Club History
Griswold Street Clubhouse acg photo Our Griswold Street Beginning “The Golf Club grounds have been laid out on the land formerly used by the Port Huron Shooting club” the Port Huron Times announced on July 22, 1899. This, the first course of the Port Huron Golf Club, was located on Griswold Street between 13th and 16th Streets and north to Court Street. The course was designed by W. H. “Bert” Way. Way and his brothers grew up caddying at Royal North Devon in England, and he was the first to emigrate to the United States in 1896, becoming a pro in New York. Prior to PHGC Way designed the first 18-hole course for the Country Club of Detroit in 1898 and later, in 1905, the first 18-hole course for the Detroit Golf Club. Our Port Huron club began with twenty members and, just like today, they were looking for new members: “All persons desirous of becoming members are requested to confer with Wilber Beach, chairman of the membership committee.” The news that Port Huron had a golf club went national the following year as The Official Golf Guide for 1900, published in New York by Harper’s, listed PHGC as one of just twenty-one golf clubs in the state of Michigan. Other familiar names on the list included the CC of Detroit, Detroit GC, Grosse Ile, Harbor Point and Wequetonsing in Harbor Springs, and Point Aux Barques, sixty miles north of Port Huron near Grindstone City. The Guide noted that the Port Huron course was “a few minutes walk from the depot which is served by the Grand Trunk & Flint and Pere Marquette railroads.” Additional directions included “… the course also may be reached by the city electric railroad.” The entrance fee was $5, and annual dues were $2. In one year, the membership had increased by 50% to thirty. Wilber Beach was listed as being on the governing committee with Horton Ray, president; Fred Colter, vice-president; and Harold D. Kilets, secretary. Earle Petit was listed twice, first as treasurer and also as holder of the course record of 56. The listing also confirmed the 1899 date for the course and its nine holes. In the summer of 1907 construction began on a new course west of the first. It was also north of Griswold, but this time stretched from 16th to 24th Streets and was closer to the “new” 22nd Street railroad depot. The land on which the course was built belonged to one of the club’s founders, Frank Peavey. PHGC 1908 scorecard A&M Gholz Collection Two scorecards from this 1907 course were discovered in 2012. These cards are dated 1908, with David MacTaggart listed as Secretary at 915 Military St. The cards describe a course of 2,286 yards with a “Bogy” of 43. A Port Huron Times Herald article in 1926 gives credit for this course to MacTaggart, Peavey, W.L. Jenks, and Hartson G. Barnum, the club’s president at the time. The first PHGC clubhouse was located at 2014 Griswold Street. The first tee and ninth green were directly across Griswold from the clubhouse. The building still exists today as a private residence. The Move to Krafft Road In preparation for issuing stock and purchasing land for a permanent course, the club officially incorporated in 1910 as the Port Huron Golf & Country Club. Enough property was located on the north side of Krafft Road just west of Gratiot Avenue to eventually hold 18-holes and the necessary clubhouse and maintenance facilities. From 1910 thru 1916 almost two hundred acres on both sides of what is now Fairway Drive were purchased. The north half of today’s course was obtained from George W. Howe and his wife Eunice; the land where most of the original nine holes were built was purchased from Julia A. Hoffman in August of 1910. The property was sculpted first by glaciers and later by water and wind, driven by what became modern Lake Huron. The course was cut through wooded, sand filled lake bottom ridge lands with silt-filled wetland in the low areas between the ridges. The nine holes were laid out “along the shores of Lake Huron” by Thomas Bendelow from Aberdeen, Scotland by way of New York City and Chicago. Called “The Johnny Appleseed of Golf,” Bendelow became America’s most prolific architect, being credited with over 700 courses before his death in 1936. From 1901 through 1917 Bendelow was retained by the Spalding Sporting Goods Company to promote golf by laying out courses and designing clubs. Often his services came free from Spalding based on the club members buying their golf equipment from the company. Maybe not so coincidentally David MacTaggart’s downtown store on Military Street represented Spalding in Port Huron during that time, and for decades afterward. Designed in 1910, construction on the course did not start until the spring of 1912, and by mid-June several holes were in use. A scorecard from the time lists the new course as 3,290 yards long with a par of 36. That length was considered very long for the days of wooden shafts and early Haskell rubber balls. Today we still use a few of Bendelow’s playing corridors, those of holes #1, #2, and #3. The longest hole in those days was the 550 yard par-5 second which played straight north into the wind using a tee along the fence behind today’s 4th tee. It continued over today’s eighth hole sand ridge to roughly the site of today’s seventh green. The clubhouse was accessible off Krafft Road and was located on a low ridge just east of our current cart barn in what is now the Fairway Drive right-of-way. Cars were parked along the roadside. The Golden Age The 1920s are considered the Golden Age of golf course architecture. Port Huron Golf Club came front and center during that time. On August 28, 1920 the Windermere Hotel east of Gratiot and fronting on Lake Huron burned to the ground. Only the dance hall and tennis courts remained. By mid-November the club purchased that property and the following year moved the Krafft Road clubhouse to the new lakeside location. Along with the dance hall and