The Whittier Country Club was founded in 1920 by real estate developer and ex tennis champion Alphonzo Bell. The new Quaker Colony golf course was designed in the summer of 1920 by Scotch American course architect and golf equipment supplier, William Watson of St. Andrews, Chicago, and Los Angeles, on 151 acres of land owned by Bell in the center of the 3600 acre La Habra Heights subdivision.
In December of 1920, Alphonzo Bell formed the Hacienda Land Company and the Hacienda Country Club, and was looking for a “pro” to build the Watson designed course. He asked old tennis friend Ed Tufts of the local golf association and the Los Angeles Country Club for help. Tufts and legendary golf course architect George C. Thomas Jr., visited the site and made valuable alterations to the Watson design while making a plan for a modern irrigation system.
By Christmas Bell hired visiting English professional Charles Mayo to supervise construction of the course. Mayo was the former playing partner of British Open champion George Duncan, and had been lured to the USA in the summer of 1920 by Chick Evans to be the new professional at the Edgewater Club in Chicago.
In December Mayo was in Los Angeles, managed by D. Scott Chisholm, and playing in the opening exhibition match at the Wilshire Country Club and winning the big professional tournament at Pasadena Golf Club. By February, after a trip to San Francisco for exhibition matches, Charles completed construction of the first nine holes at Hacienda. A visit to the course that month by renowned grass expert William Tucker confirmed the work was completed, but with temporary greens.
Bell then hired John S.C. Shaw as Greenkeeper, and the nearly 300 members started playing the temporary course under the professional Perry Gaile. Shaw would carry on construction of the second nine to Watson and Mayo’s plan.
The new Bermuda greens and fairways of the first nine holes were officially opened on September 19, 1921, and the Hacienda Country Club joined the Southern California Golf Association (SCGA) in November.
Aside from real estate development, Alphonzo Bell also invested heavily in oil drilling. He was in over his head in debt when he opened the Hacienda Country Club in September. Fortunately his Bell No. 1 Oil Well in Santa Fe Springs exploded into gushing flames in October and forced Bell and his family to move to the Beverly Hills Hotel in the middle of the night just days after the Hacienda opening!
Once the well was brought under control it produced 2,000 barrels a day. Liquid money!
The Hacienda club had twelve holes in play in 1922, but the opening of the full eighteen holes was not until December 22, 1923. The official eighteen-hole opening featured an exhibition match between Willie Hunter and home pro Harry Pressler, who defeated George Kerrigan and Dick Linares, 2 and 1.
Soon after, Alphonzo Bell would concentrate on his new oil bought investments, the 1,700 acre Bel-Air subdivision, and his later purchase of the Santa Monica Mountain Park Company, and had little to do with Hacienda Country Club after 1924.
©2021 jibjones golfhistoricalsociety