History of Rye Clubs

A Little Bit of Rye History Local Clubs

– By Paul Hicks –

Thanks to the numerous golf, sailing, tennis and beach clubs in and around Rye, more than 1,000 acres of open space have been preserved along the shore of Long Island Sound and in the rolling countryside. Each club has a history worth telling.

American Yacht Club

Founded in 1883 by Jay Gould and other yachting enthusiasts, American Yacht Club is the fourth oldest yacht club in the United States. In 1887, the club acquired its present property from the family of J. Howard Wainwright, who owned most of the land on Milton Point at the time. The purchase included 12 acres at the tip of the peninsula together with the rocks and islands known as “Scotch Caps.”

In its early years, all the boats moored at AYC were steam yachts, but by the end of World War I they had been replaced by sailboats and, later, by modern powerboats. One of the more impressive AYC boats of the post-war period was the 197-foot Guinevere, a three-masted schooner owned by Edgar Palmer, whose home (the Jay Homestead) lay just across Milton Harbor.

Many distinguished sailors have been members of AYC, including such successful small boat skippers as Lorna Hibberd and Allegra (“Leggie”) Mertz.

The fine old clubhouse, which was built in 1888, managed to survive the devastating hurricane of 1938, but it was destroyed by a fire in 1951. In less than 18 months, a new clubhouse was completed, opening a new era for AYC, including the winter sailing competitions known as “frostbiting.” For more information about AYC’s history, look for the club’s centennial publication, “The First Hundred Years of American Yacht Club,” at the Rye Free Reading Room.

Apawamis Club

Founded in 1890, Apawamis took its name from a Mohegan word describing a part of the Rye area. There is also a symbolic connection to the local Native American residents in the club’s crest, which displays a calumet (peace) pipe, a quill pen and an oyster shell.

In May 1891, the members first opened the club on leased property known as “Kirklawn,” located on the Post Road where the Church of the Resurrection now stands. The original nine-hole golf course was laid out five years later on leased land lying between the present Milton Road and Forest Avenue on the north side of Apawamis Avenue. Subsequently, a new course was developed between Loudon Woods and Peck Avenue.

Finally, in 1898, Apawamis moved to its present location and created the 18-hole course, which has remained virtually unchanged from its original design. Ben Hogan once called it “the toughest short course I have ever played.” The first clubhouse was built in 1899, but in February 1907 a fire destroyed almost the entire structure as a heavy snowfall slowed the arrival of the horse-drawn fire apparatus. Within 18 months, however, a new building was opened.

For those of us who were employed as Apawamis caddies in our youth, it is good to know we were preceded in that job by such notables as the famous golfer, Gene Sarazen, and the entertainer, Ed Sullivan, natives of Harrison and Port Chester, respectively. Among the Apawamis members, one of the club’s most renowned golfers was Mrs. Allison (“Sis”) Choate, who was captain of the 1974 Curtis Cup team. No member, however, has matched the record of John Ellis Knowles, who won the Club Championship 16 times.

The first hole is often referred to as “Hilton’s Rock,” in honor of an Englishman, Harold Hilton, who won the U.S. Amateur Championship at Apawamis in 1911, aided by a memorable bounce. In 2005, Apawamis hosted the Women’s Senior Amateur Championship, continuing a longstanding special relationship with the U.S. Senior Golf Association. Additional information about the club can be found in the centennial publication, “Apawamis: One Hundred Years of Excellence.”

Coveleigh Club

In 1927, the Peningo Club opened on property acquired from the Wainwright family, using the stately home as a clubhouse. A nine-hole golf course was laid out on the grounds, which spread over much of Milton Point. The club, whose name, Peningo, was another local Mohegan place name, failed during the Depression. In 1934, the Wainwrights had to foreclose on the property, but they then leased it to the members of a new club called Coveleigh. Almost 20 years later, in 1953, the members of Coveleigh purchased the buildings and grounds outright.

Located across Stuyvesant Avenue from another Rye landmark, Wainwright House, Coveleigh is primarily a beach and tennis club, but the sport of lawn bowling has long been a favorite pastime.

Manursing Island Club

In 1911, a syndicate was formed to buy 65 acres on Manursing Island (called Manussing Island by the Mohegans). The waterfront property, which had been in the Cornell family for 100 years, was part of the site chosen for the original settlement in 1660 by Rye’s colonial founders. In June 1912, the Manursing Island Club opened, with Marselis Parsons, H.F.G. Wey, Cornelius Sewall and Waldron Williams as its first officers.

Some of its early members may have transferred from the older Rye Lawn Tennis Club, founded in 1884, which had courts on Forest Avenue, but no clubhouse. Manursing also had the advantage of offering not only tennis, but a swimming pool and a sandy beach.

Club rules for proper bathing attire required tops for men until after World War II. Another longstanding house rule read: “No pistol or rifle shooting on Club premises.” An exception was made, however, for trap shooting, which was a popular cold weather sport at the club for more than 50 years.

