Worcester Country Club is a private country club and

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. The course hosted the first Ryder Cup in 1927, and was the site of the 1925 U.S. Open, which was won by Willie Macfarlane. Worcester also hosted the 1960 U.S. Women’s Open. It was the first, and currently only one of three golf courses in the United States to host the men's and women's U.S. Open Championships and the Ryder Cup. For over half a century Worcester was the only club to have hosted all three events until 2014 when Pinehurst hosted its first U.S. Women’s Open. Hazeltine made it an elite group of three upon its host of the 2016 Ryder Cup, but notably, Hazeltine is not a classic course (built in 1962). Worcester also hosted the first-ever U.S. Open qualifying round in 1924. The club is tied with Oyster Harbors for hosting the most Massachusetts Opens (7) and has also hosted 7 Massachusetts Amateur Championships. Worcester is one of a few private clubs in the United States that has a bowling alley in the men’s locker room.

History

Worcester Country Club was founded in 1900. In 1913 the club called on golf architect Donald Ross to build an 18-hole golf course on a new site in Worcester and in 1914 President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

dedicated the new club. In 1925, the club hosted its first major championship the mens U.S. Open. The event was won by Scottish golfer Willie Macfarlane in a second 18-hole playoff over Bobby Jones. After his arrival in the U.S. from Carnoustie, Scotland,

Willie Ogg Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

– who served as one of the early head professionals at the club – was instrumental in arranging for the first Ryder Cup matches to be held at his home course in 1927. Ogg also laid out the Green Hill Golf Club in Worcester, and the course opened up for play on April 1, 1929. Ogg served as vice president of the

PGA of America The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American organization of golf professionals that was founded in 1916. Consisting of nearly 29,000 men and women members, the PGA of America's undertaking is to establish ...

. This was the championship in which Jones famously called a penalty on himself when his ball moved slightly in the rough after he touched the grass with his club on the 11th hole of the first round. The penalty cost him the title. When praised by the press for his sportsmenship Jones said "You may as well praise me for not robbing a bank. There is only one way to play the game."Fun and sick facts about U.S. Open
CNN. (June 12, 2008).

Walter Hagen Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tig ...

on the 6th hole had his first

hole-in-one In golf, a hole in one or hole-in-one (also known as an ace, mostly in American English) occurs when a ball hit from a tee to start a hole finishes in the cup. A ball hit from a tee following a lost ball, out-of-bounds, or water hazard is not a h ...

during a practice round of the 1925 U.S. Open. In 1939

Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hoga ...

won the

Massachusetts Open The Massachusetts Open is the Massachusetts state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by Mass Golf (formerly the Massachusetts Golf Association). It has been played annually since 1905 (except for wa ...

held at Worcester. In 1927 Worcester Country Club hosted the inaugural Ryder Cup. The United States team led by captain Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen defeated captain Ted Ray and the British team by a score of 9.5 to 2.5. Donald Ross came back to the club in 1929 with plan for changes, including new tees and some work that he had been unable to carry out in 1913. In 1960,

Betsy Rawls Elizabeth Earle "Betsy" Rawls (born May 4, 1928) is an American former LPGA Tour professional golfer. She won eight major championship and 55 LPGA Tour career events. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Early life and education Raw ...

won her fourth U.S. Women's Open with a score of 292. Hosting the Women’s Open marked Worcester CC as the first club in the United States to entertain both Open Championships. Judy Torluemke ( Judy Rankin), then 15 years old, was the youngest player in history to win low amateur honors, with 326.

Mickey Wright Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright (February 14, 1935 – February 17, 2020) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. She became a member of the tour in 1955 and won 82 LPGA Tour career events including 13 major champion ...

, the leader going into the final day and seeking her third consecutive Open championship, shot eighty-one to lose to Betsy Rawls. The prize money was $7,200. Rawls won $1,800.History Brief History of Worcester Country Club
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Tournaments

* 1919

won by Jesse Guilford * 1921

Massachusetts Amateur The Massachusetts State Amateur Championship or Massachusetts Amateur is a golf championship held in Massachusetts for the state's top amateur golfers. The tournament is run by the Massachusetts Golf Association (MGA) in mid-July each year. The amat ...

won by Jesse Guilford *

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

U.S. Open won by Willie Macfarlane * 1926

won by Donald Vinton *

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

Ryder Cup won by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

over

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

9½-2½ * 1927 New England Amateur won by Fred Wright * 1931

won by Wiffy Cox * 1933

won by Joseph P. Lynch * 1935 New England Amateur won by Harold H. Mandly Jr. * 1939

won by

* 1947 Massachusetts Junior Amateur won by John Nies Jr. * 1948

won by Edward Martin * 1953 Massachusetts Open won by Jim Browning * 1958 Massachusetts Women's Amateur won by Joanne Goodwin * 1960 U.S. Women's Open won by

* 1964

won by William Foley * 1976 Massachusetts Open won by Paul Barkhouse * 1989

won by Jim McDermott * 1996 New England PGA Championship won by Dana Quigley * 2000

won by Jim Salinetti * 2006

won by Ben Spitz * 2009 New England PGA Championship won by Paul Parajeckas * 2016

won by Jason Thresher

References

External links

Official Site
{{Coord, 42.320926, -71.778682, display=t, type:landmark 1900 establishments in Massachusetts Golf clubs and courses in Massachusetts Sports venues in Worcester, Massachusetts Sports venues completed in 1900 Ryder Cup venues