New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-09-26
NEW GOLF LINKS READY
TO OPEN DONGAN HILLS
COURSE NEXT WEEK.
First Nine Holes of Richmond
County Country Club Changed
Others REMEMBERED.

No longer will the familiar old golf course Of the
Richmond County Country Club at Dongan HIS
where last week was waged the championship con-
test Of Staten Island. survive in its present shape
The encounter between the Branch Medal holders
from the Fox Hills Golf Club and the players OF
the Country Club which ended Saturday also ter
minated the period Of of the old links. and the
latter organization now plans to open with its club
tournament next week brand new course.
Owing to the encroachments OF buildings, the
first nine holes are entirely changed. and the re-
mainder are remembered. so that an oldtimer COM
ing upon the links would have grave difficulty in
mastering the lay of the land without guidance
Two new lots one of thirty and the other of twelve
acres. have been purchased by the club. making
the total area of the organizations property hold
ngs no acres.
Here the club championship will be competed for
in two weeks and with appropriate ceremony the
new course will be thrown open. The picturesque
scenery which inspiring feature Of the for
links still survives on the present territory,
and large numbers of interested players are daily
scrutinizng the altered features at the northwest
end.
The popularity Of the Richmond County Country
Club seems ever on the increase, judging by the
patronage from numerous fashionable places on the
island. in New York and the suburbs. Its members
number three hundred. The stately clubhouse,
with its homelike interior, was built sixty years
ago by the Austrian Consul Mr.. Meyer, who car
ried costly fittings his native city for its en-
beIlishment OF the linden trees which he brought
from Austria several still stand
Junius Brutus Alexandra Wall Street broker,
bought the house half century ago, and for the
last twelve years the club has been in possession
The building is three story structure. OF the
Colonial style. with broad veranda reaching the
entire distance about the house The view from
the of the building over the NarrOws is most
attractive. II is the same scene at which the Aus
trian Consul delighted 10 gaze upon through his
glass back I'm 40 but 1t then minus the glamour
Of Coney Islands rococo architecture
TD9o Ufr
Club were Clarence Whitman. W. Harry Motley.
Adolphus j. Outerbridge. Gugy f. Irving, Weth-
cred B. Thomas ana Eugene II. Outerbridge They
effected the organization in 1883. and their names
still deck the conspicuous part of the clubs
book The officers Stacy c. Richmond.
president: George Cromwell, vice-presdent; Kintz-
ing p. Emmons, treasurer, and Herbert R. Woods
secretary. William 1. Seaman is chairman of the
golf committee. The roster Of the club contains
the of many we'll known New Workers
whose half holidays when weather allows are
regularly spent the links near Garretson and
Dongan Hills.
There is a ten-year lease on the clubhouse
grounds and stables of the country club, with a
three-year option Of purchase The original quar-
tiers of the club were the old Glove Road, some
distance from the present site
Perhaps since golf first played upon
Staten Island have sporter hazards and approaches
calling for been laid out than the
course of the country club. The pioneer
coterie of players who explored Fox Hills across
the railroad from the present Fox Hills links many
years ago and found natural obstacles that de-
lighted the golfers eye would surely appreciate
the wee drap' pear the present third hole. An
other array of formidable bunkers is found near
the eighth hole, where +he pit of the unf1n-
ished mine of the Bethlehem Iron Company
mains ungraded- But whereas in former times it
was with improvised tomato cans and portable lead
tees that the pioneers traversed their course. to-
day conveniences of goIfng equipment of the most
modern description add zest TO the contest with the
natural hindrances OF hIlly Richmond County.
The eighteen links of the new course total Sis
yards, the longest stretch being between the new
sixth and seventh The fresh salt breeze from the
Narrows here gets it's chance to battle the play
in the go yards to go. The new seventeenth
hole near Todt Hill Road, where many golf ball
is likely find It's bushy eternity. contrasts beauti
fully with the fair green of the old seventh, and
the two exemplify we'll the diverse and picturesque
scenery OF the links.