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A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational
sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
s and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offerings are
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
,
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
, and
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
. Where golf is the principal or sole sporting activity, and especially outside of the United States and Canada, it is common for a country club to be referred to simply as a golf club. Country clubs are most commonly located in city outskirts or suburbs, due to the requirement of having substantial grounds for outdoor activities, which distinguishes them from an urban athletic club. Country clubs originated in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
and first appeared in the US in the early 1880s.Simon, Roger D. “Country Clubs.” In The Encyclopedia of American Urban History, edited by David R. Goldfield, 193-94. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2007. doi: 10.4135/9781412952620.n110. Country clubs had a profound effect on expanding
suburbanization Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...
Gordon, John Steele
“The Country Club”
. American Heritage 41, no.6 (1990): 75
and are considered to be the precursor to
gated community A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. ...
development.


By nation


United States and Canada

Country clubs can be exclusive organizations. In small towns, membership in the country club is often not as exclusive or expensive as in larger cities where there is competition for a limited number of memberships. In addition to the fees, some clubs have additional requirements to join. For example, membership can be limited to those who reside in a particular housing community. Country clubs were founded by upper-class elites between 1880 and 1930.Jennifer Jolly-Ryan, “Chipping Away at Discrimination at the Country Club,” Pepperdine Law Review 25, no. 495 (1998): 496, http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/pepplr25&div=37&g_sent=1&collection=journals By 1907, country clubs were claimed to be “the very essence of American upper-class.” The number of country clubs increased greatly with industrialization, the rise in incomes, and suburbanization in the 1920s. During the 1920s, country clubs acted as community social centers. When people lost most of their income and net worth during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, the number of country clubs decreased drastically for lack of membership funding. Historically, many country clubs were "restricted" and refused to admit members of minority racial groups as well those of specific faiths, such as
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
s. Beginning in the 1960s
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...
lawsuits forced clubs to drop exclusionary policies. In a 1990 landmark ruling at
Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club Shoal Creek Club is an invitation-only private golf club in the southeastern United States, located in Shelby County, Alabama, southeast of Birmingham. Opened in 1977, the course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and is rated as the top golf course ...
, the PGA refused to hold tournaments at private clubs that practiced racial discrimination. This new regulation led to the admittance of black people at private clubs. The incident at Shoal Creek is comparable to the 1966 NCAA basketball tournament, which led to the end of racial discrimination in college basketball. The Philadelphia Cricket Club is the oldest organized country club in the United States devoted to playing games, while
The Country Club The Country Club, located in Brookline, Massachusetts, is the oldest golf-oriented country club in the United States. (The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, was the first country club for any sport.) It holds an important place in ...
in
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and ...
is the oldest club devoted to golf.


United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, many country clubs are simply golf clubs, and play a smaller role in their communities than American country clubs; gentlemen's clubs in Britain—many of which admit women while remaining socially exclusive—fill many roles of the United States' country clubs.


Spain

Similar to the United States, Spain has had a tradition of country clubs as a pillar of social life. This began during the reign of Alfonso XII and was consolidated during the reign of his son and successor
Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...
, who granted royal status to a handful of country clubs. Most country clubs in Spain are typically associated with the upper classes, and were conceived around a central sport such as golf, polo or tennis, although some of them did eventually offer other sports. Examples include Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro,
Club de Campo Villa de Madrid Club de Campo Villa de Madrid is a country and sports club located in Madrid, Spain. The club was formed in 1929, and is one of the most known in the city. It has a wide array of sports facilities including two championship 18-hole golf courses, h ...
, Real Club de Polo de Barcelona, Real Sociedad de Golf de Neguri, Real Club Pineda etc. Many of them are also located in those cities or towns that hosted the summer vacations of the royal family. Such is the case of Real Sociedad de Tenis de la Magdalena, Real Golf de
Pedreña Pedreña is a village in the municipality of Marina de Cudeyo, Cantabria, northern Spain. As of 2010, its population was 1,454. Although located from Santander by road, it lies on a peninsula only about across the bay from Santander, separated ...
or Real Golf Club de
Zarauz Zarautz (, es, Zarauz) is a coastal town located in central Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, in Spain. It is bordered by Aia to the east and the south and Getaria to the west, located about west of San Sebastián. It has four enclaves limiting the afo ...
for example. The most notable difference between Spanish and American country clubs is that the former are not normally located in the countryside but either within a city or town itself or in the outskirts at most.


Indian subcontinent

Many of the gentlemen's clubs established during the
British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
are still active in major cities, for example the Bangalore Club,
Nizam Club The Nizam Club is located in Saifabad, Hyderabad, India. the club location is considered as heart of the Hyderabad city, which is exactly opposite to Telangana Legislative Assembly Hall. Surrounded in 4 acres land. History The club was establis ...
, and Bengal Club.
Gymkhana Gymkhana () ( ur, جِمخانہ, sd, جمخانه, hi, जिमख़ाना, as, জিমখানা, bn, জিমখানা) is a British Raj term which originally referred to a place of assembly. The meaning then altered to den ...
s are sporting or social clubs across the subcontinent.


Australia

Country clubs exist in multiple forms, including athletic-based clubs and golf clubs. Examples are the Breakfast Point Country Club and
Cumberland Grove Country Club Cumberland Grove Country Club, formerly known as Orange Grove Golf Club from 1962 until 1990, then known as Grove Golf Club from 1991 until January 1998, is located on the Cumberland Highway (Orange Grove Road) in Liverpool, New South Wales, and i ...
in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
, the Castle Hill Country Club, the Gold Coast Polo & Country Club, Elanora Country Club, and the Sanctuary Cove's Country Club.


Japan

In Japan, almost all golf clubs are called "Country Clubs" by their owners.


See also

* Jewish country club *
Membership discrimination in California clubs Membership discrimination in California social clubs has been based on sex, race, religion, political views and social standing. In the late 1980s, a successful effort was made in many of the clubs to open up membership first to racial or religio ...


References


Bibliography

* {{Commons category, Country clubs Sports culture Clubs and societies High society (social class) Upper class culture