Inverness Club is a private

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. Opened in 1903, the club has hosted four U.S. Opens, two

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

s, two NCAA Men's Championships, and the Solheim Cup. Inverness is the only club to have hosted the U.S. Open,

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

, U.S. Senior Open, and U.S. Junior Amateur. From 1935 to 1954, it also hosted the Inverness Invitational Four-Ball. It is slated to host the 2027 U.S. Women's Open and the 2029

. Byron Nelson, who served as the club's head golf professional from 1940 to 1944, considered it his "home course." S.P. Jermain, the club's founder and first Board President, conceived the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

. The championship course was designed by architect Donald Ross.

History

Inverness was founded in 1903, when many of Toledo's wealthiest citizens purchased a parcel of land and built a nine-hole golf course. The course was eventually expanded to 18 holes. In 1916, the club hired Donald Ross to construct a championship-caliber golf course, which was finished by the end of 1918. In his unpublished book, ''Golf Has Never Failed Me'', Ross discussed the design of Inverness and only six other courses, out of the hundreds he designed. Before 1920 in the United States, golf professionals were prohibited from entering country clubs' clubhouses, as they were seen as little more than servants to the club members. As professional golf tournaments began to appear in the early part of the 20th century, the visiting pros were treated the same as the home pros. By 1920, attitudes had begun to change. Sylvanus Pierre Jermain, "the father of public golf in Toledo", lobbied the USGA and the members of Inverness to allow all players, including pros, into the clubhouse at the upcoming 1920 U.S. Open. Both parties agreed, and Inverness thus became the first golf club in the U.S. to allow pros in the clubhouse. When the U.S. Open returned to Inverness in 1931,

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 Men's major golf championships, majors is third behin ...

gathered other professional golfers to purchase a gift for the club in gratitude for its pioneering stance.A Paradigm Shift in Golf History – USGA
/ref> They bought a grandfather clock that still stands in the clubhouse, with a brass plate inscribed: God measures men by what they are Not by what they in wealth possess This vibrant message chimes afar The voice of Inverness Byron Nelson was the head professional at Inverness Club from 1940 to 1944. He considered Inverness his home course and credits his time there for his record breaking performance, winning 18 of 35 PGA tournaments including 11 in a row, in 1945. Lloyd Gullickson became the head professional at Inverness Club, succeeding Nelson. Gullickson remained at Inverness as the head professional until his retirement in 1965. Herman Lang, who was the first assistant to Nelson in 1941, was the head pro from 1966-1980. In preparation for championships, the course has been renovated four times. In 2016, Inverness Club engaged golf course architect, Andrew Green, who carefully researched original drawings and historic photography to restore the artistry of Ross's design. In addition, Green modernized tee boxes and bunkering systems that are fitting to today's championship courses. Green's design has restored Ross's classic championship design, with Inverness Club now playing over 7,700 yards. Inverness was ranked #47 on Golfweek Magazine's America's Top 200 Classic Courses and #88 by Golf Digest.

Tournaments

Winners of major tournaments held at Inverness Club include: ;U.S. Open *

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

– Ted Ray *

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

– Billy Burke (holds records: winning score 589, 144 holes) *

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

– Dick Mayer *

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

–

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. ...

;U.S. Amateur *1973 –

Craig Stadler Craig Robert Stadler (born June 2, 1953) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level, including one major championship, the 1982 Masters Tournament. Early life Stadler was bo ...

;PGA Championship * 1986 – Bob Tway *

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

– Paul Azinger ;U.S. Senior Open *2003 – Bruce Lietzke *2011 – Olin Browne U.S. Junior Amateur *2019 – Preston Summerhays ;Solheim Cup *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

– Europe ;Future championships *2027 U.S. Women's Open *2029

The club also hosted the NCAA Men's Golf Championship in 1944 and 2009.

Scorecard

References

External links

Inverness Club
{{Solheim Cup venues, state=collapsed Sports in Toledo, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Lucas County, Ohio Golf clubs and courses in Ohio Golf clubs and courses designed by Donald Ross Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Tourist attractions in Toledo, Ohio Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Solheim Cup venues Sports venues completed in 1903 1903 establishments in Ohio Golf clubs and courses on the National Register of Historic Places