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Golfers who play Dinsmore Golf Course today may come away from their experience thinking “it’s nice but no big deal.” After all, it’s only 5,759 yards long with very generous fairways, modest rough and few hazards. Longtime local players might add remarks about the significant improvement of the greens and the creation of attractive naturalized off-the-fairway areas over recent years. However, few will realize the depth of the course’s history.
The Dinsmore course of today dates to 1962 when the North Nine (Holes 1 to 9 on the scorecard) opened for play, and 1964 when the South Nine (Holes 10 to 18) replaced nine holes that were put into play on the same site 121 years ago in 1894. The original nine holes, which still existed when work on the South Nine began in the early 1960’s, have a history rooted in the beginnings of golf in the United States.
A modern view of Dinsmore Golf Course with the clubhouse in the background. |
Early Years
When the first golf boom in the United States took place in the
1880's and 1890's, several of the early golf courses were built by wealthy
individuals on their family estates. New York ’s Hudson Valley
shared in the boom. John Dutcher built a
3-hole course in Pawling in 1885 for his friends and in conjunction with a
hotel he operated, and expanded it to nine holes in 1890; James Roosevelt,
FDR’s father, built a 6-hole course on his Springwood estate in Hyde Park in 1890;
John Jacob Astor had a course in Rhinecliff in 1895.1 The Dinsmore Golf Course had its beginning as
an amenity to the estates of a group of families in Staatsburg.
A claim that Dinsmore is the third oldest golf course in the U.S. is
incorrect but it is very likely among the first fifty courses.2 In 1893 the Staatsburgh Golf Club was
formed by wealthy Hudson Valley families – Dinsmore, Mills, Hoyt, Rogers, Astor
and others. William B. Dinsmore II was
the club’s first president, and Ogden Mills and Archibald Rogers3 were
members of the Executive Committee.
Construction of a golf course began in 1893 and it opened for play in
the following year.4
There’s a question about who designed the original course. An 1896 New York Evening Post
newspaper article attributes the design to William Dinsmore Jr. assisted by
Willie Davis. It is more likely that the
designer was Robert P. Huntington.3
The book The Architects of Golf,
considered the “bible” of architects and their courses, designates Robert P. Huntington
as the designer, as do several local newspaper articles. Huntington
was a wealthy local resident and club member, and an intercollegiate and
national tennis champion; he was also the father of the woman who would
eventually donate the course to the State of New York .
This illustration is an undated painting of the course by Lew Stoneman. |
Course Architecture and Features
For orientation purposes the upper left corner of the illustration shown above (northeast) is the approximate site of the first tee of today’s South Course
(10th hole); the lower right corner (southwest) is the approximate
site of the seventh tee (16th hole).
The painting does not illustrate the course’s topography and its hole
numbers are difficult to see (an illustration on the next page shows these) but
it does reveal three notable features.
One is the rigid rectangular shape of several greens, something that was
not uncommon on early courses but is rarely seen today. Another is the several streams and the many
bridges that traverse them, things that are absent today.
Most notable are the several bunkers with something dark in front of
them. As illustrated in a key to the
painting, that “something” is earth-covered stone! These bunkers, remnants of which remain along
the left side of the present 12th hole, are not as imposing as they
seem to be in the illustration – they were only about two-feet high. The ring of three bunkers in front of the
sixth green had earth faces. These
bunkers, now with grass bottoms, remain intact today along the left side of the
present 15th hole.
This illustration shows an overlay of the original course on a map of the present South Nine. The course was 2,591 yards long with a Par of 34. Some features are noteworthy. |
While the present South Nine runs mainly up and down valleys, the
original course had some dramatic cross-valley holes, notably Holes 2, 3 and
4. Hole #3 is especially dramatic – a
“peak-to-peak” 192-yard Par 3 to a very small green with severe falloffs on all
sides. The green site was the forward
tee of the present 12th hole.
