Essex County Country Club (ECCC) is a golf club in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...

. It was founded in 1887, making it the oldest club in the state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and the sixth oldest in the United States.

History

Essex County Country Club was established on what used to be the Orange Springs Hotel, a health resort centered around the Orange Mineral Springs. The hotel was purchased in 1889 and became ECCC. The former hotel became known as the Mansion House and became the clubhouse. A nine-hole course was completed in 1895 and extended to 18 holes in 1897, designed by Alex Findlay. In 1900, Essex County hosted a meeting which included representatives from 10 New Jersey clubs and resulted in the birth of the New Jersey State Golf Association. Later that year, it hosted the first New Jersey Amateur Championship. In 1916, A.W. Tillinghast designed a new 18-hole course, called the "Upper Course," on a site on top of First Mountain, a few miles away from the original course. A second 18-hole course designed by

Seth Raynor Seth Jagger Raynor (May 7, 1874 – January 23, 1926) was an American golf course architect and engineer. He designed approximately 85 golf courses in about 13 years, his first in 1914, at age 40. His mentor was Charles Blair Macdonald, the crea ...

was built in the late 1920s; this course was sold in the 1970s, becoming the Francis A. Byrne Golf Course. The current course was also designed by Raynor and completed by Charles Banks; it retains seven Tillinghast designed holes alongside eleven new holes. In the early 21st century, renovation work was undertaken by Gil Hanse. Some of its noted former members are

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

, Emlen Roosevelt, U.S. senator Joseph Frelinghuysen, and George W. Merck, president of Merck Chemical. In addition to golf, popular sports on the club grounds in its early days included fox hunting, polo, lawn tennis, squash, and trap shooting.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.essexcountycc.com/ 1887 establishments in New Jersey Golf clubs and courses in New Jersey Golf clubs and courses designed by A. W. Tillinghast West Orange, New Jersey Sports venues completed in 1887 Golf clubs and courses designed by Seth Raynor