf Guide listing for the Club that states the Club was organized in 1893 and the course laid out by J. M. Fox in June 1893.


Foxburg Golf Club organized article, 2 May 1897 Pittsburgh, PA Press newspaper



Clarion Golf Club organized article, 10 Nov 1898 Clarion, PA Democrat newspaper



Clarion Golf Club article, 12 Apr 1900 Clarion, PA Democrat newspaper



Clarion Golf Club members article, 19 Jul 1900 Clarion, PA Democrat newspaper



Joseph M. Fox golf picnic article, 13 Sep 1900 Clarion, PA Democrat newspaper

[MCirba]

Karl,

I haven't had much time to dig into this today but just want to be sure you had the opportunity to read my IMO from 2018?

https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/cirba-mike-forgotten-foxburg-americas-oldest-golf-club/

I will say that it was based almost wholly on the various depositions given years later although as early as the 1930s I've seen printed claims that it was the oldest in the country.   I would also say that I spent about 1/10 of the time on putting that article together than I did on the Dorset Field Club piece so I'll be interested to learn more.   Thanks!

[Karl Jensen]

Found this 1896 newspaper article tonight. Claims a recent organization of the Club.


Clarion County Golf Club article, 19 May 1896 New York, NY The Evening Post newspaper

[Karl Jensen]

I wanted to follow up on this thread with additional information I have found. I figured out that any newspaper articles that note a Clarion Golf Club is referring to a Golf Club in Clarion, PA with a golf course that was laid out at its fair grounds. This Club had completely different officers than the Clarion County Golf Club aka Foxburg Country Club. The confusion lies in the similarity of the names and that both Clubs were reported in the local paper The Clarion Democrat.


Below is a 1917 full page article showing portraits of the many early officers of the Foxburg Country Club. This article notes that the Foxburg CC was the first known golf links west of the Allegheny Mountains. By 1934 and 1938 the below articles tout that Foxburg CC is the oldest club organized in the US. Then there is a 1952 USGA article reporting that Foxburg CC is the oldest course in the US based primarily on recollections of Foxburg CC members from 1947 to 1950, who were still alive. The USGA article does note that "there are no first hand documentary records concerning either the first rounds of golf or subsequent organization of the Foxburg Golf Club". The article goes on to note "The precise dates on which the course was laid out and the club organized cannot now be recalled". Harry Harvey, a longtime officer and member of the Club, recollects in the article that Foxburg CC was organized in 1887 and he was elected Secretary and Treasurer, a position he held for 54 years. Harvey also recollects that in 1887 the Club was playing golf on the ground of the present day Club.


I believe that Foxburg CC is an old course but is it the oldest? There seems to be conflict in the evidence I have found. Harry Harvey in the 1952 USGA Article claims a date of organization as 1887. Five other members in their notarized recollections all agree with Harvey. The thing is, many of them knew each other into old age and also knew of the claim of the oldest course from at least 1934. So is this a case of oral tradition as opposed to fact? Harry Harvey managed to lose the notebook of Club records that might have proved it.


Harry Harvey's recollected date of 1887 is in conflict with more contemporaneous info. Early Golf Guides from 1899 to 1902 all note that the Foxburg CC aka Clarion County GC was laid out in June 1893 by Joseph M. Fox and the Club was organized in 1893. The American Annual Golf Guides from 1916 to 1929 all note the Foxburg CC was established in 1891. Then there is a mention in a 1907 book titled "A Few Scraps Oily and Otherwise" by Alfred Smiley. In a chapter about the town of Foxburg, Smiley states "The Golf Club was the second organized in the State (PA)". If Smiley is correct then how does that fit into the Harvey date of 1887 and the oldest Club in the US? Finally, the biggest conflict to the Harvey 1887 date and even the Golf Guide dates of 1891 or 1893 are the two newspaper articles I posted earlier from 1896 and 1897 reporting the organization of the Clarion County Golf Club and naming officer names. Why would the Club have been organized time and time again?


