You’re standing outside one of the most storied golf courses in the country-Garden City Golf Club. Around here, golf isn’t just a game; it’s pretty much a way of life, or at least a very, very exclusive club. It’s nicknamed the “Men’s Club,” and that’s not just for show-this is one of the last true all-men’s golf clubs left in the United States. When they say tee time, they really mean “he” time!
Let’s take a walk back to the late 1800s, when the game was young in America and so was this very course. It all began in 1897, as the Island Golf Links-just a humble nine holes for guests from the nearby Garden City Hotel, where the smell of cigars probably hung in the air as thick as the end-of-day applause. The course was soon expanded to a full 18 holes by Devereux Emmet, and suddenly, this was the longest course around-over 6,000 yards. No wonder they brought in their best walking shoes!
The iconic clubhouse, designed by Richard Howland Hunt, saw some real sporting drama. In 1902, Laurie Auchterlonie made headlines here by breaking 80 in all four rounds of the U.S. Open-something nobody had done before. Meanwhile, amateur Walter Travis, local hero and master of the greens, finished in second place, and later put his personal stamp on the course by redesigning it. One day, during the U.S. Amateur, Travis famously landed his ball in a new pot bunker he had just added-imagine designing your own trap and then falling for it! Golf can be a cruel game.
Through the decades, everyone from U.S. Amateur contenders to Walker Cup players have battled the subtle hills and sneaky sand traps. And don’t forget the Walter J. Travis Invitational, one of the country’s premier tournaments and a true badge of honor if you’re a mid-amateur golfer.
By 2013, Garden City Golf Club was rubbing elbows with the golf world’s best-26th in the whole nation! Not bad for a club that started as a playground for hotel guests. So while you’re outside these gates, just know you’re staring at a place where golf history has been written, rewritten, and sometimes, hilariously, bunkered.
