The club has a rich history of golf, starting out in 1901 as only 9 holes on 85 acres (0.34 km2) on the banks of the Genesee River in Rochester. The clubhouse was no more than a converted farm house. At the time, golf was a relatively new sport in America, and as popularity of the sport grew, so did the country club.
By 1921, Oak Hill had doubled in size and had a new clubhouse, so when the University of Rochester proposed a land swap in 1921, it was a tough decision for members. However, the country club decided to take the university up on their offer, and moved the club to a 355-acre (1.44 km2) plot in nearby Pittsford.
This decision ended up benefiting Oak Hill, the University of Rochester, and the City of Rochester. Now with triple the land of the old country club, Oak Hill had room for two 18-hole courses. Designed by Donald Ross, they became the East Course and the West Course. Local physician and civic personality John Ralston Williams cultivated and planted tens of thousands of oak trees among the fairways and roughs on what once was a farmed-out field.[2]
East Course
The East Course — which hosts the major tournaments — is built around the east branch of Allen Creek, which acts as a lateral hazard on 9 of its 18 holes. It has had several changes made over the years - first by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in the early 1960s, later (and more recently for the 1989 Open and 2003 PGA) by Tom Fazio and his design group and finally by Andrew Green who completed a restoration project in 2019.
In 1941, the Rochester Times-Union, a local paper at the time, posted a $5,000 purse which attracted the greatest golfers in the world, including names such as Sam Snead, Walter Hagen, and Ben Hogan. This tournament, won by Snead, put Oak Hill on the national golf map. Several prestigious tournaments were held at Oak Hill over the next 78 years, including seven men's major championships – including three U.S. Opens and four PGA Championships, as well as the Ryder Cup.
In 2019, the East Course was ranked 22nd in Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses.
