Milwaukee Country Club

In 1894, a group of gentlemen visited the Chicago Golf Club. They were so fired up with enthusiasm for the game that on the trip back to Milwaukee they resolved as a committee of three to sell enough other men on the idea to finance a golf course in Milwaukee. This was successful and they immediately obtained permission to use the Mariner Farm bounded on the east by Downer Avenue, They played the first year (1894) well into the winter using red balls when there was snow on the ground. In May of 1909, it was announced that the owner had definitely refused to renew the lease on the property on which the first 3 holes were located. In April of 1910, the directors were authorized and empowered to sell the real estate of the club. Enthusiastic golf members of the club interested themselves in finding a suitable location for a new golf course. This group organized the Milwaukee Golf Club and purchased the present property, which at that time had an area of 108 acres. Because the Milwaukee Country Club was the oldest country club in the state, and one of the oldest in the Middle West, that organization was maintained and, at a meeting, purchased the Milwaukee Golf Club property: and although there is no record of the exact date the new club was opened, there is a record of a Director’s Meeting held June 10, 1911, at the new clubhouse. This location on the hill of the present 18th hole was the site of the clubhouse up to the time when the present building was built in 1929.