Throwback Thursday: The oldest golf club in America is born
The Background
Saint Andrews in Yonkers is America’s oldest golf club. It was founded in 1888 and it is also a founding member of the USGA alongside the Country Club, Chicago, Newport and Shinnecock Hills.
The course is regarded as “one of the best conditioned layouts” and is a challenging par 71 which was redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 1983.
The Scene
In February 1988, Scottish sportsman John Reid and a few of his friends took some clubs and balls to an area of land in Yonkers which is 20 miles outside of New York City.
The clubhouse they established was an apple tree that they hung their coats on and originally started the course as a three hole layout.
This was the beginning of what would become the oldest golf club in America.
In 1998 the club hosted the anniversary for the first 100 years of golf in America. Many famous names including, Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player were all in attendance.
In 1995, Saint Andrews began the tradition of the Founders Cup which are matches played between the five founding members of the USGA.
The Legacy
The links to the clubs’ Scottish heritage still lives today with a healthy tournament relationship with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (St Andrews, Scotland).
The club also participates in the Julian Curtiss Cup matches, a series held exclusively between clubs at least 100 years old, including Baltrusrol, Baltimore and Greenwich.
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Matthew Beedle
Matthew has been playing golf since he was around 13 and took up the game at a local nine-hole municipal course with his friends before joining Pontefract & District Golf Club just over the hedge.
Still a member of Pontefract with a handicap of 3, he currently sits on the board of directors to help with digital and marketing initiatives in order to improve membership and visitor income.
Matthew graduated university with a First Class in Sports Journalism from Leeds Trinity University and has been working in the golf industry since graduating.
NCG’s social media & marketing manager, Matthew’s main job role is to increase website traffic to the National Club Golfer website via our email and social media channels as well as driving entries to grow our NCG Top 100s Tour events amongst other tasks.
Not one to change his equipment too often, Matthew currently plays the TaylorMade M2 driver which has lasted the test of time in his bag. Elsewhere, you’ll find him using the TaylorMade Stealth 2 three-wood with a Ping G425 Crossover 2-iron to aid his long game.
Through his 4-iron to Gap Wedge, Matthew uses the Ping i500 irons accompanied by Ping’s Glide 3.0 56-degree and 60-degree wedges.
Another club that has stood the test of time in his bag is a Nike Method Core MC-3i putter which has had to have the SuperStroke grip changed at least three times. Ball of choice is the Titleist ProV1.