A feature not uncommon on early courses but rarely seen today is
congested areas that were a source of danger to players. Note the closeness of the 1st and 9th
fairways, and the presence of the 2nd and 9th tees in the playing area of the
first hole. Other examples are the
closeness of the 4th and 6th greens, and the potential danger from tee shots on
the 5th hole.
Play of the Course
What must it have been like to play this course in the 1890’s? Consider that the golf clubs of the day had
hickory shafts and iron clubs had club-faces without grooves. Golf balls were made of a solid rubber-like
material called gutta percha and were without dimples to aid flight (it was
common to nick up the balls with a sharp instrument). Wooden tees had not yet been invented; balls
were teed on mounds of wetted sand.
Mowing was done with a rudimentary horse-drawn mower; a flock of sheep
was also used for turf maintenance.
These factors coupled with the course’s topography and natural hazards presented
quite a challenge. Scores from an 1896
tournament ranged from 48 to 60 for nine holes.
The course’s challenge and William Dinsmore’s commitment to its quality
– there was a “golf keeper” and three assistants – earned it an outstanding
reputation. An obviously boastful 1896
article in the Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle
newspaper claimed that the course was one of the best in the country and that
“The grounds are pronounced by expert golf players as the ideal course of the
world.” (The folks at St.
Andrews in Scotland
would have respectfully disagreed.)
Club Life
Aside from the golf course, the activities of the Staatsburgh Golf Club
and its members merit mention. Most
players came to the course in horse-drawn carriages driven by a coachman or
groom; others rode a horse that was tied up in a Dinsmore barn during play. Because the very wealthy and
socially-conscious people of the era spent their summers in Newport , Rhode Island ,
on trips to Europe or in other vacation activities,
autumn was the primary golf season for both regular and tournament play. Often there would be a tennis tournament on
the Mills’ courts on the same weekends of golf tournaments, weekends which included
large parties and dances at the house of a club member (the original club did
not have a clubhouse). A 1952 newspaper
article in the Poughkeepsie New Yorker captures the atmosphere as related by Mrs. Tracy
Dows, a club member as a teenager in the 1890’s.
The house would be filled with young people and older ones too. Those were wonderful parties and very gay days at the Staatsburg station. The Mills would send any number of carriages for the guests. Then they’d send a buckboard to get the trunks. Almost everyone traveled with a maid or valet. It was all very smart, very chic. If there were to be a dance, a band would come up from New York, whichever one happened to be the best. I suppose there would be 40 or 50 at dinner. You ate off of a gold plate. It was very regal and very gay, the gayest thing in the world. Nobody lives that way any more.
In 1896 the gaiety was interrupted briefly when the club was confronted
with an issue faced by many early golf clubs – Sunday golf. A Rhinebeck merchant and a Methodist
minister from Poughkeepsie
threatened to seek arrest warrants for Sunday players. The threat was short-lived when the
protesters learned that the local Justice of the Peace and the Constable were
both employees of club president William Dinsmore, one a gardener, the other a farmer.
Evolution
How the original golf course and club evolved to the
present day is interesting history.
Apparently, the golf course remained private through the 1930’s. It is not known how long the Staatsburgh Golf
Club remained active. A 1940 newspaper
article announced that all but the main house and adjoining buildings of the
William Dinsmore estate was to be divided into parcels and sold, possibly
including the golf course. In 1941 the
golf course property was inherited by Mrs. Lytle Hull, a granddaughter of
William B. Dinsmore II. As evidenced by
a newspaper account of a 1941 tournament, the golf course remained in place. However, it was closed during the World War
II years.
A 1946 newspaper article announced that the golf course would reopen
and that a new Staatsburg Golf Club had been formed (note the absence of an ending
“h” in Staatsburg); the course property was leased from Mrs. Hull. The course became semi-private at this
time. The scorecard shows that there
were daily fees, but annual memberships were offered as well ($25 in 1948).
It appears that the new operation was not successful. A 1948 newspaper article reported that there
would be no golf professional at the course and “Instead there will be a box in
which non-members may put their money and a book in which everyone is asked to
write his or her name.”
