John de St. Jorre

The Story of Golf at The Country Club
(Brookline, Massachusetts: The Country Club, 2009)

   

   

For more than a century, The Country Club founded in Brookline, near Boston, in 1882, has played a seminal role in the history of American golf. A founder member of the United States Golf Association and provider of six of its presidents, the club has hosted fifteen USGA tournaments and the Ryder Cup. It was the stage for perhaps the greatest golf upset in the history of the game when a twenty-year old club caddie, Francis Ouimet, dismantled two of Britain’s greatest champions to win the 1913 U.S. Open Championship. It also hosted the 1999 Ryder Cup when another drama took place - Justin Leonard’s famous forty-five foot putt that clinched the match for the Americans.

Winner of the 2009 Herbert Warren Wind Award

The Story of Golf at The Country Club was chosen by the United States Golf Association (USGA) as the winner of its annual literary prize, named after the famous American golf writer and historian. Regarded by golfers as the “Pulitzer” of the game, the USGA gives the award to books deemed to make an outstanding contribution to golf literature. In announcing the 2009 award, the organization described The Story of Golf at The Country Club as “beautifully written and elegantly designed” and recognized its “high standard of achievement in golf literature.”