Source: VT Golf Magazine | Issue: Summer 1992 | Author: Pamela Polston
Synopsis: This article is about the Burlington Country Club and how it has evolved into the country club it is today.
Among the many stories, tall and otherwise, in golf lore is one about a momentous day for Andrew Carnegie near the turn of the 19th century. The steel tycoon, who had a private cottage built next to his beloved St. Andrew’s course- the American one- was said to be rabidly enthusiastic about the game, but only a so-so player. On the day he sold the Carnegie Steel Corporation to U.S. Steel for $250 million, he played the course and managed to par its fifth hole for the first time. Later that day, as he pulled up in front of J.P. Morgan’s bank, a friend stopped him. “I’ve been hearing great things about you,” he said, referring to the immensely profitable sale. Carnegie looked at his friend with amazement and replied, “How did you know i had a par on the fifth today?”
Andrew Carnegie’s millions couldn’t buy him talent with the golf clubs, even if they did help pay for the clubhouse. He was the kind of player who could have benefited from some of the current changes at the Burlington Country Club, where a new master plan is allowing more leverage on the links- among other things.
BCC has launched a series of course improvements that will install forward tees, re sculpt mounds and alter sight lines to make the game accessible for all golfers, especially women, older players, and the average, Andrew Carnegie type duffer. Other projects will address the quality of the grounds and their maintenance: enlarging a pond to increase the water supply, computerizing the sprinkler system, planting more trees and augmenting a naturalness imparted by BCC’s original designer, golf course architect Donald Ross.