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Newport Country Club

Coordinates: 41°27′43″N 71°20′49″W / 41.462°N 71.347°W / 41.462; -71.347
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Newport Country Club
Clubhouse, circa 2010
Club information
Newport Country Club is located in the United States
Newport Country Club
Newport Country Club is located in Rhode Island
Newport Country Club
Coordinates41°27′43″N 71°20′49″W / 41.462°N 71.347°W / 41.462; -71.347
LocationNewport, Rhode Island, U.S.
Elevation10–50 feet (3–15 m)
Established1893; 131 years ago (1893)
TypePrivate
Total holes18
Events hostedU.S. Open (1895)
U.S. Amateur (1895, 1995)
U.S. Women's Open (2006)
U.S. Senior Open (2024)
Designed byWilliam "Willie" Davis
(1894, 1899)
A. W. Tillinghast(1923)[1]
Par70
Length7,075 yards (6,469 m)
Course rating75.4
Slope rating135[2]
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

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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 km2) Rocky Farm property for $80,000 and establish the golf club in 1893.[3]

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.[4]

Tournaments

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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.[5] 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.[5][3]

In celebration of the centennial of those first two USGA events, the club hosted the U.S. Amateur in 1995,[6] won by defending champion Tiger Woods.[7][8] 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.[9][10][11] 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,[1][5] 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

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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

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The original nine-hole course was designed in 1894 by William "Willie" Davis,[1] the club's first professional, and later expanded to 18 holes in 1899, again by Davis.[12] 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

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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

Source[2]

Notable Members

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Notable former members include:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b "Course Rating and Slope Database™ - Newport Country Club". USGA. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Projo 20060627 History.524ce5d.HTML".
  4. ^ Harper's magazine, Volume 95 Harper's Magazine Co., 1897, pg. 706
  5. ^ a b c "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 [1]
  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. ^ a b c d e f g "Newport Country Club Incorporated". Lebanon Daily News. August 23, 1894.
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