The History of Golf Courses in Parks

By the time Van Cortlandt Golf Course opened on July 6, 1895, the popularity of the sport had been growing steadily for several decades. The course came about when a group of local businessmen in Riverdale had tried unsuccessfully to find private lands within the City large enough to accommodate a new grand-scale, fully appointed golf course.

Breaking New Ground in the Bronx

The Riverdale group — including T. McClure Peters, B.W. "Gus" Schwab, Moses T. "Percy" Pyne, and Cleveland H. Dodge — petitioned James A. Roosevelt, a member of the Board of Parks Commissioners, to contribute to the cost of building a golf course in Van Cortlandt Park. The group developed the course, setting up bunkers and greens on a nine–hole course. Although Roosevelt agreed that a course could be useful to attract people to use the new park, the city could not allow a municipal asset to be in private hands. In the end, the "Mosholu Golf Club," as the Riverdale group called itself, had exclusive use of the course for two afternoons a week, but that was all. The course at Van Cortlandt Park, now open to the general public, represented the first municipal golf course in the U.S.

At a time when most American golf courses were private — and held the right to control who could play — the Van Cortlandt Park course broke new ground. And as the game of golf opened up to the public, its popularity soared. The average New York resident could tee–up alongside celebrities, and new golfers organized clubs to further their enjoyment of the game.

The Mosholu Golf Club founders took advantage of Van Cortlandt's wildly sprawling grounds. Unlike the City's more manicured parks, Van Cortlandt made one forget the teeming urban landscape outside its borders. To golf enthusiasts, the fields, tall grasses, and colorful wildflowers of Van Cortlandt furnished the perfect spot for the golf links, which quickly earned the nickname "The Meadows."

T. McClure Peters constructed the nine–hole course north of Van Cortlandt Lake for a cost of $624.80. The original layout spread over today's 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 12th, 13th and 14th holes. Playing through the 2,561–yard course was relatively easy for the first eight holes, each less than 200 yards. Then, golfers confronted the ninth hole, with a 700-yard fairway that crossed two stonewalls and two small brooks. The ninth hole was among the longest and most challenging hole ever created in the United States.

Establishing Order on the Green

In its first year, there were no set rules at the Van Cortlandt Golf Course, and it quickly became overcrowded. Unheard of in this day and age, the only charge was for a caddy, and those who did not use one paid nothing for the privilege of golfing at Van Cortlandt. (During this era, golfers at Boston's Franklin Park paid a 25–cent fee.) Local newspapers blasted the poor playing conditions, the unmanageable crowds, and a general lack of golf etiquette.

As a result, the City hired Scottish–born Golf Architect Thomas Bendelow in 1899 to manage the course and oversee its expansion from a 55–acre, 9–hole course to a 120–acre, 18–hole course. Bendelow — described by some as the "Johnny Appleseed of American Golf" — was a prolific early golf course designer, and designed some 700 courses in his lifetime. Contemporary observers noted that golfers came from as far as 40 miles away to enjoy the new course, aided by a train station near the 18th hole.

Putting in Pelham Bay Park

Another early public golf course was the Pell Golf Course was, opened in 1901. The bucolic countryside of Pelham Bay Park, established in 1888, provided the new links with a scenic, natural backdrop. The pastures upon which the Pell course was laid out had once been productive farmland. The estate had been known as "Greystones," and was owned by the De Lancey family who were descendants of John Hunter (for whom Hunter Island is named). In 1911, the course was upgraded to a full 18–hole course.

Also opened in 1901 was the nine–hole (expanded to 18 holes by 1905), 110–acre, Forest Park Golf Links, another successful course designed under Parks' oversight. Located at the park's western edge, its golf house featured 400 lockers for crowds, a development perhaps informed by the chaotic conditions at Van Cortlandt Park, which were described as dilapidated from overuse just a few years after its 1899 reopening.

The delicate nature of establishing a course in an urban area was evident as early as 1916, when several holes at Forest Park had to be moved to "eliminate friction between residents of this section and the golf players."