tennis courts a new entity, the Port Huron Golf & Beach Club, was formed. Community leaders and club members David MacTaggart, Charles Kendrick, and Louis A. Weil seized this opportunity and retained the services of the leading golf course design firm of the time: Colt & Alison of London, England. In the early teens C&A came to North America and laid out four of the premier courses of the day. They are considered by many to still hold that honor: the Toronto and Hamilton Golf Clubs in Ontario, and the Country Club of Detroit and Pine Valley Golf Clubs in the United States. In Port Huron, Colt & Alison was charged with developing a full 18-hole course that incorporated portions of the existing course as well as new holes on previously purchased property. In the fall of 1920 Captain Charles Hugh Alison, head of the firm’s American office in Detroit’s Penobscot Building, came to Port Huron and routed the course, staking fairway centerlines. After the fairways were cleared of trees and underbrush during the winter, Alison came back in March of 1921 spending several days. He used wood stakes and chalk lines to layout the fairways, greens, and bunkers of the new course. Alison then sketched eight detailed drawings of the greens with instructions of how to build them as well as the course’s sand bunkers. Alison designed nine new greens and located five others using the natural contours, resulting in fourteen completely new holes. In addition, four original Bendelow holes were modified and their greens re-used to form a new 18-hole course. The course was built under the direction of George French, who had charge of clearing the site over the winter. The first golfers began play on portions of the course in the spring of 1922. The course fully opened on the July 4th weekend to rousing success and with a membership increased to 250. With Fred Riggin’s connections, the Sarnia Golf Club, of which he was also a member, allowed free use of their course during the construction of ours. Alison, with American partner Lynn Edward Lavis in charge of on-site efforts, came back to Port Huron in 1928 and re-located three of the remaining Bendelow greens, designing new greens for what are today’s holes 2, 3, and 17. PHTH 3/21/21 Today’s 13th green PHGC Collection The Depression In 1933 the clubhouse and beachfront property were lost through foreclosure. With the club itself facing foreclosure, the David MacTaggart Realty Company was formed on May 1, 1935. The original organizers of the DMRC were Samuel Pepper, A.C. McDunnell, J.W. Leighton, John Anderson, and Dr. George Waters, all of Port Huron. Stock was issued, and the course property note was purchased from the bank for $18,000. The club leased the property from the new company, paid its taxes through the company, and maintained the property. All Port Huron Golf & Country Club stock became null and void. In 1936 the club’s Articles of Incorporation were amended to read “Port Huron Golf Club,” the name we retain today. The club rented the beach property from the bank until 1940 when, on April 11th, President C.F. Thomas broke ground for a new clubhouse designed by club member Walter Wyeth. Wyeth is best known as the architect of the St. Clair Inn and Sperry’s in downtown Port Huron. This building forms the basis of the (many times) expanded facility we use today. A portion of the original concrete block structure is still visible just west of the pro shop and includes the area of the men’s and women’s locker rooms. 1950 aerial MSU Aerial Archive A&M Gholz Collection Post War In 1948 a small problem surfaced. It was determined that where the 4th fairway turns left we had been playing across property owned by our neighbors to the west, the Curries, since 1921. This discovery forced the club to buy lots #1 and #2 at the northeast corner of the Curries’ Helen Street housing development. This purchase, along with a portion of Lot #3, rectified the problem. A new problem occurred in 1949 when the St. Clair County Road Commission decided to build an extension of Tenth Avenue through our course and across the first and eighteenth holes. This time the solution was a little more complicated. The club needed to build two new par-3 holes, #5 and #11, and then remodel holes #6 and #12. Alison’s holes #1 and #18 from his 1921 design were permanently abandoned as the MacTaggart Realty Company sold off the Fairway Drive to Gratiot Avenue property to pay off debt. This reduced the club’s property to the 138 acres we have today. The 1st green became our practice green and the 18th green survives today on private property along the north side of Watson Drive close to Gratiot Avenue. The houses along the south side of Watson Drive sit in the middle of the old first fairway. In 1955 and 1956 forty-five individuals contributed over $100,000 to remodel the clubhouse, build a new dining room, swimming pool, and watering system for the course. In 1963 the Riggin Room (today’s Bar and Grille) was added, and in 1966 the Main Dining Room was refurbished. These major upgrades were donated by the Riggin and Mueller families respectively. In 1979 the club’s Board of Directors voted to buy out the MacTaggart Realty Company stock. A repurchase plan was adopted. By 1986 the club owned over 95% of the stock. This repurchase plan allowed the members of Port Huron Golf Club to control their own destiny for the first time since 1935. Our Modern Club In 1995 the club embarked on a two-year irrigation replacement system and fairway drainage project. A clubhouse renovation project begun in 1997 included a new bar and lounge, an expanded kitchen, a new private meeting area, card rooms, and an enlarged main dining room. In addition, the parking area was expanded and a cart staging area was built. These efforts were completed in 1998. In the fall of 2002 Port Huron Golf Club began a renovation of all eighteen green complexes. The architect