Five best clubhouses

[Ran Morrissett]

I just got back from playing Red Tail in London, Ontario. It has one of the neatest clubhouses I've ever seen. It is not big, can sleep about 12, and the whole lower level fells like one big den. There are sofas scattered everywhere, a bunch of nooks and crannies, a roaring fireplace, wood paneling everywhere, and an excellent selection of older golf books.It would definitely make my top five, as coincidentally would another clubhouse associated with a Steele course, Skibo.For the remaing three, I would go Brancaster (before it falls into the Ocean), R&A (because you have to), and ...I'll have to think about it.Other nominations?

[T_MacWood]

Shinnecock Hills--Other than the R&A probably the most recognizable clubhouse in all of golf.The shingle-style clubhouse was designed by the most famous American architect of his day,Stanford White.Cypress Point--The Spanish colonial clubhouse looks as if it grew out of a grove of Monterey cypress.Gorgeous view.Crystal Downs--The views of Lake Michigan and Sleeping Bear Dunes are breathtaking.The Golf Club--My favorite for low key atmosphere.Whistling Straits--The dark stone clubhouse has an almost gothic feel and adds to the Irish links atmosphere.One of the best bars in all of golf.

[Ted_Sturges]

To Ran:Tell me what you know about Mr. Steele.  I just read that he is completing work on a new course near Charleston.  TS

[George Blunt]

I won't nominate my own course clubhouse as that would show bias.1) The Australian clubhouse is like the course, big.  What I like about is that it has a fully functional bar in the men's locker room, and the prevailing etiquette at the club is to shower and then have a beer "au naturale" with ones playing partners.  Golf really does epxpose all areas of your personality at this course!2)  Barwon Heads - idyllic setting, great restaurant, old world feel3)  Royal Cinque Ports.....and winner of the worst clubhouse relative to the quality of the course:Royal Melbourne!!!  Proud owner of one the worst tributes to 60's (70's?) architecture in Australia, if not the world.  

[David Staebler]

The clubhouse at Pine Valley is pretty special.

[TEPaul]

The clubhouse to the new private Lookaway G.C. (Rees Jones), Buckingham Township, Pa. is a great stone add-on to a beautiful historic stone farmhouse which technically makes the clubhouse the oldest clubhouse in America.The idea might have been taken from Stonewall G.C., Elverson, Pa. which evolved from a cow barn and is also very special with a neat putting green inside the barnyard and a beautiful 18th hole that sort of melds into the barn buildings and barnyard wall. Also looking down on the clubhouse and breathtaking vistas to the northeast from the 11th and 13th high above is memorable.Other Memorables:Gulfstream G.C., Delray Beach, Fla. stunning Addison Mizner architecture.Seminole: Might also be Addison Mizner and perfect for the club in form and function. Probably the world's greatest men's lockerroom.Long Vue G.C., Pittsburgh. Breathtaking view from the lockerroom bar of stunning stone clubhouse looking down the Alleghany River 500ft below.Biderman G.C., Wilmington, De. Just an old farmhouse, unadapted, and lockerrooms in an old barn.The old Links Club, Long Island (NLE). Just an unadapted L.I. farmhouse with pro in the barn (no pro shop). Memorable home cooked Sunday lunch (only service) from Bert, himself hall of fame in American clubhouses. Had a knack of bringing the members drinks without asking what they wanted. Apparently never made a mistake! Maidstone G.C. From the road leading to it might be #1 in the world that makes you want to grab your camera!

[R Walker]

