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Newport Country Club

Clubhouse, circa 2010
Club information
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Coordinates	41°27′43″N 71°20′49″W / 41.462°N 71.347°W / 41.462; -71.347
Location	Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
Elevation	10–50 feet (3–15 m)
Established	1893; 131 years ago (1893)
Type	Private
Total holes	18
Events hosted	U.S. Open (1895) U.S. Amateur (1895, 1995) U.S. Women's Open (2006) U.S. Senior Open (2024)
Designed by	William "Willie" Davis (1894, 1899) A. W. Tillinghast(1923)
Par	70
Length	7,075 yards (6,469 m)
Course rating	75.4
Slope rating	135
Clubhouse, ca. 1897

Newport Country Club, is a historic private golf club in the northeastern United States, located in Newport, Rhode Island. Founded 131 years ago in 1893, it hosted both the first U.S. Amateur Championship and the first U.S. Open in 1895.

History

Theodore Havemeyer, a wealthy sportsman whose family owned the American Sugar Company, played the game of golf on a trip to Pau in the south of France in 1889 and returned to his summer home in Newport excited about its future. In 1890, he and his friends rented some property on the old Castle Hill Farm and played golf on a primitive course. He convinced a few pals from the summer colony's social elite, men such as John Jacob Astor IV, Perry Belmont, and Cornelius Vanderbilt II - to purchase the 140-acre (0.57 km) Rocky Farm property for $80,000 and establish the golf club in 1893.

At the time of the club's founding, Newport was at the peak of its prestige as the favorite summer colony of America's wealthy elite. The city had thus established one of America's earliest golf clubs since the sport was played almost exclusively by the rich when it was first introduced to the United States. The primitive course that they played upon in 1890 was bought roughly thirty years later and is now the site of seven holes (2–8) of the front nine.

Tournaments

Anxious to host national competitions, Havemeyer invited the country's best amateurs to his new course for a championship in 1894. That December, Havemeyer held a meeting at New York City's Calumet Club with representatives from four other clubs: Saint Andrew's Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY; Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton on Long Island, New York; The Country Club in Brookline, MA; and the Chicago Golf Club. These clubs agreed to form the Amateur Golf Association, the forerunner of the United States Golf Association (USGA).

In October 1895, Newport Country Club hosted both the first U.S. Amateur and the first U.S. Open. To this day, the U.S. Amateur champion is awarded the Havemeyer Trophy.

In celebration of the centennial of those first two USGA events, the club hosted the U.S. Amateur in 1995, won by defending champion Tiger Woods. Eleven years later, it was the site of the U.S. Women's Open in 2006, won by Annika Sörenstam in an 18-hole playoff. Newport was set to host the 41st U.S. Senior Open in June 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled all age-specific tournaments on the USGA calendar. The event was deferred to 2024, and weather during the final round postponed the conclusion until Monday, extended with a playoff between Richard Bland and Hiroyuki Fujita, won by Bland on the fourth extra hole.

Clubhouse

Whitney Warren designed the classic, Beaux Arts style clubhouse on a largely barren farm overlooking Brenton Point in 1895. It went under extensive renovation by Kirby Perkins Construction in 2005.

Warren's only other major Newport project at the time was a home for his sister, Edith, High Tide. This mansion, which overlooks Bailey's Beach and completed in 1900, hosted Michelle Wie for the week of the 2006 U.S. Women's Open.

Course

The original nine-hole course was designed in 1894 by William "Willie" Davis, the club's first professional, and later expanded to 18 holes in 1899, again by Davis. This second nine was long thought to be designed by Donald Ross, but a recent discovery (2013) of an original scorecard (1899) refuted this. This information is in the recently written club history.

A. W. Tillinghast, famous for such designs as Winged Foot, Baltusrol, Bethpage Black, and the San Francisco Golf Club, was hired in 1923 to remodel the course layout. Since 1995, restoration on some of the course has been completed by Ron Forse.

Scorecard

Source

Notable Members

Notable former members include:

• John Jacob Astor IV, American businessman
• Oliver Belmont, American politician
• Perry Belmont, American politician and diplomat
• Robert Goelet, American her, businessman and yachtsman
• Theodore Havemeyer, American businessman
• James Stillman, American businessman
• Cornelius Vanderbilt II, American businessman

See also

• Brenton Point

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References

1. ^ Barrett, Scott (April 24, 2017). "Pro golfers coming to Newport in 2020 for U.S. Senior Open". Newport Daily News. (Rhode Island). Retrieved May 10, 2018.
2. ^ "Course Rating and Slope Database™ - Newport Country Club". USGA. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
3. ^ "Projo 20060627 History.524ce5d.HTML".
4. Harper's magazine, Volume 95 Harper's Magazine Co., 1897, pg. 706
5. ^ "U.S. Senior Open: Historic Newport Country Club to host in 2020". United States Golf Association. April 25, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
6. Whitmire, Tim (August 22, 1995). "Woods goes for 2nd title". The Day. (New London, Connecticut). Associated Press. p. D1.
7. "Woods swings into title showdown at U.S. Amateur". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. August 27, 1995. p. 8E.
8. "Tiger wins golf crown". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. August 28, 1995. p. 2C.
9. Ferguson, Doug (July 3, 2006). "It's not over yet: Sorenstam, Hurst face 18-hole playoff". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. d1.
10. Ferguson, Doug (July 4, 2006). "Sorenstam wins in major fashion". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. B1.
11. Richard J. Moss, Golf and the American country club: Sport and Society (University of Illinois Press, 2001), pg 39
12. "Golf at Apawamis, The Picturesque Course at Rye and Some of Its Attractive Features-Women An Important Factor in Club Life". New-York Daily Tribune. New York, New York. September 15, 1901. p. 4.
13. ^ "Newport Country Club Incorporated". Lebanon Daily News. August 23, 1894.

• U.S. Open (golf) venues
• 1893 establishments in Rhode Island
• Buildings and structures in Newport, Rhode Island
• Golf clubs and courses in Rhode Island
• Golf clubs and courses designed by A. W. Tillinghast
• Sports venues completed in 1893
• Tourist attractions in Newport, Rhode Island
• Golf clubs and courses designed by William Davis (golfer)