Founded in 1888 by John Reid of Dunfermline, Scotland, the club is the oldest golf club in the United States.[1] The club crest features a Scottish saltire. The current site, the club's home since 1897, features an 18-hole golf course designed by golf course architects William H. Tucker and Harry Tallmadge. In 1983, the course was refurbished by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus.[2]
Over the final two decades of the 20th century, the course was featured in a handful of articles in The New York Times. A 1983 article in the paper referenced a dwindling membership and the construction of condominium town houses with the goal of increasing membership.[4] A 1989 story in the Times mentioned the club having recently admitted its first African-American member.[5] And a 1997 piece in the paper, which discusses racial bias at area clubs, mentions the club's $20,000 initiation fee, $9,000 annual fee, and its predominantly white and Christian membership; the same article also mentioned that, until the 1970s, the club had exclusively opened its doors to Presbyterians of Scottish descent.[6]
