Westchester Country Club

Westchester Country Club is one of the premiere country clubs in America. Its extensive amenities include a historic residence with three restaurants and two banquet rooms, two eighteen hole courses, one nine-hole course, an indoor swimming pool, squash courts, grass tennis courts and a stand alone beach, outdoor pool and restaurant facility on Manursing Island.

Westchester Country Club
View towards sportshouse
Club information
LocationHarrison, New York,
at 99 Biltmore Avenue,
Rye, New York, U.S.
Established1922
TypePrivate
Total holes36
Tournaments hostedThunderbird Classic (1963–65)
Westchester Classic (later Buick Classic, and now The Barclays) (1967–2007)
Senior Players Championship (2011)
Women's PGA Championship (2015)
WebsiteWestchester Country Club
South Course
Designed byWalter Travis
Par71
Length6,566 yards
Course rating71.7
West Course
Designed byWalter Travis
Par72
Length6,752 yards
Course rating73.5

History

The Westchester Country Club (or Westchester Biltmore Country Club) was founded in 1922 by John McEntee Bowman[1] , who hired Walter Travis to design two golf courses in the Town of Harrison, New York, as a luxury resort hotel. The West Course was designed for championship play and has hosted PGA tournaments since 1963. The South Course was originally designed for women and higher handicap golfers. Around 1997, the South Course was reconstructed with longer tees, new sand and grass bunkers, water hazards, and some new greens. The South Course is now more competitive with the West Course to accommodate low handicap golfers.

Tournaments

Westchester Country Club hosted the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship in 1923.[2] The club hosted its first PGA tournament in 1963 with the Thunderbird Classic. The Thunderbird was also held at Westchester in 1964 and 1965. There was no PGA tournament at Westchester Country Club in 1966, and starting in 1967 the Westchester Classic was an annual stop on the PGA Tour through 2007. (The tournament name has changed several times since then due to sponsorship switches, and is now called The Northern Trust.)

On January 14, 2008, an article in the Journal News announced the PGA Tour's desire to terminate its affiliation with Westchester Country Club. The decision was made primarily because of Tiger Woods' refusal to play in the tournament in 2007 and the tournament's subsequent low TV ratings and low attendance. On Saturday, January 26, 2008, a compromise agreement was made between the club and the PGA Tour at a town hall meeting at the club. The PGA paid WCC $1.1 million to move the tournament from Harrison to Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, NJ, for the 2008 event. In a second compromise agreement, the PGA Tour recently awarded Westchester Country Club a major tournament on the Champions Tour.

The 2011 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship was played on the renovated West Course. This is one of the biggest stops on the Senior Tour.

In June 2015, Westchester hosted its first LPGA major, the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

Notable members past and present
The starter's shack in 2002. The person in the photograph is Bob Watson, Jr.
16th hole, West Course
  • Ernie Els and Club Caddie Trevor Spencer during the 2006 Buick Classic
  • 9th hole, South Course
  • Christmas Eve 2006
  • flower bed
  • 9th hole, West Course
  • view heading towards pro shop
  • 3rd green, South Course
  • PollyPark Road Entrance
  • 9th hole, South Course

References
  1. Suzanne Clary. "The Horse Show Bride and Groom". Weston Magazine Group. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  2. "Women's Amateur".
  3. "Ralph Branca". March 3, 1990.
  4. "Swiss Precision at Westchester Country Club". Club and Resort Business.
  5. "The Ballad of Old Bet". Westchester Magazine. December 2017.

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