KENNEMER GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB in Zandvoort,  Holland is a structure that would have been modern when it was built. Yet, it has a thatched roof. The public areas are ample, yet intimate. The building footprint is similar to the Newport Clubhouse. The interior spaces flow in an open plan, and rooms are divided by sliding pocket doors.NEWPORT COUNTRY CLUB seems grand, but in fact is  very small inside. The building was designed by the same architect who designed the Grand Central Terminal. Compared to the great houses in town, it is in fact quite small, and reflects the mission statement of the membership of a small golf club.SHINNICOCK Hills, is great to see from the exterior, but its image has been destroyed by the horrible attempt to build a pro shop that relates to White’s design. Too bad.HCEG’s Clubhouse is almost perfect, and the recent addition of a smoking room overlooking the 18th hole is excellent. The vanity table in the locker room does the same, and I can think of no better place to comb your hair.SEMINOLE really does not have a clubhouse. It has the locker room. I was told that the locker room is based on a chapel at a Connecticut prep school. A church plan provides a great basis for a locker room. The high and generous windows provide light, privacy, and wall space for lockers. I would love to hear a chamber ensemble perform in that room.CAVES VALLEY is an excellent example of  intimate scale provided by a campus organization of buildings which form a nice exterior space in the middle. CASTLE PINES has great milk shakes, and a wonderful view of Jack’s bunkering on the 18th hole.

[Clark]

Tom--I agree about Crystal Downs, but are you sure that is Lake Michigan you see?

[John Morrissett]

Robert--Excellent points and a professional perspective on architecture -- I don't feel qualified to respond.  Am I correct in thinking that you do not judge a clubhouse in which you have not spent some time (i.e., that the interiior is just as important as the exterior)?  (Also, what is the history behind the word "clubhouse"?)As you are the only one I know who has recently played in Holland, how about a report (in a separate topic)on those Colt courses?   We would be interested in a course-by-course summary (a few sentences each) of your trip to Scotland as well.Thanks.

[John Morrissett]

George's comment on Royal Melbourne inspired this question: Which clubhouses do not "fit" their courses?  Hardly any immediately come to mind.

[T_MacWood]

ClarkCrystal Downs is unusual in that it has two 'clubhouses'. The one you are thinking of hovers over the 9th green and looks out over the front-9 and Crystal Lake beyond.Up the hill a little further, there is more 'formal' clubhouse, that sits on a high bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.JohnRegarding clubhouses that don't fit. The description of Royal Melbourne, made me think of the addition to Pinehurst's clubhouse.It must be circa 60s or 70s and is totally out of character with the original building. And although I haven't seen it ,Banff Springs built a 'modern' octagon shaped monstrosity that looks terrible in pictures.Especially in comparison to the original clubhouse that overlooks the Spray River.On related subject,I have seen an old book on the subject of clubhouses. There must be nearly 100 photos of old clubhouses and the two that were the must surprising were Oyster Harbors and Fishers Is. They were both hotel-like structures, which I guess was not uncommon in 'summer colonies' at one time.They were both about the size of the Mid-Pines hotel in Pinehurst, maybe larger. I know Oyster Harbors' burned down, but didn't know if Fishers Island's was still standing.

[R Walker]

I do not think that you can judge any architecture without experiencing it. I know of one writer that writes about so called great golf holes by looking at pictures, and reading scorecards, but that is just plain irresponsible. In order to be great, a building must be great inside and out. Unfortunately, clubhouses get decorated and quite often, it is impossible to tell the flotsam from the jetsam. Shinnicock has a nice interior, but the thing that stands out most to me, is the image on the hill. The R&A is iconic in that sense. The HCEG clubhouse is by far and away the best that I have seen, and placed next to an Edwin Lutyens Building, it holds its own quite well thank you. I think that on a golf course, the exterior image is more important than the interior’s. Royal Troon, Royal Lytham, and Royal Liverpool are great structures, and while each could use work inside, the exteriors exude the concept of the golf clubhouse. I do not want luxury and expensive materials in a clubhouse, but I want to be able to see play occur on the course from a vantage point inside the club.

[R Walker]

Club, House, Clubhouse:When I was in Iowa in 1993, I visited a public golf course, and at the entrance, there was a sign that read “NO CLUBS IN CLUBHOUSE”. This made me wonder about the word club. Where did that word come from? Did it mean organization before it meant implement? When did it become a verb? I don’t think so. I think that clubs to hit things and balls existed first, and that it is possible that the clubs might have been stored in a “club house”. The British have a habit of chopping words down, (British are BRITS for example), and I can see where club as organization could have come from golf club house.

