From its inception in 1898, Wykagyl Country Club has shared with America the wonderful times of prosperity and success, and endured with her the painful moments of two world wars and a depression.

Wykagyl is one of the most challenging and beautiful courses in the country, but encouraging the sport of golf was not always as easy as it is today. In 1898, a group of ardent sportsmen - anxious to pursue the new game - met and formally organized the Pelham Country Club (no relation to the present club of the same name). Land was leased, and a nine-hole course was staked out on a tract just beyond the New Rochelle line, on the north side of the Boston Post Road. Soon after its formation the club boasted 125 Members.

In 1904, however, a new owner acquired the land and immediately ordered the club to vacate his property. The determined Members found a new home in New Rochelle: the farm of one Livingston Disbrow. An agreement gave the club the right to lease the Disbrow land for three years at $3,500 per year, with an option to buy for $750 an acre. Three years later, the property was purchased, and the club found its permanent home.

The Disbrow land had a history of its own. Over the acres where wedges and five irons now cut through grass, Indians and early pioneers of Dutch and Huguenot ancestry once roamed. In fact, the history of the land probably gave the club its name, though the story of how the prestigious and colorful title came into being has a mysterious and amusing twist.

The move from Pelham Manor to New Rochelle meant, among other things, that the club needed a new name. One of the original Members, William K. Gillett, was appointed to be a committee of one to pick a name. He came up with Wykagyl. For many years it was thought that Gillett had simply taken the letters W, K, G, and L from his own name, changed the I's to Y's, added an A in the middle for euphony and found a distinctive name for the club, and his own private joke to chuckle over.

Years later, the secretary of the club, Henry T. Brown, uncovered an Old Dutch map of early New York giving the location of Indian tribes and villages. The club bulletin of 1925 claimed the name was from wigwos (birch bark) and keag (country), the country of the birch bark.

Old Disbrow Farm House

Whatever its origin, the name won instant approval. A court order was signed decreeing that as of June 15, 1905, the old Pelham Country Club would henceforth be known as The Wykagyl Country Club, and so it has been to this very day.

The original course was laid out by Lawrence E. Van Etten, who had joined the club in Pelham in 1904. So fast did Van Etten work that by April 1, 1905, the first nine holes were in play and by August the back nine was ready. In spite of primitive conditions, the young club flourished, and by 1910 it had 502 Members. Besides golf, other sporting activities also took place, among them, trapshooting and tennis.

Soon, the course was changed in two steps by two noted gold architects. Donald Ross redesigned several holes in 1919 and A.W. Tillinghast worked on others, including a totally new 17th hole and shortening the 18th, of which Harry Varden was so fond. Play on the Tillinghast-modified course began on Labor Day, 1931. As the facilities and the course were being upgraded, two famous Wykagyl personalities - Val Bermingham and Clare Briggs - were putting their indelible stamp on the club. It would be fair to say that the years 1905 to 1932 can properly be designated as the Bermingham era at Wykagyl, at least in terms of golfing prowess. In that time, Val won 20 club championships, which stood for many years as a national record, according to the U.S.G.A.

 

A.W. Tillinghast

If Val made the name of Wykagyl prominent by his golfing prowess, Clare Briggs caused it to be known throughout the land by his series of golfing cartoons which were published for years in the New York Tribune and later the Herald-Tribune. Briggs made Wykagyl the setting for his humorous drawings, using the names of many of his cronies from the club in his cartoon. Wykagyl has paid tribute to these two favorite sons by naming days for them. Now the golfing season starts on Bermingham Day and closes on Briggs Day. It seems fitting. Opening day is a time for hopes and dreams, when golfers set out to emulate the skills of Val. Briggs Day, marking the end of another season, is a time to stow the clubs away and "live it up" somewhat in the manner of the ebullient Clare. Briggs and Bermingham played amongst some skilled company in those early years. Wykagyl was a favorite course for topflight pros, both American and British. Walter Hagen, George Duncan and Bobby Jones were among legendary golfers who played at Wykagyl. In later years, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson tested their skills here.

Wykagyl has also been the host for many tournaments of charity. These include the famous "Palm Beach Round Robin" from 1948 through 1952, 1956 and 1957, the "Red Cross" Tournament in 1944, the LPGA "Talk" Tournament in 1977, the LPGA "Golden Lights Championship" from 1978 through 1980, the LPGA "Chrysler - Plymouth Classic" in 1982, the LPGA "Master Card International Pro-Am" in 1984 and the Japan Airlines Big Apple Classic 1990-2000. Principal benefactors from these events have been the New Rochelle Hospital, Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, the Red Cross, Cerebral Palsy of Westchester, the Westchester Burn Center, the American Health Foundation of Valhalla and the New Rochelle Boys & Girls Club.

The first organizational meeting of the fledgling Professional Golfer's Association was held at Wykagyl in 1916 and its first president was Bob White, Wykagyl's long time Head Golf Professional. The first U.S. Open Championship in 1895 was won by Mr. Horace Rollins, who became head professional here.