The Golf Boom

Another course at Van Cortlandt Park, the Mosholu golf course opened in 1914. (In 2004, the City began construction on a filtration plant under a portion of Mosholu golf course for its water supply; as part of the agreement, more than $200 million will be spent on improvements to over 70 Bronx parks.) The general public took to these facilities quickly. In 1899, 2,000 golfers played the Van Cortlandt course. Eventually, it was common for up to 700 golfers to complete the course on a typical Saturday, Sunday or holiday. And by 1920, there were an estimated 5,000 golfers per week teeing off at Van Cortlandt. Because both Pell and Van Cortlandt golf links were being used much more extensively, Parks instituted a reservation system (initiated by Thomas Bendelow) on weekends and holidays.

Golf experienced a boom in the 1920s, and several more facilities opened in the city. Land from Marine Cemetery, a nineteenth–century burial site for the Marine Hospital Quarantine in Tompkinsville was added to Staten Island's Silver Lake Park in 1924, and in 1929, a golf course opened on the site. (Today it is thought that perhaps several thousand immigrants, including many Irish escaping Ireland's Potato Famine, who died from contagious diseases after landing in the United States, are buried under the 18th fairway of the golf course.) The golf course at Silver Lake Park helped the park become a recreational hub for the developing borough.

Clearview Park and Golf Course in Queens was founded in 1925 as the Clearview Golf and Yacht Club, an exclusive retreat for notable New Yorkers such as the renowned New York State Governor Alfred E. Smith. The South Shore Golf Course — which was taken over by Parks in the 1960s — was founded in 1930 as the Mayflower Country Club.

Moses Continues Course Creation

Golfing stayed popular, even during the Depression, and the demand for golf courses increased steadily. Taking advantage of the economic downturn, on June 25, 1931, the City of New York purchased the Clearview Golf and Yacht Club for $940,000, about half the asking price. Under the tenure of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1934–60), New York City's recreational facilities saw great changes. With federal funding provided by the Works Progress Administration, Moses created a variety of new public facilities and expanded others throughout the city. Between 1935 and 1940, Parks redesigned the entire course and built new club facilities. The Kissena Golf Course opened in 1935. The course in Pelham Bay was renovated in 1936 as part of a WPA–funded project, and the adjacent Split Rock course was opened then. Golf legend Bobby Jones visited the courses in 1936, calling Split Rock "worth the visit," and commending the courses' architects. The stately Pelham Club House also opened during this era; the plantation'style building is currently undergoing renovations to return it to its former splendor.

Private Courses Arrive and Depart

New York City eventually had several private golf courses (the Richmond County Country Club in Staten Island is the last remaining private course; Parks Commissioner Newbold Morris wanted to purchase it in the 1960s). Queens courses in Bayside and even Jackson Heights are no longer extant and a six–hole course in Sunset Park, Brooklyn existed at the turn of the century. Other private courses reverted to the city. South Shore Golf Course in Staten Island was acquired by the City in 1966. The Dyker Meadow Golf Club became the course at Dyker Beach Park. The North Hills Golf Course in Douglaston, Queens was purchased by the city in 1962, and opened as the Douglaston Park Golf Course in 1963.

Parks also features several driving ranges — including one on Randall's Island as well as a "pitch and putt" course at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. A pitch and putt course is designed so that golfers only have to use two clubs. Commissioner Moses opened a pitch and putt course at Jacob Riis Park, as well (the site has since been transferred to the federal government).

Parks hosted a series of tournaments at Van Cortlandt Park in 1974, when over 700,000 rounds of golf were played at the course. The John Muir Benefit Golf Tournament began in 1997 and its proceeds go towards the continued care of Van Cortlandt Park. In the 1980s under Mayor Edward I. Koch, the City of New York began to license management of its 13 golf courses to private contractors. Today, American Golf Corporation, which operates over 300 recreational facilities nationwide, runs Parks golf courses.

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