Inverness Club
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Toledo, Ohio |
| Established | 1903 |
| Type | Private |
| Total holes | 18 |
| Website | Inverness Club |
| Designed by | Donald J. Ross |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 7,255 yards (6,634 m) |
| Course rating | 75.9 |
|
Inverness Club | |
  | |
| Location | 4601 Dorr St., Toledo, Ohio |
| Coordinates | 41°38′47″N 83°39′1″W / 41.64639°N 83.65028°WCoordinates: 41°38′47″N 83°39′1″W / 41.64639°N 83.65028°W |
| Area | 203 acres (82.2 ha) |
| Built | 1919 |
| Architect | Ross, Donald; Devore Company |
| Architectural style | Bungalow/Craftsman, Tudor Revival |
| Governing body | Private |
| NRHP Reference # |
93000398 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | May 10, 1993 |
Inverness Club is a country club in Toledo, Ohio that is famous for its golf course (and also has a 25-yard pool and several tennis courts). The golf course is so well known since it has hosted four U.S. Opens, two U.S. Senior Opens, two PGA Championships, and a U.S. Amateur. It also hosted the Inverness Invitational Four-Ball from 1935 to 1953.
Inverness Club was founded in 1903, when many of Toledo's wealthiest citizens purchased a parcel of land and built a nine-hole golf course. The course was eventually expanded to eighteen holes. In 1916, the club hired Donald Ross to construct a championship-caliber golf course, which was finished by the end of 1918. In his unpublished book, Golf Has Never Failed Me, Ross discussed Inverness's design, one of only seven of his hundreds of courses to be given a discussion.
The course has been refurbished three times: once after the 1920 Open by A.W. Tillinghast and Dick Wilson; then in 1978 by George and Tom Fazio; and finally in 1999 by Arthur Hills. Currently Inverness is ranked #37 on Golfweek Magazine's America's Best Classic Courses, and #41 by Golf Digest.[2]
Point of Interest
Before the 1920 U.S. Open, golf professionals were not treated as the stars they are today. Inverness changed all of that by becoming the first club to allow professional golfers into the club house marking a paradigm shift in the way professional golfers would be treated forever.
As a gift for the boldness and generosity Inverness had shown, Walter Hagen gathered other professional golfers when the U.S. Open returned to Inverness in 1931 so that a gift could be purchased for the club.[3] Together they purchased a grandfather clock for the club house which stands there to this day. On the brass plate of the clock an inscription was written that left no doubt concerning the shift that had happened just 11 years before:
- God measures men by what they are
- Not by what they in wealth possess
- This vibrant message chimes afar
- The voice of Inverness
Tournaments
Winners of major tournaments held at Inverness Club include:
- U.S. Open
- 1920 – Ted Ray
- 1931 – Billy Burke
- 1957 – Dick Mayer
- 1979 – Hale Irwin
- U.S. Amateur Championship
- 1973 – Craig Stadler
- PGA Championship
- 1986 – Bob Tway
- 1993 – Paul Azinger
- U.S. Senior Open
- 2003 – Bruce Lietzke
- 2011 – Olin Browne
References
- ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
- ↑ America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses - Golf Digest
- ↑ A Paradigm Shift in Golf History - USGA