Winnetka Local History Digital Collections

Winnetka Weekly Talk, 16 Jul 1927, p. 15

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pS ---- -- 2 LH. ' -- TE July 16, 1927 WINNETKA TALK 13 Great Course, Star Players Feature Glen View Golf Fine Spirit "Makes" Club of 3 Decades History, Sentiment Play a Big Part in Life of Organi- zation - Polo Fostered in Early Years HIS is the seventh article of a .1 series on the great golf clubs of the north shore. It is the story of Glen View, one of the oldest clubs in the Chicago District, a story brimful of interesting information, a story that everybody should read. By Ray C. Pearson HERE is history, a romantic twist, a touch of pretty sentiment, a fine golf course and sterling players to build out the story of Glen View, that great club of the North Shore, which has gained a niche in golfdom's Hall of Fame. Glen View one finds himself del- uged by a flood of incidents--in- cidents all worthy, all interesting --which fresco the existence of this club which spans a period of thirty years. The high lights may be put down in this fashion: 1. Glen View, which was formed in 1897 is one of the pioneer clubs of the Chicago district. There were only two or three clubs when play was started on this course. 2. Glen View sprang from prai- rie land in Niles Township and the formation of the club was the di- rect cause of the naming of a town in the Township -- Goli. There may be other towns in the country called Golf, but if there are the writer does not know of them or where they are located. +. Glen View enjoys the dis- tinction of being one golf club (perhaps the only one) which has operated a U. S. postoffice, officered by a club member. _ 4. Glen View has proceeded far in steps to further the comfort and happiness of its members by erecting on the club grounds two apartment buildings which mem- bers may lease for the summer months. These apartments, in conjunction with the clubhouse accommodations, make it possible for the members to enjoy a sum- mer home close to their favorite pastime, Started as Golf, Polo Club The Glen View club of today could not by any stretch of imagination be pictured as the club which "arrived" thirty years ago. For one thing it was not exclusively a golf club. Its original charter was taken out under the name of "Glen View Golf and Polo club" on March 29, 1897. The originators of the corporation were William Holabird, Frederick Arnd and George T. Merrick. _ For some dozen years polo flour- ished as a major sport at the club and Writing about | in those years the members rode an' swung the mallet for recreation and the honor and glory of Glen View. In those years golf was coming in leaps and bounds. And golf would not be denied. Polo is a fine sport, but polo could not withstand the charge of the golfing brigade. The march of time saw the disappearance of the polo field and the game at Glen View. And with the disappearance of the riding game there came a new order of things at the club. One of the offi- cials of the club informs me that it was about 1910 that polo was given up and the name of the club changed to "Glen View club." Town Called Golf The club had made a fine start but in its earlier years the members were confronted by a problem. That prob- lem concerned transportation and it appeared difficult of solution. The Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul ran through Niles Township and very close to the land which the club had purchased. The railroad solved the troubles of the club members by consenting to build a station near the club's grounds. And the railroad called the station Golf. At this time homes and stores are springing up around Golf. It is quite a community and the name prob- ably always will be Golf. The next step saw the necessity for a postoffice and the club arranged that by securing a postmastership for a member of the club, Until two years ago the postoffice of Golf was the clubhouse. But with the building up of the territory adjacent to the club THE PICTURES: Glen View's pic- turesque c¢lub- house (top)-- Miss Louise Fer- gus, club cham- pion (lower left} --Jock Hutchin- son, professional (center) -- Harry W. Bishop, club champion (right) 7 Photo by Lehle it became necessary to relinquish the postoffice. Non-members of the club who had located at the Goli were forced to go through the grounds to get their mail and as this was incon- venient not only to the club but to those seeking mail, the postoffice, was: given up. Land Sold for $1.25 in 1836 We have mentioned history and sentiment in this story so here is something along those lines. Officials of the club have gone to the trouble of digging back into the past to find out something about the land on which their club is located. They discovered that back in 1836 a man by the name of Robert Dewes came to America from Yorkshire, England. He came to Illinois and in Niles Township picked out a place to settle. He bought four hundred acres of land from the gov- ernment, paying just one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre for it. When Robert Dewes died some years later his son John inherited the (Continued on Page 34)

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