Phoenix Country Club

Last updated
Phoenix Country Club
Club information
USA Arizona relief location map.svg
Icona golf.svg
Location in Arizona
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Icona golf.svg
Location in the United States
Coordinates 33°28′55″N112°03′47″W / 33.482°N 112.063°W / 33.482; -112.063
Location2901 N 7th St
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Elevation1,100 feet (340 m)
EstablishedOctober 25, 1900;124 years ago (1900-10-25)
TypePrivate
Total holes18
Events hosted Phoenix Open
(1932, 1933, 1935, 1939–54, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972,
1974–86)
Western Open
(1941, 1942)
Charles Schwab Cup Championship
(2017, 2018, 2019)
Website phoenixcountryclub.com
Designed by Harry Collis,
Tom Lehman, and
John Fought [1]
Par 71 [1]
Length6,764 yd (6,185 m) [1] Longest hole is #7 - 571 yd (522 m)
Course rating 72.4 [1]
Slope rating 129 [1]
Course record61 - Johnny Miller (1970, 1975),
Homero Blancas (1972),
Ben Crenshaw (1979),
Don Pooley (1986), [2]
Vijay Singh (2018) [3]

Phoenix Country Club is a country club in the southwestern United States, located in Phoenix, Arizona. The club was founded 124 years ago in 1899 and was moved to its current location in 1921. [4] [5] Golf Connoisseur Magazine rated Phoenix Country Club among top 100 Most Prestigious Private Clubs in America in 2006. The club was chosen for the “ultimate mix of course, history, membership, tradition and class.” In 2009 and 2014, PCC was selected by its peers as a Platinum Club of America. The original golf course designed by Harry Collis was redesigned by Tom Lehman and John Fought in 2002. [6]

Contents

History

Original 1920 site plan for Phoenix Country Club created by Lloyd Wright Phoenix Country Club site plan.png
Original 1920 site plan for Phoenix Country Club created by Lloyd Wright
The veranda on the front of the original clubhouse facing southwest, 1921. Phoenix Country Club veranda.png
The veranda on the front of the original clubhouse facing southwest, 1921.
A local formalwear advertisement for the occasion of the 1921 inaugural ball Phoenix Country Club formalwear advertisement.png
A local formalwear advertisement for the occasion of the 1921 inaugural ball

Phoenix Country Club was officially incorporated on October 25, 1900 by a 12-member board including Webster Street, Chief Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court; and Dwight B. Heard, president of the Arizona Cotton Association. [4] On October 29, 1919, the club voted to purchase a 160-acre tract of land at 7th Street and Thomas Road for the construction of a new club with and 18-hole golf course, tennis grounds, and a club house. This new property was to become the current location for the club. [7] The land was purchased for $56,000.

Golf course designer Harry Collis, of the Flossmoor Country Club in Chicago was hired to design the layout for the new course in 1920. Los Angeles-based Landscape Architect Lloyd Wright designed the landscape gardening plans for the course. [8] A former employee of the landscape architectural firm of Olmsted Brothers, Wright was the son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright and was noted for his landscape design of the Panama–California Exposition in San Diego, and later became a production designer for Paramount Studios. [9] To fund the construction of the new $200,000 club facilities, 52 homesites were incorporated into the plans for the new location and are known as "Country Club Estates." [10]

The new club opened on October 27, 1921. A white tie ball celebrating the opening of the new club was held on October 28 and was restricted to membership. The following day, the golf course was inaugurated with a men's golf tournament alongside a bridge tournament for female members. The original clubhouse was of brick, painted white, with red tile roofing. It was of the Spanish Colonial style of architecture, the main portion of the structure facing a southwesterly direction. From this main portion were two wings, on at each end extending in northeasterly and southeasterly directions, respectively. [11]

The building featured a main reception hall, ballroom, and banquet hall; men's and women's locker facilities and showers; a men's grill room; a dining room; large ornamented tile fireplaces; French doors; and verandas where afternoon tea was commonly served. Also featured were a swimming pool and four tennis courts. The entire structure was designed by Phoenix architectural firm Lescher & Kibbey. [11]

On September 12, 1922, the body of Phoenix Country Club secretary Guy N. Dernier was found, strangled to death and cast into the Arizona Canal. No water was found in his lungs during the autopsy meaning that he had been strangled before he was disposed of in the canal. In his Dodge automobile, parked along the canal bank, were his eyeglasses, watch, purse and articles of clothing. Found among his personal effects was a diary implicating twenty two society women in both Phoenix and Los Angeles with whom he had carried out affairs. Many of the women had compensated him for their liaisons, one paying him $600. Of the twenty two women all were married but one, a widow. Dernier had been an employee of Montgomery Ward in Chicago and came to Phoenix in 1917 for treatment for tuberculosis. He was a members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. [12] It was the opinion of the police that one of the twenty one husbands of the women with whom Dernier had had an affair was the murderer. [13]

