Newport Country Club is a historic private golf club in Newport, Rhode Island, US. Founded 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 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.Harper's magazine, Volume 95 Harper's Magazine Co., 1897, pg. 706

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 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 was extensively renovated 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 HOLE BLACK BLACK HCP RED WHITE RED/WHITE HCP PAR BLUE HCP BLUE 1 The First 459 1 480 442 15 4/5 11 427 2 The Cop 410 15 366 352 11 4 9 341 3 Ocean 347 17 328 312 17 4 15 228 4 Graves Point 242 7 220 209 5 3 7 181 5 Polo Shed 451 5 422 411 1 4 1 347 6 Lookout 440 11 383 359 9 4 13 287 7 Long Meadow 598 9 553 512 7 5 5 454 8 Willows 192 13 177 164 13 3 17 155 9 Orchard 470 3 422 406 3 4 3 381 OUT 3609 3351 3167 35/36 2801 10 Quarry 574 16 528 517 14 5 14 477 11 Harbour 321 18 298 289 18 4 18 245 12 Valley 463 2 477 436 16 4/5 10 396 13 Club 188 14 151 137 12 3 16 123 14 Plateau 209 10 189 172 6 3 12 159 15 Brenton Reef 473 4 411 403 2 4 2 391 16 Island 362 12 352 321 8 4 6 311 17 Pond 466 6 441 387 4 4 4 380 18 Home 420 8 379 365 10 4 8 318 IN 3476 3226 3027 35/36 2800 TOT 7085 6577 6194 70/72 5601

Tees Slope Rating Black 135 75.4 Red 127 72.4 White 121 70.6 Blue 117 67.3 Women White 134 76.7 Blue 126 73.0

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 heir, businessman and yachtsman Theodore Havemeyer, American businessman James Stillman, American businessman Cornelius Vanderbilt II, American businessman

See also

Brenton Point

References