St. Louis Country Club
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Greens | Bent |
---|---|
Fairways | Bent |
Designed by | Charles Blair Macdonald |
Par | 71 |
Length | 6,542 |
St. Louis Country Club (SLCC) is a country club located in Ladue, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It is recognized by the United States Golf Association (USGA) as one of the first 100 Clubs in America.
Club history
Founded in 1892 as a polo club, in 1895, the club moved to a site in the city of Clayton where it hired James Foulis, winner of the 1896 United States Open Golf Championship, to build a nine-hole course. The course opened in October 1896. In 1913, with Clayton becoming more populated, the club looked to move further west. It found a site at the corner of Ladue and Price Roads, owned by the Archdiocese of St. Louis. After some negotiations, the club purchased the land from the Archdiocese.
It then contracted with Charles Blair Macdonald to build a new 18-hole course. With golf chairman George Herbert Walker alongside, Macdonald began construction of the course. He hired Seth Raynor to do the engineering on the course, making the St. Louis course one of the few Macdonald-Raynor designs.
Macdonald, who was also among the founders of the United States Golf Association, was also the first champion of the United States Golf Association's Amateur Championship. The St. Louis course would be the furthest west Macdonald would go to design a course. Other courses he designed include National Golf Links of America, Sleepy Hollow, Piping Rock, Greenbrier's Old White Course, Yale Golf Course, the Mid Ocean Club, and the Chicago Golf Club.
Like many clubs throughout the United States, SLCC has a history of
The USGA Championships
1921 U.S. Amateur - First Amateur played west of the Mississippi
In 1919,
1925 U.S. Women's Amateur
In 1925, the St. Louis hosted the U.S. Women's Amateur. Alexa Stirling (Fraser), the 1916, 1919 and 1920 champion and the 1922 champion Glenna Collett (Vare) reached the finals, with Collett winning the final match 9 and 8 over Stirling. Collett would go on to win a total of six U.S. Women's Amateur Championships, with the last coming in 1935. Stirling, a 3-time U.S. Women's Amateur Champion, was another of the East Lake "whiz kids" taught by Stewart Maiden. Collett was a member of the first Curtis Cup team in 1932 and served as Captain on four occasions. In 1975, she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
1947 U.S. Open
In 1947, St. Louis played host to the
Playoff
During the 18-hole playoff, Worsham and Snead approached the 18th green, once again tied. Worsham chipped toward the hole, with his ball hitting the flagstick and settling 291⁄2 inches from the hole. Snead had a putt of approximately 15-feet, which he left short. Officials were called in by Worsham to measure which player was away. (In this era in golf, the continuous putting rule was not in effect, so the player furthest from the hole would putt first). The officials determined Snead was 301⁄2 inches from the hole. Snead, obviously upset with the delay, stood over his ball and missed the putt. Worsham calmly rolled in his putt to claim the U.S. Open crown.
1960 U.S. Amateur
In 1960, the club hosted the U.S. Amateur once again.
, John Farquhar, and Robert W. Gardner.The championship was played entirely at match play, with players seeded into four quadrants. Nicklaus won his first round match against John Donahue Jr., 1up, and then Ken Finke 4 and 3 in the second round. After defeating Phil Rogers 6 and 5 in the third round he met relative-unknown Charles Lewis of Little Rock, Arkansas. In perhaps one of the biggest upsets in
Meanwhile, Beman, who would become Commissioner of the PGA later in his career, was winning his matches with relative ease. In the quarterfinals he met Bill Hyndman, giving him his toughest match as Beman won 1up in 19 holes. After defeating Farquhar 5 and 4 in the semifinals, he dispatched Gardner 6 and 4 in the finals to win the Amateur title.
1972 U.S. Women's Amateur
In 1972, the USGA again called upon St. Louis to host a championship, this time the
2014 Curtis Cup Match
For the sixth time in the club's history, the club would host another
With crowds of over 6,000 present over the three days of the Match, the U.S. team took a commanding 5–1 lead at the end of Friday's matches. They extended the lead to 9 1/2 to 2 1/2 at the close of the matches on Saturday. The individual matches on Sunday saw University of Alabama's Emma Talley, the 2012 U.S. Women's Amateur Champion, earn the deciding point on the fifteenth green as the U.S. team reclaimed the Curtis Cup. Besides Talley, other players on the U.S. squad were Kyung Kim, Alison Lee, Erynne Lee, Ally McDonald, Annie Park, Ashlan Ramsey, and Mariah Stackhouse.
Tournaments
Major championship
Year | Tournament | Winner | Winner's share ($) |
---|---|---|---|
1947 | U.S. Open | Lew Worsham | 2,500 |
^ 18 hole playoffs: 1947
Amateur championships
Year | Tournament | Winner |
---|---|---|
1921 | U.S. Amateur |
Jesse Guilford |
1925 | U.S. Women's Amateur | Glenna Collett Vare
|
1960 | U.S. Amateur |
Deane Beman |
1972 | U.S. Women's Amateur | Mary Budke |
International team competitions
Year | Tournament | Winner |
---|---|---|
2014 | Curtis Cup | United States |
References
- ISBN 978-1-55972-091-5.
This was the club that a generation ago asked members married Jews to resign.
- ISBN 9780195037807.
Before World War II almost all of them barred Jews and by the early 1960s about two-thirds, still a hefty percentage, continued doing so... Among the elite of these restricted organizations were...the St. Louis Country Club
- ISBN 0826206778.
When Jews were denied admission to the St. Louis Club and the St. Louis Country Club...
- ISBN 0385503245.
For many years the St. Louis Country Club denied membership to all Jews, Catholics, blacks...
- ^ "Webster, Carter's Nominee to Head Fbi. to Answer Allegations That He is Involved with Groups Practic". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 27 January 1978. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith said that Webster, a member of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since 1973, was affiliated with the St. Louis Country Club which allegedly has barred Jews and Blacks from membership
- ^ a b Cooperman, Jeannette (31 July 2006). "Dinner at the Club, Darling?". www.stlmag.com. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ George White of The Sentinel. "CLUBS CHANGING IN THE AFTERMATH OF SHOAL CREEK". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Diaz, Jaime (10 February 1997). "OFF-LIMITS WHAT'S STOPPING CYPRESS POINT FROM REJOINING THE AT&T". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
When the Tour's policy, and similar guidelines by the USGA and PGA of America, went into effect after Shoal Creek, 11 clubs with tournaments declined to conform. Since then, four of them--Annandale Golf Club (Pasadena), Aronimink Golf Club (Newton Square, Pa.), Merion Golf Club (Ardmore, Pa.) and Old Warson Country Club (Ladue, Mo.)--have come into compliance. Butler National Golf Club (Oak Brook, Ill.), Chicago Golf Club (Wheaton, Ill.), Amarillo (Texas) Country Club, the Country Club of Louisiana (Baton Rouge), Skokie (Glencoe, Ill.) Country Club, St. Louis Country Club (Clayton, Mo.) and Cypress Point have not.
- Golfing Before The Arch: A history of Golf in St. Louis. Copyright 1996-2019 James F. Healey
- St. Louis Country Club: A Legacy of Sports. Copyright 2009. James F. Healey
- The 38th Curtis Cup Match Program. St. Louis Country Club, June 6–8, 2014. United States Golf Association and the Ladies Golf Union.