Los Angeles Country Club
The Los Angeles Country Club is a golf and country club in the Western United States, located in Los Angeles, California.
History
In the fall of 1897, a group of Los Angeles residents organized the Los Angeles Golf Club, and a lot was leased at the corner of Pico and Alvarado streets for a nine-hole golf course. Called "The Windmill Links," the course was named for a makeshift clubhouse crafted from the bottom of an abandoned windmill. Through the middle of 1898, this site served as the club's home until the course became too crowded. The club was removed to Pico Heights, at Hobart and 16th streets. The new home was named "The Convent Links" for its location behind a convent near Rosedale Cemetery. Again, nine holes were laid out for play, but by the spring of 1899, this course and clubhouse had also become too restricted for play.The search committee for a new site, consisting of the club founders Joe Sartori and Ed Tufts, found the club's new home just west, on the northeast corner of Pico and Western. The clubhouse was transported intact to a new site in Beverly Hills, and it was expanded there. The club also laid out an 18-hole course. The club reopened on May 30, 1911. It now has 36 holes of golf, and tennis courts. The original golf course was laid out by Joe Sartori, Ed Tufts, Norman Macbeth, and Charles Orr. Later, the courses were redesigned by Herbert Fowler and George C. Thomas, Jr., and again by Thomas with William P. Bell in 1927-28.
Hosts national and international championships
The club hosted the 1930 United States Women's Amateur Golf Championship; Glenna Collett Vare defeated Virginia Van Wie in the final match. The club hosted the 1954 U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship; Foster Bradley defeated Al Geiberger in the final match. The club hosted the 2017 Walker Cup, won by the United States.In 1996 and 1997 an extensive renovation of the North and South courses was completed. In February 2010, an extensive restoration of the North Course by Gil Hanse and Thomas biographer Geoff Shackelford took place to return the course to George C. Thomas, Jr.'s design from 1921. The course reopened in October 2010.
Hosts PGA Tour events
The North course hosted the first Los Angeles Open in 1926, and it returned four times: 1934, 1935, 1936, and 1940.The most recent in 1940, won by Lawson Little, was plagued by heavy rains.
Will host 2023 U.S. Open
On July 22, 2015, the United States Golf Association announced that Los Angeles Country Club was selected to host the 123rd U.S. Open in 2023.Tournament history
- Los Angeles Open
Year | Player | Country | Score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up | Winner's share | Purse |
1940 | Lawson Little | United States | 282 | +2 | 1 stroke | Clayton Heafner | 1,500 | 5,000 |
1936 | Jimmy Hines | United States | 280 | E | 4 strokes | Henry Picard Jimmy Thomson | 1,500 | 5,000 |
1935 | Vic Ghezzi | United States | 285 | +5 | Playoff | Johnny Revolta | 1,175 | 5,000 |
1934 | Macdonald Smith | Scotland | 280 | E | 8 strokes | Willie Hunter Bill Mehlhorn | 1,450 | 5,000 |
1926 | Harry Cooper | United States | 279 | -7 | 3 strokes | George Von Elm | 3,500 | 10,000 |
- The playoff in 1935 was 18 holes and was won by two strokes, 73 to 75, and both earned the same amount.
Notable members
- J. Win Austin, Los Angeles City Council member, 1941–43
- Robert L. Burns, Los Angeles City Council member, 1929–45
- Arthur Letts, department store founder