Following the opening of their new club, Phoenix Country Club became the seat of leadership for the Border States Tennis Association, a member of the United States Lawn Tennis Association with members in Arizona, New Mexico, Sonora, and Texas. The president and treasurer of the association were members Dwight B. Heard and Mrs. Ernest W. Lewis, respectively. [14] The Phoenix Open was first hosted at Phoenix Country Club in 1932 but was discontinued after the 1935 tournament. The rebirth of the Phoenix Open came in 1939 when member Bob Goldwater Sr. convinced fellow Thunderbirds to help run the event. The Thunderbirds, a prominent civic organization in Phoenix, were not as enthusiastic about running the event as he was, leaving Goldwater Sr. to do most of the work in getting a golf open started. [15] Beginning in 1955, the Arizona Country Club alternated as event host with Phoenix Country Club; this arrangement lasted until Phoenix Country Club took The Arizona Country Club's turn in 1975 and became the event's permanent home again. [16]

The tournament was moved in 1987 to its current home, the Stadium Course at TPC of Scottsdale, northeast of downtown Phoenix. [15] During its time as host of the Phoenix Open, the club hosted such notable golfers as Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gene Littler, Johnny Miller, Miller Barber, Ben Crenshaw, Hal Sutton, and many others. [17] The club also hosted the Western Open in 1941 and 1942. [18]

In 1961, a new contemporary clubhouse designed by the architectural firm Edward L. Varney & Associates was constructed adjacent to the old clubhouse at a cost of $1,000,000. The new clubhouse is 68,000 square feet in size and features a second floor with 35 guest rooms, larger kitchen and dining facilities and larger locker room facilities. A new swimming pool and seven additional tennis courts were also constructed. The original clubhouse was demolished soon after the completion of the new clubhouse and was replaced with a new terrace. The 1961 clubhouse continues to serve as the clubhouse for Phoenix Country Club. [19]

In 2002, the 80-year-old Collis course was redesigned by Tom Lehman and John Faught. [1]

In 2017, Phoenix Country Club became the host of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season finale of the PGA Tour Champions.

In 2019, the club hosted the Arizona Tennis Classic, an ATP Challenger Tour men's tennis tournament.

Notable Members

Notable current and former members Include:

Historic Residences

Of the 52 homesites in Country Club Estates, 48 are still single family homes. Many of those 48 homes were constructed prior to World War II and are therefore eligible for historic registration. Of 48 homes, 4 are listed on the national register of historic places. [10]

[25] Name on the Register [26] ImageDate listed [27] Location ArchitectDescription
22 Bennitt Mansion
Bennitt Mansion Phoenix-Bennitt Mansion-1928-6.jpg
Bennitt Mansion
August 12, 2009
(#09000609)		126 E. County Club Dr.
33°28′52″N112°03′29″W / 33.480994°N 112.058186°W / 33.480994; -112.058186 (Bennitt Mansion) 		Phoenix, ArizonaSpanish Colonial Revival mansion built in 1925
28 Borah House
Borah House Phoenix-House-Borah Mansion-1931.jpg
Borah House
March 15, 2018
(#100002209)		72 E. Country Club Dr.
33°28′52″N112°03′37″W / 33.480990°N 112.060327°W / 33.480990; -112.060327 (Borah House) 		Phoenix, Arizona . This house, built in 1931, once belonged to Dr. Charles “Charley” Borah (1905 - 1980)
52 Craig Mansion
Craig Mansion Phoenix-Craig Mansion-1925-1.JPG
Craig Mansion
Commons-logo.svg More images
August 18, 1992
(#92001013)		131 E. Country Club Dr.
33°28′48″N112°03′25″W / 33.48°N 112.056944°W / 33.48; -112.056944 (Craig Mansion) 		Phoenix, Arizona Spanish Colonial Revival mansion built in 1928
99 Fred G. Hilvert House
Fred G. Hilvert House Phoenix-House-The Fred G. Hilvert House-1929.jpg
Fred G. Hilvert House
October 11, 2016
(#16000700)		106 E. Country Club Dr.
33°28′52″N112°03′33″W / 33.481006°N 112.059221°W / 33.481006; -112.059221 (Fred G. Hilvert House) 		Phoenix, Arizona This house was built in 1929.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoenix Open</span> Golf tournament held in Arizona, United States

