Fresh Meadow Country Club

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Fresh Meadow Country Club is a country club with a golf course in the eastern United States, located on Long Island in Lake Success, New York, its home since 1946. The club opened in the New York City borough of Queens in 1923, [1] with a golf course designed by noted course architect A. W. Tillinghast , [1] and hosted two major championships in the early 1930s.

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Original site

The country club was named for the Fresh Meadows neighborhood of Northeast Queens just south of Horace Harding Boulevard now the Long Island Expressway, near 183rd Street. [1] The PGA Championship was held at Fresh Meadow Country Club in 1930, won by Tommy Armour, [2] [3] and the 1932 U.S. Open, won by its former club pro Gene Sarazen . [4] [5] (Sarazen was the runner-up in 1930, falling 1 down in the 36-hole championship match to Armour.)

In 1937, the golf course hosted a charity match between John Montague, Babe Ruth, Babe Didrikson, and Sylvania Annenberg, [6] [7] a match that was watched by 10,000 fans, some of whom rushed the golf course and left Babe Ruth's shirt in tatters. [8] [9] In 1941, Ruth played Ty Cobb in a celebrity golf match at the course to benefit the USO, the second of three matches in three cities (Boston, New York, Detroit). [10] [11] [12]

Lake Success

Under increasing development and tax pressure, the club sold its Queens property 78 years ago in 1946, which was developed as a residential neighborhood (the Fresh Meadows section of Queens) by New York Life Insurance Company. [13]

The club then purchased the property, clubhouse, and golf course of the defunct Lakeville Golf & Country Club in Nassau County, which is the club's present course. Approximately five miles (8 km) northeast of the original site, its course was designed by English course architect Charles Hugh Alison, partner of architect Harry Colt.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "About FMCC: A Tale of Two Clubs". Fresh Meadow Country Club. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ Bell, Brian (September 14, 1930). "Tommy Armour beats Gene Sarazen for P.G.A. title". Youngstown Daily Vindicator. Associated Press. p. C-1. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
  3. ↑ Rice, Grantland (September 12, 1930). "The Sportlight". The Baltimore Sun. p. 19. ProQuest   543442746.
  4. ↑ Gould, Alan (June 26, 1932). "Sarazen rallies to win Open title". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. p. 15.
  5. ↑ "Sarazen Wins National Open". The Baltimore Sun. June 26, 1932. p. S1. ProQuest   543346930.
  6. ↑ Cook, Kevin (March 16, 2015). "Babe Ruth was once America's most famous golfer". Golf. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Ruth Serious About Match". The Baltimore Sun. Associated Press. November 12, 1937. p. 18. ProQuest   538086593.
  8. ↑ Talbot, Gayle (November 15, 1937). "Stampeding golf crowd stops charity golf contest in New York". Ottawa Citizen. Canada. Associated Press. p. 18.
  9. ↑ "Frenzied Crowd Stops Montague Exhibition". The Washington Post. Associated Press. November 15, 1937. p. 18. ProQuest   150906301.
  10. ↑ Considine, Bob (June 28, 1941). "Babe Ruth evens golf tiff with Cobb". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. INS. p. 3.
  11. ↑ "Golf argument is still open affair". Lawrence Journal-World. Kansas. Associated Press. June 28, 1941. p. 6.
  12. ↑ "Babe Ruth squares play with Ty Cobb". Berkeley Daily Gazette. California. United Press. June 28, 1941. p. 8.
  13. ↑ "New York housing battle fought by co-operation". Milwaukee Journal. September 18, 1949. p. 24.

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