[Tom_Egan]

Can't narrow it down to just five, but for various reasons particular to each of them, I will offer a Baker's Dozen:  Pine Valley, Los Angeles, Baltusrol, Garden City, Sweetwater, Sleepy Hollow, Olympic, Indian Creek, Vintage, Brook Hollow, Mid-Ocean, C. de G. Mexico, and Sankaty Head.

[Tom_Egan]

Three I forgot:  Meadow Brook, Deepdale, The Country Club (Ohio).

[Tom_Doak]

For Ran's benefit, I have to say that Garden City Golf Club is one of the best.  Fortunately, I'm headed there tomorrow for the club's centennial dinner.I'm also partial to The Valley Club and to Desert Highlands -- an original design if there ever was one.

[Ran Morrissett]

Another cheap shot  - Shakespeare would have written something about my Garden City torment.In a cruel twist of fate, Ray Lange, the pro at The Devil's Paintbrush, had Garden City's club history book!! Am I safe no where? Unfortunately, it is first rate and the hole by hole photos were quite striking - it didn't look like the place John and I sloshed around with aerated greens.

[S.Mann]

My top five (plus five) in NO particular order:  Pine Valley, Newport CC, Garden City GC, Shinnecock, Mid-Ocean Club, Seminole, The Floridian, Myopia Hunt Club, NGLA, Hudson National.

[Ted_Sturges]

It is interesting to me that so many of you mention the clubhouse at Mid Ocean as one of your favorites.  To me, the clubhouse doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the place.  It seems a bit too contemporary for the golf course.  Inside the bar area, they have photos of the previous clubhouse (which apparently burned down) which looked fabulous.  It would have made my list if it still existed.  Also, in the club history of Fishers Island by Charles Ferguson, there are photos of the original clubhouse at Fishers Island.  It was a massive building which look awesome as well, and would have been on everyone's list.TS

[John Morrissett]

Ted--I have to disagree about the FI clubhouse.  I think the present one "fits" the place better -- comfortable and low-key.A drawback with the Mid-Ocean clubhouse is that they have goofy plaques listing people who have made holes-on-one there.

[Tom_Egan]

Ted and John --     I agree with much of what each of you posted about the Mid-Ocean clubhouse:  contemporary vs. traditional style, meaningless placques (one of which even mentions one R. Morrissett).  However, if scenery is the essence of the Bermuda experience, and I believe it is, how do you like the view from the terrace in the bar/lounge?  Remember, Jim Brown couldn't block and Secretariat couldn't pull a plow.

[Gib_Papazian]

Photos of the original Fishers Clubhouse look a bit out of place with their environment. The existing one is classic. I agree that Garden City is tough to beat for ambiance, as is the view from Mid Ocean. However, there is nothing on this planet better than feasting on lunch at NGLA with the ghosts of CB Macdonald and Judge Morgan O'Brien creeping around the clubhouse on a sunny afternoon. Of course with a 2nd round still ahead. That, gentleman is my idea of heaven. Runner-up: Seared Ahi on the veranda bar at Kapalua Plantation with the sun setting between Lanai and Molokai. Honorable Mention: Bandon Dunes. New, but after battling the brisk Oregon wind, somehow the comfort of the clubhouse and a warm toddy is tough to beat.  

[Ward_Peyronnin]

I don't really have a top five but your reference to plaques put me in mind of Winged Foot. I'd Say its a very well done facility perhaps not an architectural gem but certainly handsome and I was there after a snowfall so the perspectives looked good but I couldn't fully appreciate them. What I do really remember are the understated framing and location of original large 8x11 real photo's (b&w) of Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Tommy Armour from the 28'(?) and other opens and tournaments played there.What a great feel it gave to the place as if you were sharing it with the presence of the legends of the game. I hope other clubs of similar heritage take advantage of their connection to that era like WF.

[TEPaul]

Tom Egan:    Being a big fan of both I take strong exception to what you said above about Jim Brown couldn't block and Secretariat couldn't pull a plow.     Secretariat could have pulled a barn down; they just never strapped a plow to him and Jim Brown could do anything he wanted to, he just wouldn't block.

[Ran Morrissett]

For a picture of a big time clubhouse, go to our write-up of Royal Sydney in this site - now there's a clubhouse!!