Popular belief is that Addison Mizner of Palm Beach, Florida
designed the original clubhouse. The truth is that the firm of
Alden & Harlow got the commission. The result was a handsome
white stucco building with a curved-tile roof, in the Spanish
style then so fashionable.
Opening day for the clubhouse was June 13, 1925. The building
was roomy and expansive, yet just two years later it had proven
inadequate. A meeting was held to consider enlarging the clubhouse
with an attractive brick-and-slate addition that today dwarfs
what is left of the original structure.
The new clubhouse was completed in time for its opening on Memorial
Day of 1931. This new building was only the beginning, for as
interests and needs of the members grew, so did the club itself.
Now there are tennis, paddle tennis, swimming pool and shooting
facilities plus a shooting lodge, a complete dining room and an
informal, comfortable grill room.
But Fox Chapel’s charm goes beyond stucco walls, red-tile roofs
and such. Like all great clubs, its course is its most enduring
legacy. A magnet for generation after generation of golfers. While
the basic design endures, change was welcomed when necessary.
Credit for the design of the course goes to Seth Raynor. As any
great artist would, Raynor utilized successful motifs, including
rolling fairways offset by deep traps, especially on the right
of #6 and #8, back left on #12 and to the left and right of #17.
With its elevated greens, large contoured putting surfaces and
organized overall design, Fox Chapel bears a resemblance to the
great historic courses of Scotland where golf originated.
Work on the course began in May, 1923, but steady rains washed
much of the seed away so that the course was not ready for play
until June 13, 1925. For 22 years, William Frew was chairman of
the Committee of the Green. He is probably best remembered for
keeping the course fast and hard. As a result, long drives were
common. He devoted enormous amounts of time to the course, and
he was totally unafraid of change.
Over the years, many changes have been made to improve the course
and keep it up to the best of contemporary standards. More recently,
the Greens Committee boldly removed trees that grew to detract
from the Scottish feel so beloved by Raynor and the club’s earliest
members. Yet for all the changes that time and equipment dictate,
those early souls whose drive, love of golf and love of family
led to this beloved ground would feel entirely at home on the
course we see today. Credit Raynor, or course, but praise as well
all the members and staff who stayed true to the vision: A course
that rewards the well struck golf shot while appropriately penalizing
the ill-advised stroke.
