Source: VT Golf Magazine | Issue: Summer 2001 | Author: Bob Labbance

Synopsis: This article discusses the Rutland Country Club and how it’s history has created the club we see today.

 

    Golf began in Rutland, Vermont, during the summer of 1896 on an informal three-hole course outside of town. The layout was moved to the Proctor family land on a bluff west of town and expanded to nine holes the following summer, but it wasn’t until 1901, when the members re-organized as the Rutland Country Club, that the group moved to its present location. Despite the fact that any members transferred their allegiance to the new organization, the incorporation of the Country Club marks the start of a fraternity that this season celebrates its centennial.

    In the four years between course designs, golf course architecture had changed considerably in the United States, and no longer were clubs satisfied by the efforts of members. To plan the new layout the club turned to George Low, a 26-year-old Scot from Carnoustie, who had landed in America in 1899, and by 1901 was a summer resident of Vermont. 

    Low began his American career as the pro at Dyker Mountain in New York, one of the finest courses in the country at that time, and just two weeks after his arrival in this country tied for second at the 1899 U.S. open. At Dyker, Low met James Taylor, founder of Ekwanok who convinced him to accept a job as Ekwanok’s first professional.

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