Town & Country Club (Saint Paul, Minnesota)

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Town & Country Club
Town & Country Club logo.svg
Club information
Coordinates 44°56′56″N93°12′04″W / 44.949°N 93.201°W / 44.949; -93.201 Coordinates: 44°56′56″N93°12′04″W / 44.949°N 93.201°W / 44.949; -93.201
Location St. Paul, Minnesota
Established1888
TypePrivate Club
Total holes18
Events hostedvarious amateur events
Designed by E. J. Frost
Robert Foulis (redesign)
Par 72
Length6,400 yards (5,900 m)
Course rating 71.9
Slope rating 137

Town & Country Club is a golf club located in St. Paul, Minnesota which was founded in 1888. Designed by George McCree and E. J. Frost, and later redesigned by Robert Foulis. Foulis, an early professional at Town & Country Club who was recommended to the membership by C.B. MacDonald.

Contents

Club history

As the first "country club" in Minnesota, Town & Country Club was founded as a social organization inspired by the clubs in Saint Paul that were formed as a nucleus of the annual Winter Carnival. A residence on Lake Como was used as the first clubhouse in 1887. The Club moved in 1890 to its present home at the Marshall Avenue Bridge on the Saint Paul side of the Mississippi River. Today, this “country club” is in the heart of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, but in 1890, it was in the far reaches of Saint Paul.

The original Town & Country Club, a Saint Paul landmark, was designed by state capitol architect, Cass Gilbert, and built in the early 1890s for $25,000.

The first round of golf in Minnesota was played at the Town & Country Club of Saint Paul in 1893. Golf began here as an afterthought. George McCree, a transplanted Scot, had migrated to Minnesota from Canada and was familiar with the game of golf. An early member recalled, “I took McCree out to the Club with my lawn mower in the back of my roadster to help lay out the course. Using an old driver and a twenty-five cent gutta percha ball, after a couple shots, McCree marked a spot with a stake - 'This is the first hole,' he said. In this fashion, the first five holes were laid out."

In 1895, E. J. Frost, a well-known amateur out of Chicago, was hired to lay out Town & Country Club’s first nine holes with the help of Charles B. Macdonald and Henry James Whigham. In 1897, $2,000.00 was budgeted to lay out the new course. On June 9, 1898, the new nine holes were opened for play. Also at this time, Robert Foulis, the first golf pro and expert maker of clubs, was acquired from St. Andrew’s Golf Club. The first greens keeper was also engaged at this time.

Town & Country Club's golf course is the second oldest golf course in the United States still being played on its original land, behind only Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in New York.

Town & Country Club is one of the first 25 member clubs of the United States Golf Association and is a founding member of the Western Golf Association.

Scorecard

Town & Country Club
Tee Rating/Slope 123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Par---433544444354354355533772
Back71.9/137324110163490354468354366414302637718653328323055252152217033556400

Tournaments

The Town & Country Club has hosted the following events:

National

State

*Was awarded but not played due to World War II

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