Golf comes to the Jewish community

Around the 1890s, local society started to look eastward for acceptability and patterns of behavior. It was during this period that the idea of country clubs as playgrounds for the rich caught on. Polo, horse racing, golf and other genteel sports became popular. Following the pattern established by East Coast country clubs, Jews were excluded from membership in the prestigious clubs started in Burlingame and Menlo Park. Golf must have been seen as a sport for gentiles only.

Eventually, the urge to play golf did reach the Jewish community, for 200 San Francisco Jewish leaders incorporated the Beresford Country Club. They had purchased 150 acres just south of San Mateo. The club was dedicated July 4, 1912, and was to admit only Jews.

C. Edward Lydon, formerly a Chicago landscape architect, designed an 18-hole golf course. His expertise with golf courses must have been limited, for they had the least pleasant greens and a prevailing wind most of the time.

Ground was broken July 4, 1913 on a deluxe clubhouse to replace the temporary one. The handsome Tudor structure was completed in May of 1914 at a cost of $150,000. Rooms for members were part of the new accommodations. An elegant swimming pool was open to the sky, but enclosed by the clubhouse on four sides.

By now experienced golfers, members realized how poor their course was. In 1920, they had a new one built by Donald Ross. Ross, a Scotsman, was a famous designer of golf courses. He designed 363 courses in the United States, but this was the only one west of the Rockies. He was booked years in advance, but he wanted to see California. He charged twice his usual fee, and created a course that became the envy of Burlingame and Menlo Park. Club manager Ed Lydon supervised construction. Windbreaks of trees sheltered the greens, which took advantage of the views of the Bay. A fine teaching golf pro also joined the staff. Willie Nicoll was to remain for more than 30 years.

In 1924, the roster of members included names like Fleishhacker, Lilienthal, Schwabacher and Zellerbach. The gentlemen were active members, with associate memberships for their wives and junior memberships for their children.

Financial problems came to the country club in the 1940s. Membership was down. They sold off some of their land. They added illegal slot machines in the bar. That annual income of $36,000 was listed on the books as "Folletts Folly" for the club officer who had the machines installed. Even this didn't solve the problem. Finally, in 1946, the club reorganized. Non-Jews were to be admitted, and the name was changed to the Peninsula Golf and Country Club.

In recent years, the club hired a Ross restoration specialist to refurbish the course. Some of the old trees had grown up to block the views and drainage problems had previously been dealt with by stopgap measures. The drainage was corrected and the course has been returned to be an original Ross masterpiece.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal. For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County History Museum, 777 Hamilton St., Redwood City.