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Sequoyah Country Club

Club information
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Coordinates	37°45′57″N 122°08′05″W / 37.765771°N 122.134716°W / 37.765771; -122.134716
Location	Oakland, California
Established	1913
Type	Private
Owned by	365 Proprietary Members
Total holes	18
Events hosted	Oakland Open (1938–44) U.S. Women's Amateur Qualifier (2013–14)
Greens	Poa Annua
Fairways	Rye, Poa, others
Website	www.sequoyahcc.com
Designed by	William J. "Willie" Lock Seth Raynor Chandler Egan Doug Nickels
Par	70 (blue tees)
Length	6,100 yards (5,600 m)
Course rating	70.2
Slope rating	135

Sequoyah Country Club is an 18 hole, private equity, member-owned golf course and country club in Oakland, California. Founded in 1913, it hosted the Oakland Open from 1938 to 1944 – one of the premier professional golf tournaments on the Pacific coast, which featured prominently in the early golfing careers of Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Jimmy Demaret, and others.

History

On October 3, 1913, a group of 23 citizens, acting as initial underwriters, held their first meeting at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, California and organized a new golf club. They intentionally chose the traditional Indian spelling of 'Sequoyah' instead of the more commonly used version of the name 'Sequoia'. The nine member board of directors consisted of:

This board appointed committee leaders, including the membership committee, whose identity they kept secret. The golf club's bylaws allowed for 350 total members, of which 100 prospective members were already identified. Others who attended the founding meeting included: John C. Shipp, Frank H. Proctor, J.M. Stephens, J.H. Hunt, A.C. Baumbartner, Walter J. Wilson, M.H. Robbins Jr., K.B. Putnam, A.J. Coogan, W.A. Bissell, J.F. Neville, Fred Sherman, E.B. King, W.R. Thorsen, F.E. McGurrin, P.K. Gordon, and E.G. Garden.

Several of the early Sequoyah members were also members of Claremont Country Club.

Sequoyah is situated on a 180-acre parcel of land that encompasses a 6300-yard golf course with views as far north as Mt. Tamalpais, Golden Gate, and across the bay to Redwood City on the peninsula. The golf course is within an hour of San Francisco or Oakland downtown, and easily accessible by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The land is notable for its gently rolling terrain and soil conditions—sandy loam, with no trace of adobe clay.

Golf course

At 6,100 yards, Sequoyah is short by modern standards, where courses are often 1,000 yards longer. However, it has small, challenging greens, and due to the course's hilly topology, lies are very often uneven.

The course record was established in 1955 by PGA professional Don Whitt, who was the club's first assistant golf professional before turning pro.

Unlike other local courses from its era, no public roads interrupt the layout. Sequoyah is completely fenced in and there are no homes that openly abut the golf course. It is not unusual to see wild turkey, deer, fox, vultures, eagles and falcons at Sequoyah.

Club house

The club house was designed by architect Edward G. Garden, with all the amenities consistent with a modern country club for that era—including a main dining room, lunchroom grill, women's dressing room, men's locker room, main living room, sleeping accommodations for resident staff, open air swimming pool, tennis courts, twenty sleeping rooms for members, automobile parking, stables, and a golf pro shop. The original plan also reserved space for a polo field and race track.

Scorecard

Tournaments hosted

• April 1916 Panama Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) Tournament Men's Professional Golf Event
• May 1916 Panama Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) Tournament Men's Open Championship played over 36 holes for medal play
• August 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying
• July 2013 U.S. Women's Amateur Qualifying Tournament
• July 2014 U.S. Women's Amateur Qualifying Tournament
• June 2015 US Girls Junior Qualifying Results

Gallery

• 16th green, 484 yard par-5
• 17th green
• Byron Nelson at Sequoyah's 18th hole

References

1. "'SE QUOY AH' Name Of New Golf Club". San Francisco Chronicle. October 4, 1913.
2. "Northern California golf championship today". San Francisco Chronicle. March 27, 1915.
3. "Burlingame Club Gives Tourney Saturday". San Francisco Chronicle. November 12, 1913.
4. Tady, Steve (September 15, 1997). "Tricky greens at hillside layout". Oakland Tribune. Archived from the original on December 7, 2007.
5. "Sequoyah Country Club – Club Record". 1955. Archived from the original on February 23, 2007.
6. "Sequoyah club to build home will feature big golf field". San Francisco Chronicle. March 6, 1914.
7. "Golf Events Set For Exposition Tournament". San Francisco Chronicle. January 15, 1915.
8. "U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying – Sequoyah CC". Northern California Golf Association. August 9, 2012.
9. "U.S. Women's Amateur Championship Qualifying". Northern California Golf Association. July 11, 2013.
10. "U.S. Women's Amateur Championship Qualifying". Northern California Golf Association. July 14, 2014.

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