In the 1940s the club held occasional exhibition tennis matches featuring such well-known stars as Don Budge, Bill Tilden, Vincent Richards and Alice Marble. Over the years, some of the best tennis players in the area have been Manursing members. Since 1961, the annual men’s doubles tournament, long known as the Richardson Invitational, has attracted many ranking professional and amateur players.

In 1934, the American Platform Tennis Association (APTA) was formed with Fox Meadow Tennis Club in Scarsdale, the Field Club in Greenwich and Manursing as charter members. The APTA men’s doubles championship tournament has been won by many members of Manursing over the past 70 years, beginning in 1940 with the team of Witherbee Black Jr. and Paul DeF. Hicks Sr.

Rye Golf Club

In 1853, the family of William Chapman moved into Whitby Castle on their Rye estate. The architect was the noted Alexander Jackson Davis, who had also designed Lyndhurst in Tarrytown. It was named Whitby because some of the original stones used in the structure came from Whitby Abbey in England.

In 1896, the castle was sold to the Park family, who lived there for 25 years. In 1921, the 40 acres of the original property were purchased from the Park family and combined with the adjacent Allen estate. The property was turned into the Rye Country Club, which was later renamed the Rye Woods Club.

Since the City of Rye acquired the property in 1965, it has been operated as a publicly-owned membership facility with an 18-hole golf course and an Olympic-size swimming pool. In recent years, Whitby Castle has been operated as a public restaurant and catering facility by independent contractors. Located between the Post Road and Milton Harbor, the club offers some of the most scenic views in the area.

Shenorock Shore Club

According to Marcia Dalphin’s “Fifty Years of Rye: 1904-1954,” the Milton Point Casino opened on July 24, 1924 and “advertised for many months as being as near like the Lido in Venice, cabanas and all, as America could manage.” In its prime, the Casino featured performances by Rudy Vallee and other star entertainers. By the end of World War II, however, the Casino had closed, and the clubhouse was for sale.

The property was purchased at auction in 1946 by Ralph Manny, a public-spirited Rye resident, who was then commodore of the nearby American Yacht Club. Manny, who sometimes referred to himself as the “sachem,” named his club Shenorock, after the leader of the Mohegan Indians who sold the local land to the original Rye settlers.

Somewhat later, Shenorock bought the small Sea Horse Yacht Club across the street, which provided a second clubhouse overlooking Milton Harbor. Additional land, called the “Bouwerie,” was acquired from an adjacent Wainwright estate to make room for a pool, picnic area and paddle tennis courts.

From the outset, Shenorock has drawn its members not only from the Rye area, but also from Scarsdale, Bronxville and other “landlocked” communities. For many years, it was the site of the Westchester Cotillion, a debutante ball where many young women from around the county made their debuts into what was known not so long ago as “polite society.”

The fierce northeaster that damaged all the shore clubs in December 1992 devastated the clubhouse and cabanas at Shenorock. In July of 1996, members gathered at the restored clubhouse and on the crescent beach on Long Island Sound to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary.

Westchester Country Club

In 1919, John McEntee Bowman, who was president of the Commodore and Biltmore Hotels in New York City, set out to build a residential country club on a grand scale in Westchester County. He purchased 583 acres in Harrison, mostly from the Park family, and in May 1922 the Westchester Biltmore Country Club was completed in a park-like setting. At the same time, a beach club for the members was opened on 62 acres of shorefront next door to the Manursing Island Club.

Because of financial losses incurred by Bowman, the club was purchased by its members in 1929. It has remained an important area landmark ever since, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2004. Among the club’s many facilities are a multi-storied residential clubhouse, two championship 18-hole golf courses and a polo field. It was from that field in August 1928 that local resident Amelia Earhart took off on the first solo flight by a woman to the West Coast and back.

Over the years, Westchester Country Club has been the site of numerous important golf tournaments, including the Westchester and Buick Classics. In the 1960s, the winners included Jack Nicklaus, Julius Boros and Arnold Palmer. In 2005, the renamed Barclay’s Classic, which had a purse of $5.75 million, was won by Padraig Harrington. Since their inception in 1967, the Classic tournaments have raised more than $30 million for United Hospital and other area hospitals.

Willow Ridge Country Club

Willow Ridge is the sixth club to operate on the 126-acre site located on North Street between Apawamis and the Westchester Country Club. The first one, Green Meadow Country Club, was founded in 1917 but folded during the Depression.

In 1941, Green Meadow was followed by the Green Valley Country Club, a public course that was forced to close during World War II. Beginning in 1946 there was a string of private country clubs: Hasty Brook in 1946, Willows in 1950 and Harrison Country Club in 1953. Willow Ridge was organized in 1965 and has been in operation since January 1966.

In addition to the scenic views of rolling terrain and Long Island Sound, the open space protected by these various clubs provides important habitat for numerous birds and other wildlife. Westchester Country Club is one of more than 2,000 golf clubs around the world that participate in an Audubon International program of environmental stewardship. In many ways, the clubs have played valuable roles in the local community, some for more than 100 years.