was David Pandel Savic, founder of Old Course Design, an architectural firm specializing in golf course restoration. The course reopened on June 15, 2003 with a day-long celebration that included bagpipes. That winter the Club re-built both the Men’s and Women’s Locker Rooms. In 2013 the green re-construction and clubhouse renovation note was paid off in its entirety. Recently the club’s 1921 course expansion design drawings were rediscovered and confirmed to be in Charles Hugh Alison’s own hand. In addition, Colt & Alison’s 1920-21 and 1928 visits to Port Huron were documented. Several of Colt & Alison’s original drawings and letters are on view today in the hall outside the bar and main dining room. C&A drawing of today’s 2nd green 1928 PHGC Collection In 2013 David Savic revisited the course to review his 2002 efforts and comment on the current course condition. Based on that visit, a group of members retained Mr. Savic in 2014 to update the Golf Course Master Plan that he had originally developed in 2002. The new Renovation Plan is based on Colt & Alison’s 1920s architectural concepts, today’s equipment and maintenance standards, and is designed to make the course enjoyable for play by all age and handicap groups. Twelve new forward tees were cut into existing flat areas. In 2019 the membership approved a renovation of all the tee complexes based on the new Master Plan. Today Port Huron Golf Club’s renovated clubhouse and historic links land golf course combine to form the finest private golf club in the Blue Water area. The seventh fairway Alison 1921 mw photo Master Plan 2014 DPS drawing of seventh hole acg 8/18/15, r.4/28/2020
Back to the top
The Port Huron Golf Club was organized in June 1910 with Hartson G. Barnum as its first President. The first course, located in the vicinity of Court and Griswold Streets, consisted of seven holes with sand greens and tin cans for cups. A short time later two holes were added and the club had its first nine-hole course.
The Clubhouse was located at Griswold and Twentieth Streets. This one story clapboard building at 2014 Griswold Street still stands and is believed to be over one hundred years old.
In 1912 the present site was purchased and a nine-hole course with bent grass greens was cut through this heavily wooded property. Trees were removed and grading was done with teams of horses and scrapers. A Clubhouse was located where the cart building now stands on Krafft Road.
In 1919 the Windemere Hotel burned and in 1920 the Golf Club purchased the three hundred feet of beach property, moving the Clubhouse from Krafft Road to the lakefront where it was remodeled. A beach club was then formed and a lifeguard was hired.
In 1933 the Clubhouse and beach property were lost through foreclosure of a mortgage of $18,000. The Golf Club rented this property until 1940 when, on April 11th President C.F. Thomas broke ground for the Clubhouse that we now use. The Lakeshore Clubhouse was eventually moved to its present location on US-25 near Richmond, Michigan. It is known as the White Eagle Hall.
The David MacTaggart Reality Company was organized May 1, 1935. Plans were perfected at a meeting in the Hotel Harrington for the organization of the Port Huron Golf & Beach Club. The organization was made up of business and professional men and women, industrial leaders and others interested, both from a civic and social standpoint, in maintaining a Golf & Beach Club. The group proposed to enter into an agreement for the lease of both the golf course property and also the Clubhouse and other facilities. At the meeting, stockholders elected directors as follows: Joseph Walsh, Louis A. Weil, David MacTaggart, Stanley W. McFarland, Harvey L. Kimball, Albert B. Parfet and Martin J. Handley.
In 1955 forty-five men contributed over $100,000.00 to build a dining room, remodel the Clubhouse, build a swimming pool and install a watering system on the golf course. This improvement program was completed in 1956.
In May 1963 the Riggin Room and furnishings were contributed to the PHGC as a gift from Mr. And Mrs. Fred Riggin, Sr.
In 1966 the Main Dining Room was completely refurbished by Mr. And Mrs. E. B. Mueller.
In 1975 we held our first Professional Golf Exhibition under the direction of Dean Luce as General Chairman. Port Huron Golf Club’s former manager, Robert Hayes, was called upon to be the Master of Ceremonies at a luncheon held before the Tournament began. The Tournament consisted of 18 holes of golf featuring Johnny Miller, Sandra Palmer, Jerry Heard, Dave Hill and J. P. McCarthy.
In 1995 the club started a new irrigation and drainage project that was completed in 1997. The project completely computerized and upgraded the entire irrigation system. A clubhouse renovation project that included a new bar and lounge, expanded kitchen area, new private meeting area, card rooms, parking, cart staging area and enlarged main dining room was started in the fall of 1997 and completed on schedule in the spring of 1998. The pool was completely renovated in 2002. Included in this project were a new pump, filter, computerized chemical system, deck, furniture and remodeled showers and restrooms.
In August 2002 the Golf Club began a complete 18-hole renovation and restoration of all the greens and surrounding areas. The Architect was David Pandel Savic from Old Course Design, a firm that specialized in course restoration. The contractor was Doug O’Rourke, owner of Dozer Construction Inc. The course reopened on June 15, 2003.
In the winter of 2003 the Club renovated both the Men’s and Women’s Locker Rooms.
The golf course and building improvements have been steady through the years until today, the 6,191 yard rolling layout with its remodeled Clubhouse and modern pool stands as one of the finest private golf clubs in the Blue Water Area. 2010 the Port Huron Golf Club celebrated it's 100th anniversary!!! Back to the top