The Phoenix Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medinah Country Club</span> Country club and golf course in Illinois, United States

Medinah Country Club is a private country club in Medinah, Illinois, with nearly 600 members and 640 acres (260 ha) containing three golf courses, Lake Kadijah, swimming facilities, a golf learning center, golf shop, gun club, racket center and a mosque-evoking Byzantine-style, Moroccan domed clubhouse topped with minarets and classic Moorish architectural aspects. Medinah is famously known for its Course 3, now at 7,657 yards (7,002 m), which has hosted five major championships: three U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships, as well as the Ryder Cup in 2012. Medinah will host the 2026 President's Cup

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia Cricket Club</span> Country club in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and Flourtown, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakland Hills Country Club</span> Golf club in Michigan, United States

Oakland Hills Country Club is a private golf club in the central United States, located in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. It consists of two 18-hole courses designed by Donald Ross: the South Course (1918) and the North Course (1923).

Edgewood Country Club is a private golf, tennis, and social club located in Churchill, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The club was founded in 1898 in Edgewood, Pennsylvania, and moved in 1921 to Churchill, where Donald Ross designed its new golf course while concurrently designing Pinehurst No. 2.

The Los Angeles Country Club is a golf and country club in Los Angeles, California. The club is noted for being very exclusive. It hosted the 2023 U.S. Open on its North Course.

Essex Golf & Country Club is a private, 18-hole championship golf course located in LaSalle, Ontario, south of Windsor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Oaks Country Club</span> Prestigious country club in Houston Texas

River Oaks Country Club is a country club in the River Oaks neighborhood in Houston, Texas. The club has hosted the River Oaks International Tennis Tournament since 1931. It is located at 1600 River Oaks Boulevard, Houston TX 77019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen View Club</span>

Glen View Club is a private country club located in Golf, Illinois, a suburb just north of Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wampanoag Country Club</span> Club in Connecticut, United States

Wampanoag Country Club is a country club in West Hartford, Connecticut. The club was created in the early 1920s by the famed golf course architect Donald Ross. His design was considered "one of his masterpieces" and the club hosted the Connecticut Open, PGA Tour-level event, shortly after its creation. In the 1950s, "a new era" was inaugurated when new clubhouse was created. The club has continued to host significant tournaments through the 21st century, including the Connecticut Amateur and the Connecticut Women's Open.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Country Club</span> Private club in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

Baltimore Country Club is a private club in Baltimore, Maryland, with two campuses, one in the city's Roland Park neighborhood and the other in the north suburb of Lutherville. It is one of only twelve clubs nationwide to operate two campuses. The club was founded on January 13, 1898, and hosted the U.S. Open the following year. Its original golf course at the Roland Park campus was the first 18-hole course built in the state of Maryland. The USGA lists Baltimore Country Club as one of the first 100 clubs established in the United States.

The Grover Cleveland Golf Course is a historic golf course located in Buffalo, New York that hosted the 1912 U.S. Open that was founded as The Country Club of Buffalo. It is one of two courses owned by Erie County.

Philadelphia Country Club is a private country club located in the Gladwyne suburb of Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It has 27 holes of regulation golf including one 18-hole championship course, a nine-hole course, an Olympic-sized and baby pool, shooting lodge and range, squash facility, tennis, and paddle courts, a bowling alley, and a 100,000-foot clubhouse that includes four dining rooms, a terrace for outdoor seating during the warmer months and ballroom for weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs.

Sherwood Country Club is a private, member owned golf and country club in Lake Sherwood, California set at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains just south of city of Thousand Oaks. Sherwood is home to a championship 18-hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf course, driving range and Georgian architecture golf clubhouse. Adjacent to the golf club is the tennis clubhouse, swimming pool, gymnasium, fitness facility and spa. There are a total of 12 tennis courts, including 8 hard courts, two clay courts and two grass courts. The tennis club also includes an outside sand volleyball court, all of which can be lit for night play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saucon Valley Country Club</span>

Saucon Valley Country Club is a country club in Upper Saucon Township in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania near both Allentown and Bethlehem. Its facilities include three 18-hole golf courses and a six-hole beginners course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timuquana Country Club</span>

Timuquana Country Club is a private golf and country club in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in Jacksonville's Ortega neighborhood, it was founded in 1923. Its golf course was originally designed by legend Donald Ross, and members have included PGA Tour professionals Steve Melnyk, David Duval and current member Jim Furyk. It has hosted various golf tournaments since its opening, including the 2002 United States Senior Men's Amateur Golf Championship, the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball in 2019, and is the host site for the PGA Tour Champions Constellation Furyk & Friends starting in 2021.

