North Hempstead Celebrates Centennial

The year was 1916 and a group of businessmen, writers, artists and lawyers shared a vision—create a place where they could pursue their passion for golf. From this vision, the North Hempstead Country Club was founded. One hundred years later, the club’s members are preparing to celebrate their centennial year with a Black & White Centennial Gala this Saturday, May 14. “The enthusiasm for the Gala from the membership has been exceptional, with reservations far exceeding expectations. The response is a great tribute to the vision of our founding members and the high value our current members place on their North Hempstead experience,” said Club President Robert Weppler.
Planning for the gala and other centennial-related activities began two years ago when a 10-person Centennial Committee was formed. Under the leadership of Weppler and retired news executive Don Dunphy, Jr., the committee’s work is now coming to fruition. A new centennial logo was designed and can now be seen at the entrance to the club on Port Washington Boulevard. A Centennial clock was erected on the property and a Centennial Room adorned with club memorabilia and photographs was created. On display in the Centennial Room is a video containing an aerial tour of the beautiful and challenging 18-hole golf course, designed by the famed golf course architect, A.W. Tillinghast. In September, members will enjoy a Centennial Family Day when a time capsule will be buried on the property with the hope that it will be opened 100 years from now. Closing out the centennial celebration will be the publication of a book detailing the 100-year history of the club. “Perhaps 1916 wasn’t the ideal time to begin a new venture,” said Dunphy, a history buff himself. “After all, the country was on the precipice of being drawn into the Great War raging in Europe.” Undeterred, the club’s founding members signed a lease on what was then familiarly known as the Burtis property on Port Washington Boulevard (formerly part of the Willets Estate). The golf course was developed bit by bit. The first five holes opened for play on June 10, 1916, and it was essentially cow pasture. The completion of the 9-hole course occurred later that same year, with the Tillinghast design coming over a decade later. The original clubhouse was the existing Colonial farmhouse and the barn was used as a site for dancing and entertainment.
The club’s first president was John H. Love, a founder of Graupner, Love & Lamprecht, a woolen and worsted goods company. Notable among the club’s original membership were sportswriter Grantland Rice, Broadway producer George Abbott, writer Ring Lardner and artist John LaGatta, who painted a mural of 18 golf goddesses in the club’s Grill Room. Fontaine Fox, a well-known illustrator of the time, was the club’s first golf champion. From its early days, North Hempstead Country Club had a strong tradition of women’s golf. Alexa Stirling, a member during the early 1920s, was both a club champion and a Women’s Metropolitan champion.
Over the next 50 years, the club survived the country’s involvement in two world wars, the Great Depression and the wrath of Mother Nature in the form of the 1938 hurricane known as the “Long Island Express.” Membership declined so severely during the Depression-era that the club lacked the funds necessary to replace the trees uprooted by the 1938 hurricane, and the golf course reverted to its original cow pasture look for several years. The 1950s and 60s were a time of great prosperity and change and North Hempstead Country Club benefited from both. The swimming pool was added in 1958 and the main Terrace Dining room, with its exquisite view of the 18th fairway and green, was built in the late 1960s, thus allowing the club to host events exceeding several hundred guests.
North Hempstead Country Club has played host to many celebrity golfers and guests over the years. The most famous golfer to play the course was Bobby Jones. In 1930, Bobby Jones achieved golf’s Grand Slam by winning the U.S. Open, the British Open and the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur championships all in the same year. Following this success he played many exhibition rounds of golf. His round at North Hempstead, in which he shot a 4 under par 66, is memorialized in a commemorative plaque containing his scorecard that hangs in the club’s foyer. Other celebrity golfers at North Hempstead have included baseball greats Babe Ruth and Whitey Ford.
What would the club’s founding members think if they spent a day at North Hempstead in 2016? “I think our founding members would be quite pleased to see the first rate condition of the golf course and the many other improvements made to the property,” said Club President Weppler. “And while they might be surprised by a shift toward activities for the whole family and not just adults, I think they would be proud that the club has endured as an oasis for recreation and fun.”