Kansas City Country Club
 | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°01′17″N 94°37′13″W / 39.021518°N 94.620223°W |
| Location | Mission Hills, Kansas |
| Established | 1896 |
| Type | Private |
| Owned by | Kansas City Golf Club |
| Operated by | Kansas City Golf Club |
| Total holes | 18 |
| Designed by | A. W. Tillinghast/Robert Trent Jones |
The Kansas City Country Club (KCCC) was founded in 1896 in Kansas City, Missouri and today located in Mission Hills, Kansas being the wealthiest city in the Kansas City metropolitan area.[1] The Country Club District and Country Club Plaza of Kansas City are named for the club, which claims to be the third oldest country club west of the Mississippi River.[2]
History
The club has its roots in an informal golf course in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. In 1896, Hugh C. Ward, Charles Fessenden Morse, Jefferson Brumback, H. L. Harmon, A. W. Childs, C. J. Hubbard, J. E. Logan, Gardiner Lathrop, St. Clair Street, Ford Harvey, E. H. Chapman, E. S. Washburn, and W. B. Clarke incorporated the Kansas City Country Club[3] and leased a pasture at what today is Loose Park in the Sunset Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. The tract of land belonged to Ward's father Seth E. Ward, a pioneer who made his fortune outfitting settlers on the Oregon Trail.
In 1907, J.C. Nichols began buying land surrounding the course to develop the Country Club District, and later to develop the Country Club Plaza. In 1925, the club moved its course a mile west to the banks of Brush Creek in Mission Hills. The club's former grounds then became Loose Park. The three J.C. Nichols Clubs became the most socially desirable in the Kansas City Metropolitan area with Kansas City Country Club being first, followed by Mission Hills followed by Indian Hills.
The course was designed by A.W. Tillinghast and later redesigned by Robert Trent Jones.[4] The course par is 70. [5]
Members
The club's most famous player is Tom Watson, though Watson did resign as a member in 1990 over the club's refusal to admit billionaire H&R Block founder Henry Bloch because he was Jewish.[6] Ray Watson, Tom's father, still holds the amateur record of 64 for the course. Tom Watson holds the professional record of 60.
See also
- The Kansas City Club
- The Mission Hills Country Club, a nearby country club in the same city
References
- ^ https://www.kansas.com/news/local/article1052955.html
- ^ "Illinois State Wins 2007 State Farm MVC Men's Golf Championship". mvc-sports.com. April 24, 2007.
- ^ Kansas City Country Club - kchistory.org
- ^ golflink.com
- ^ "Tom Watson - thefirstteekc.org". Archived from the original on 2008-05-26. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
- ^ Jaime Diaz (December 4, 1990). "Golf; Watson's Private-Club Protest May Be a Lonely One". The New York Times.