Terrell C. Drinkwater History of the Los Angeles Country Club 1898-1973, Unknown Publisher, 1973, 127 pp. 1973, 1946, 1927, 1910s, 1900, 1899, 1898, 1897, 1890s,
[p.53] . . .
In 1900 Santa Fe [Railroad] published its first annual Golf in California booklet. It used some hyperbole in an effort to lure eastern golfers west “when winter locks the club house gates and drive shivering caddies home” . . .
. . .
What did Golf in California have to say about The Los Angeles Country Club?
“Foremost among the clubs of Southern California stands the Los Angeles Country Club, an organization whose regular features embrace golf, tennis and trap shooting. The grounds are located within a short distance of the heart of the city and are reached by electric car or over beautiful drives by private conveyance.
“So rapid has been the growth of the club that in August, 1899, the old nine-hole course was abandoned and new grounds secured. [p. 54] where, on 106 acres as pretty ground as one could wish to drive a ball over, a new eighteen-hole course was laid out.”
A new clubhouse had been built . . . the investment represents about $36,000 . . . Huge ditches cross this property at two points, and these, with five artificial bunkers, form numerouse and dangerous obstacles. The land is rolling ot a high degree, bordering almost on chasms and table lands, consequently the course is exceedingly sporty.”
. . .
Famous men were coming to Southern California in the winters so they could play golf.
John D. Rockefeller, the titan of Standard Oil, whose puckered mouth and 10 cent tips were famous, spent some time at the Hotel Green in Pasadena
“ . . . the competing players were so busy watching the multmillionaire that . . . scores suffered terribly . . .
. . .
[p. 76] [A new rubber ball was questioned] . . . but “the exhilaration of a long drive overcomes this disapproval.”
Years later Tufts admitted he used the new rubber ball for long holes but “sneaked in a guttie for short holes. As this (rubber) ball became perfected it revolutionize [d] the entire game . . . including links, implements, and dispositions.”