los angeles country club – Golf Historical Society

It was with great anticipation that Los Angeles Country Club’s new North course at Beverly officially opened to members on Wednesday, August 10, 1921, making LA CC the first club in California to have adjoining eighteen hole golf courses. The new course had been “thrown open for practice,” in early June, and members had declared it couldn’t be improved.

The big event of the opening day was an exhibition match between green committee man, George C. Thomas Jr., who laid out the W. Herbert Fowler designed eighteen hole golf course, paired with Miss Doreen Kavanagh, Southern California and State amateur champion, playing against Southern California amateur champion and general manager of Catalina Island Company, Everett Seaver, and Northern California women’s champion, Miss Margaret Cameron.

Thomas and Kavanagh defeated Cameron and Seaver by a score of 3 up and 3 to play. Broken down, Thomas beat Seaver, 1 up, and Kavanagh beat Cameron 3 and 2, in what was called a keen match.

After the exhibition there was a dinner and dancing for 400. The day’s events were filmed.

The club’s Superintendent of Grounds for many years was Charles Cavanaugh. He and his crew did an amazing job building and rebuilding holes for both new golf courses in under a year, all while keeping 18 holes open for competition.

Alex J. Morrison, of Los Angeles Municipal, Catalina Island, and vaudeville, who had started at LACC as a caddy at Pico and Western, was appointed professional in July of 1921, replacing golf legend John Duncan Dunn and his team of British golfers. Morrison’s assistants were Vic Dalberto and Harry McNamara. Alex was soon back on stage and replaced at LACC by Alex Duncan, brother of earlier LACC professional James Duncan, and British golf legend George Duncan.

There was so much praise heaped on George C. Thomas Jr., for laying out the North course, that Herbert Fowler got more than a bit lost in the press releases. Fowler was a very busy man that summer, having completed the South and North courses for LA CC, the Ambassador-Rancho Golf Club, redesigns of Del Monte #1 and #2 (Pebble Beach), and designs for the Presidio, Olympic Club, Burlingame, Crystal Springs and others.

The North course still has 12-13 original holes laid out by Fowler that were reconstructed by William P. Bell to George C. Thomas Jr.’s redesign in 1928, when they also added five new holes. The 2010 Gil Hanse restoration was to the 1928 Fowler-Thomas-Bell version of the North, plus rebuilding the old Fowler par three 17^th (replaced in 1928), which is now an extra hole.

On August 10, 2021, we can celebrate the design brilliance of Herbert Fowler, George C. Thomas Jr., and William P. Bell, along with the restoration by Gil Hanse. Happy 100^th Birthday LA CC North!

LACC South – 9th green looking south towards Westwood Hills, Hillcrest and Rancho in 1920s.

On Washington’s Birthday, February 22, 1921, the Los Angeles Country Club officially opened its new William Herbert Fowler designed South course.

Fowler was asked to keep as many of the existing grass fairways and grass greens from the original 1911 LACC Beverly links in his plans when designing two new 18-hole courses.

By 1920 the club had acquired additional land south of Wilshire Boulevard and Fowler remodeled the front nine and added nine new holes, seven of them on the new land and two north of Wilshire, to make the new South course. He also redesigned six old holes north of Wilshire, and added twelve new ones to make the North course that opened in August 1921.

LACC, SCGA, PCGA and CGA legend Edward B. Tufts and new LACC member George C. Thomas Jr., led the green committee for both new courses and supervised construction with Greenkeeper Charlie Cavanaugh and his assistants. Another man at hand was LACC head professional and golf legend John Duncan Dunn who might have had a word to say about Fowler’s design.
(My great uncle Richard Brook worked under Dunn at LACC in 1920-21. His twin brother Tom worked at the Beverly Hills Hotel as golf instructor – small world!)

George C. Thomas Jr., wrote in Pacific Golf and Motor that, “the first nine of the South course will be nearly the same as the old lay-out, except for new greens on the second, sixth and seventh, and new tees on the eighth and the ninth.”

“The second nine will be all new holes.”

Before the South’s opening on the 22nd the final version of the Beverly course hosted the 1921 Southern California Open from February 6 to 8, using none of the new tees, greens or holes. The three-day event started with the pro-am, followed by two days of 36-hole medal play.

Unfortunately, the tournament was hampered by severe winds, up to 70 mile per hour and super dry conditions, making it nearly impossible to stop a ball from any height on the greens. It got so bad that George Thomas himself was out on the course drenching the greens to keep them playable.

Hutt Martin, Carnoustie, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Altadena, Culver City, Parkridge.

LACC’s ex-assistant professional from Carnoustie, Hutt Martin (297) won the tournament. American Eddie Loos (299) was 2nd, and LACC’s Everett Seaver (309) was low amateur finishing in 8th place overall. Leo Diegel had the low round of the tournament and claimed the course record of the South with a 70 during his 4th round. LACC member William Armstrong won the pro-am with Diegel. Armstrong donated the “bridge to the 18^th.”

The new South course greens were perfect by February, but the fairways were still rock laden on the back nine and were not used in competition until after the Southern California Amateur in April.

The South course lasted through many iterations until it was redesigned in 2015 by Gil Hanse who retained parts of some original holes that we can still enjoy today! Thanks for the century!

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The Opening of Los Angeles Country Club’s W. Herbert Fowler designed North course in 1921

LACC’s SOUTH Course Turns 100!