Apawamis Club

The Apawamis Club is a golf and country club located in Rye, New York. The 1911 U.S. Amateur Championship was contested here, resulting in a playoff between the reigning British Amateur champion, Harold Hilton, and his lesser-known American opponent, Fred Herreshoff. Many notable players were in the field, such as Francis Ouimet and Walter Travis.^[1]

Harold Hilton at Apawamis in 1911

Club founding

The Apawanis Club was founded on June 25, 1890 as a social organization by a group of 40 gentlemen from Rye, New York and the surrounding area.^[2] The Apawamis Club was the home course for golfing great Willie Anderson from 1901 through 1906.^[3]

The origin of the Club’s name refers to an area in the southwest section of Rye, now called Rye Neck, formerly called Budd’s Neck (after John Budd {{–}} who purchased it in 1661), that was originally called Apawamis by the Native Americans. The name is derived from the words "appoqua" which means “to cover” and "mis" meaning “the trunk of a tree” -- together the name implies “the covering tree”.

1911 U.S. Amateur

Trophy presentation to Harold Hilton by Silas H. Strawn, President of the United States Golf Association

The Apawamis Club has a rich golf history. The golf course was designed by Willie Dunn, Jr. who had previously designed the links-style course at Shinnecock Hills, which is also located on Long Island. Herbert Strong was hired as the head professional in 1906 after Willie Anderson left to take another job. Strong made changes to the golf course, which included adding bunkers, between 1906 and 1911 in preparation for the U.S. Amateur.^[4] The 1911 U.S. Amateur Championship was contested there, resulting in a playoff between the reigning British Amateur champion, Harold Hilton, and his lesser-known American opponent, Fred Herreshoff. Many notable players were in the field, such as Francis Ouimet and Walter Travis, but they could not keep pace with Hilton and Herreshoff. Ouimet would later win the U.S Open in 1913 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Herreshoff defeated Chick Evans in the semi-finals. He was trailing Hilton by six holes in the final match but managed to mount a stunning comeback to tie the match and send it to a playoff. On the 37th hole of the match, Hilton sliced his approach shot badly but instead of finding the deep rough right of the green his ball ricocheted off a flat rock and luckily landed on the green. Herreshoff, meanwhile, topped his approach shot to a position short of the green. His pitch shot to the par 4 hole went 20 feet past the pin. Hilton two-putted for par while Herreshoff was unable to make his 20-foot putt to save par. Hilton was declared the winner and was awarded the Havemeyer Cup, a trophy given to the USGA by golf enthusiast and millionaire sugar dealer Theodore Havemeyer.^[1] Havemeyer, who died in 1897, served as the first president of the USGA.

Other golf tournaments at Apawamis Club

• The Club has also hosted the Julian Curtiss Cup^[5] match, a series held exclusively between clubs that are more than 100 years old, including old clubs such as Baltusrol, Greenwich Country Club, Dorset Field Club and The Saint Andrews Club. The annual teams for the “Four Corners” match are typically selected during open qualifying tournaments within the Club.

• 1909 NCAA Yale vs. Princeton

(Winner: Princeton)

• 1912 Metropolitan Open

(Winner: Tom McNamara)^{[6] †}

• 1928 NCAA Princeton vs. Georgetown

(Winner: Princeton)

• 1970 U.S. Girls' Junior

(Winner: Hollis Stacy)^[7]

• 1978 Curtis Cup

• 2005 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur

(Winner: Diane Lang)^[8]

Tennis and squash tournaments

In addition to golf and other amenities offered for members and guests at the Apawamis Club, they are also the host for important tennis^[9] and squash^[10] tournaments.

Club location

The Apawamis Club
Two Club Road
Rye, NY 10580

References

Notes

Former Apawamis Club head professional Herbert Strong, who in 1912 was playing out of Inwood Country Club, placed 3rd in this event.^†

External links

• Official website