Vesper Country Club is a private club in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. The club derives from two late 19th century institutions, Vesper Boat Club and Lowell Country Club, which merged in 1894. The following year, members started creating a golf course originally consisting of six "links." In the late 1910s, the course commissioned Donald Ross to create a full 18-hole course. Though the course met with praise the ensuing decades were hard for Vesper. In the 1920s the clubhouse burnt down and in the 1930s a flood nearly destroyed the course. Since then, however, the club's history has been largely stable and the course has hosted several notable events, including the Massachusetts Open and Massachusetts Amateur several times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Kamehameha Golf Course Clubhouse</span> House in Maui, Hawaii

The King Kamehameha Golf Course Clubhouse, formerly known as the Waikapu Valley Country Club, is a building in Waikapu, Maui, Hawaii. The structure is based on the unbuilt Arthur Miller house (1957) originally conceived by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959). Wright designed the house for Arthur Miller's wife, Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962), but Miller and Monroe divorced soon after and the project was abandoned. The Arthur Miller house design was a modification of two previous unbuilt projects—the Raúl Baillères house (1952) and before it, the Robert F. Windfohr house (1949), also known as the "Crownfield" house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Sydney Golf Club</span> Golf club in Sydney, New South Wales

Royal Sydney Golf Club is golf club in Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia, a suburb of Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shady Rest Golf and Country Club</span> United States historic place

The Shady Rest Golf and Country Club is located at 820 Jerusalem Road in the Township of Scotch Plains in Union County, New Jersey. Established in 1921, it was one of the first, if not the first, African American country clubs in the United States. From 1931 to 1964, it was the home of John Shippen (1879–1968), the first American golf professional and the first African American to compete in the U.S. Open. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 2022, for its significance in entertainment, ethnic heritage, recreation, and social history from 1921 to 1964. The township acquired the property in 1938 and converted it to a public golf course in 1964.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Phoenix Country Club View Library Document: Course Layout". www.phoenixcountryclub.com.
  2. ↑ "STATISTICS AND RECORDS BOOK – Waste Management Phoenix Open". wmphoenixopen.com.
  3. ↑ "Vijay Singh Wins". golfchannel.com. 12 November 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Articles of Incorporation of the Phoenix Country Club". Arizona Republic. November 27, 1900.
  5. ↑ "Phoenix Country Club 18-Hole Grass Golf Course Will Open Today -- One of Finest in West". Arizona Republic. October 1, 1921.
  6. ↑ "Phoenix Country Club About The Club Home". www.phoenixcountryclub.com.
  7. ↑ Arizona Republic, October 30, 1919
  8. ↑ Von Breton, Harriette. (1974) Lloyd Wright, architect: 20th century architecture in an organic exposition, volume 6, p24
  9. ↑ Arizona Republic, January 14, 1920
  10. 1 2 Arizona Republic, May 19, 1920
  11. 1 2 3 4 Arizona Republic, October 27, 1921
  12. ↑ Arizona Republic, September 16, 1922
  13. ↑ Chicago Tribune, October 6, 1922
  14. 1 2 3 Wright & Ditson (1921) Wright & Ditson's Officially Adopted Lawn Tennis Guide p190
  15. 1 2 "TOURNAMENT HISTORY – Waste Management Phoenix Open". wmphoenixopen.com. 2 January 2024.
  16. ↑ "Arizona Country Club - Phoenix, AZ - Golf". www.azcountryclub.com.
  17. 1 2 "Phoenix Country Club View Library Document: History". www.phoenixcountryclub.com.
  18. ↑ "Phoenix Open Archives - GolfBlogger Golf Blog". GolfBlogger Golf Blog. 12 February 2023.
  19. ↑ Arizona Republic, October 22, 1959
  20. 1 2 Davis, Michael. (1974) Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street
  21. ↑ Arizona Republic, January 23, 1920
  22. ↑ Bohn, Michael K. (2007) Money Golf: 600 Years of Bettin' on Birdies
  23. ↑ "Twilight Golf Play Attracts 24 Teams". Arizona Republic. July 30, 1952.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Phoenix Country Club defends male-only lounge". archive.azcentral.com.
  25. ↑ Numbers represent an alphabetical ordering by significant words. Various colorings, defined here, differentiate National Historic Landmarks and historic districts from other NRHP buildings, structures, sites or objects.
  26. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 24, 2008.
  27. ↑ The eight-digit number below each date is the number assigned to each location in the National Register Information System database, which can be viewed by clicking the number.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.