I find the date of 1887 a sketchy claim for Foxburg CC's beginning, given all the conflicting evidence. Perhaps the human desire to beat the 1888 date of the St. Andrews Golf Club of Yonkers, NY was quite strong.


Foxburg Country Club mention, 23 Aug 1917 Clarion, PA Democrat newspaper, page 17



Foxburg Golf Club oldest article, 12 Jul 1934 Kane, PA Republican newspaper



Foxburg Country Club oldest article, 17 Aug 1938 Warren, PA Times Mirror newspaper



Apr 1952 USGA Journal snip, page 5



Apr 1952 USGA Journal snip, page 6



Harry Harvey recollection, 1952 USGA article



Clarion County Golf Club listing, 1900 Harpers Official Golf Guide



Foxburg Country Club listing, 1916 American Annual Golf Guide, page 249



Clarion County Golf Club article, 19 May 1896 New York, NY The Evening Post newspaper



Foxburg Golf Club organized article, 2 May 1897 Pittsburgh, PA Press newspaper

[MCirba]

Karl,


Certainly another interesting mystery and one where the playing of golf at a location and the forming of a club to formalize it certainly seem to be on differing dates.


The one thing I find interesting is the Harpers 1900 guide mentions that the club was formed in 1893 and says "The present nine holes were laid out...in 1893", which seems to imply that other courses preceded it.  As I recall, I believe that Mr. Harvey said the first year in 1887 there were only 5 holes and that got expanded to 9 in 1888.  Could it be that as this merry band of pioneers began to progress in skill level and understanding they went through a few iterations of different courses on that same property?


It may be helpful to look at some of the folks who provided depositions to see if the circumstances that had them in Foxburg where they say they either witnessed and/or played golf at the time match up to the dates they mention. 


One person mentioned a blizzard, another schooling, etc...just going from memory at the moment but that may confirm or dispute their recollections.

[MCirba]

I think the other thing I found interesting was the wording in the Harpers 1900 writeup that says, "This is quite an ancient institution as clubs go in America...", which seems an early claim at some type of longevity.

[Bret Lawrence]

Very interesting articles Karl. I would agree that many of these claims are from many years later.  The rabbit and fox holes created by these early members are numerous.   Even if these clubs were the oldest I don’t think it really changes the history of golf.  Golf history is like a web, and there were connections throughout history that tie the stories together.  Golf started at Lawrenceville and Yale because that’s where the children of St. Andrews went to school.  They didn’t have golf courses before they had golfers, it was the other way around.  Both Dorset and Foxburg’s stories don’t really fit in this web.  They spun their own web and nothing really materialized from their golf courses.  Their claims that they were making clubs and playing golf before anyone else was interested in the game is harder to believe when you read recorded newspaper articles that these clubs were formed later, after they saw other courses playing the game.


Even if these clubs were playing golf in 1886 and 1887 they didn’t really add to the history of golf or the USGA.  I think we know people played golf in the US before St. Andrews was formed, but none of the clubs grew the game like the five founding clubs of the USGA.  When these clubs challenged St. Andrews they all assumed they were clubs.  However, the USGA was forward thinking when they wrote their constitution and golf clubs had to meet a certain criteria to be accepted by the USGA.  The reason many of these challenges came in the middle of last century is because people forgot or never knew their were certain criteria to be considered a USGA club. This explains why all of these claims have been defaulted to golf course.    I think with both of these clubs you have two stories.  One is the hand-me-down stories created in the 1930’s or 1940’s and the second story is the one we find written in the newspapers of the time.  The one written in the newspapers fits into the web of history better than the hand-me-down stories. This doesn’t prove anything, but it makes you wonder which story you want to believe.

[Karl Jensen]

Two additional articles pertaining to the Foxburg Country Club below.


Foxburg Golf Club article, Apr 1934 Golfdom magazine



Foxburg Country Club article, 19 Sep 1954 Pittsburgh, PA Press newspaper