In 1909, the business partners of the Virginia Hotel embarked on a magnificent golf course project. In 1910, a 10-year lease was signed with the Alamitos Land Co. for almost 120 acres near a eucalyptus grove about seven miles east of the downtown business district. According to the 1949 issue of "The Golfer" magazine: "The course itself was built in the center of a sheep-grazing pasture, with the clubhouse -- a modest structure costing $3,500 -- atop Reservoir Hill. It was a 116-acre site on the west sector of the Bixby Rancho. It was a nine-hole pasture-fairway course -- the sheep kept it mowed. It had sand greens and the major greenkeeping expense was in the crude oil they used to keep the putting surfaces good."
The "Splash Hole" became the signature hole at the Virginia Country Club's original location. The short par-4 16th hole pictured to the left, featured a tee perched on a pier that extended onto a lake. It tormented golfers with a forced carry over water and an uphill approach to the green. The Club's first layout opened on April 30, 1910 with nine holes. The Club members designed the first course themselve, "complete with sand greens and a few hazards to go along with those nature created." Recognizing the need to hire a professional architect to route the tree-studded rough countryside, they hired a reknowned Scottish architect Willie Watson.
As the 10-year lease with the Alamitos Land Company was nearing its end, a special search committee was formed to find a new home for the club and course. They contemplated buying the Rancho Los Alamitos site, but in 1920 they decided to move Virginia Country Club to a new 135 -acre tract in Rancho Los Cerritos, next to the Old Adobe ranch house that still stands today as a historic landmark.
Although Club records are not absolutely clear, the new, current-day location of Virginia Country Club was designed by Willie Watson and opened on August 31, 1921. Some ten years later, William P. Bell and A.W. Tillinghast had a hand in a redesign of the course , and Robert Muir Graves and Edmund B. Dearie would lead renovations over the next few decades. |
William P. Bell
A.W. Tillinghast
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