In 1950 the course was used as a sheep pasture and reports surfaced
that the Taconic State Park Commission was considering a proposal to purchase
the golf course. In 1951 the golf course
and adjoining land to the north were donated by Mrs. Hull to the Taconic
Commission, with the conditions that the golf course would be maintained as a
public course and named Dinsmore Golf Course.
The course opened for play under its new owner and new name on June 1, 19 52 .
A Historical Twist
We have now come full circle from the original 9-hole private course to
today’s 18-hole public course. But, our
story does not end without a curious and interesting historical twist. We know that well known golf course architect
Hal Purdy is the recognized designer of today’s 18-hole course. However, it appears that he had some
help.
A 1960 newspaper article reveals that famous professional golfer Gene Sarazen, who owned a fruit farm in nearby Germantown,
NY , and famous local amateur
golfer Ray Billows, a 3-time runner-up in the U.S. Amateur, played roles. The article says that “Paul T. Winslow tells
us that Gene is directing, free of charge, the job of transferring the Dinsmore
course into an 18-hole layout.” In
Paul’s words, “We (the Taconic Commission) are giving him pretty much a free
hand and he is having the time of his life.
He wants the grass to be greener, the sand to be whiter and the flags to
be more vivid than any other course in the country. He says you have to have glamour and he is
doing his best to give it to us. When he
comes down, Ray Billows often joins him and they have a great time planning –
and playing.”
Quite a history for a public golf course in little Staatsburg, NY !
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Footnotes
1 Dutcher is the oldest municipal golf course in the U.S. It was donated to the Town of Pawling with the
stipulation that it remain a golf course forever. The Roosevelt and Astor courses no longer
exist.
2 There were 44 recognized U.S. golf clubs with courses by the
end of 1893.
3 Archibald Rogers reached the quarterfinals of the
first U.S. Amateur Championship in 1895.
Robert Huntington participated in the 1896 U.S. Amateur; he did not
reach the match play portion of the event.
4 There’s an unconfirmed claim that the original course started with three holes in 1887 or 1888. If so, it would mean that the Staatsburgh
Golf Club was among the first seven continually operated golf clubs in the United States .
Author’s Note
I came to the Hudson
Valley in late 1961. By the time I learned about Dinsmore, work on
the South Nine was well underway and the original nine holes were lost to
me. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to
walk the area of the original layout, I’m sorry I missed the opportunity to
play what was a wonderful example of a historic 19th century golf
course.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Al Van Leuvan, who played the original course as a teenager, and
Assistant Park Manager Mike Bucholsky for their encouragement and guided
tour. Thanks also to Rudy Zocchi, former
historian of the Dutchess County Golf Hall of Fame, for use of his collection
of newspaper articles about Dutchess
County golf clubs and
courses.
Very Interesting, I played my very first round here as a kid with my Dad in the 60’s
ReplyDeleteCheck out https://gis.dutchessny.gov/aerialaccess/# for aerial photos dating back to 1936. You might be able to make out some details of changes over the years.
ReplyDeleteMy mother's aunts lived in the house at the exit of the Mills estate, the always claimed the little room on the back of the house is where members would place their clubs while socializing inside waiting to play.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, playing golf is the favorite thing of most of the people. Pro Greens and Turf is also helping out to get the best turf to enjoy playing golf.
ReplyDeleteA History of Dinsmore Golf Course traces the rich tapestry of this beloved establishment from its humble beginnings to its esteemed status today. Founded in 1990, Dinsmore has been a cornerstone of the community, providing generations of golfers with cherished memories and unforgettable experiences. Through decades of dedicated stewardship and continuous improvement, the course has evolved into a premier destination known for its scenic beauty, challenging layout, and exceptional amenities. This narrative explores the triumphs, challenges, and enduring legacy of Golf Course Bunker Renovation
ReplyDelete, celebrating its role as more than just a place to play golf, but a cherished local institution.