Our Club
The History of Inwood Country Club
Inwood Country Club owes its existence to a lover's promise
to his fiancée.
In 1900, prominent tobacco merchant, Jacob Wertheim was
engaged to wed Emma Stern of Far Rockaway. She wanted to indulge in the game of
golf but had no place to play. As a gesture to his ladylove, Wertheim announced
he would build a golf course for her. He immediately entered into an
understanding with two associates, and in January 1901 the trio rented a potato
farm at Inwood, Long Island, converted an old farm building into a clubhouse,
and called it the Inwood Country Club.
Early in 1901, a Scotsman named William
Martin was engaged as the golf professional. Dr. William Exton, with the aid of
a specialist named Arthur Thatcher, laid out a nine-hole links that meandered
around the property. The expense of laying out the course amounted to $610.00.
For his services, Martin received an annual fee of $200.00. The following year
he became a hack driver. Apparently, that was a more lucrative profession. Five
years later, in 1906, the course was expanded to 18 holes by Edward Eriksen.
The club progressed in fits and starts and by 1915 it purchased the land on
which the golf course was situated. Within a few short years, Inwood became one
of the few courses to host two major golf championships: the 1921 PGA
Championship, won by Walter Hagen, and the 1923 U.S. Open Championship, the scene
of Bobby Jones’ victory and famous “shot heard ‘round the world”.
Today,
visitors to Inwood will see noteworthy memorabilia that evoke the excitement
and drama of those events.
Construction of Inwood’s elegant, Georgian-style clubhouse
was begun in 1916 and completed the following year. The clubhouse underwent a
major renovation in 1961, and again in 2000, in time for the celebration of the
club’s centennial year, 2001.
Substantial redesign and reconstruction of the golf course
were executed in the first half of the twentieth century under the stewardship
of Herbert Strong. Strong, responsible for the design of several championship
venues, was Inwood’s pro from 1912 to 1916. He was followed by Jack Mackie,
whose tenure began in 1917. Mackie improved the course further, bringing it to
championship caliber. An important figure in American golf, he was vice
president of the PGA for two years, and treasurer for ten. Mackie retired from
Inwood in 1950 and was succeeded by PGA tournament winner, Vic Ghezzi. Ghezzi
was followed by the remarkable athlete, Ellsworth Vines. Vines, originally a
sensation in the tennis world (He won the U.S. National Championship twice and
Wimbledon once.), won three times on the PGA tour and contended in the U.S.
Open, the Masters, and the PGA. His was a career without parallel in the annals
of sport. Vines would retire in 1965 and was followed by Jimmy Wright, then John Langford, and then
Tommy Thomas.
After 26 years of service to the club, then Director of Instruction, Cameron Wood became the club’s Head PGA Professional. Cameron served in this capacity between
2012 and 2018 before becoming the club’s professional emeritus
after 30 years of service. Then 1st assistant Professional, Kyle
Higgens, was promoted to serve as Inwood Country Club’s head golf
professional as of 2019.
Many of golf’s greatest luminaries have trod the fairways of
Inwood: Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jimmy
Demaret, Nancy Lopez, Ken Venturi, Curtis Strange and so many more.
The venerable traditions and history of The Inwood Country
Club have solidified its position as one of America’s national treasures. Born
when American golf was in its infancy, it thrives today; a seasoned witness to
the game's nobility, and proud of its place in the pantheon of historic
American golf courses.