Page 9 - Glen Echo Centennial History

G
len

crowds around Ted Drews on a Saturday evening.

A HISTORICAL
A HISTORICAL

ered a few storms in our sometimes rocky past and have continued to come back better than ever.
PERSPECTIVE
PERSPECTIVE

in Oregon, founded in 1891, though it was 9-holes until 1903. And as we all know, we did have a slight hiccup in 1915 that forced us to
Being the oldest 18-hole private course does not mean we were the first course west of the Mississippi – that record belongs to Gearhart Links
challenge us for that distinction, with their records based more on legend than fact. Many of the earliest clubs and their courses
were abandoned, sold or otherwise left for seemingly greener pastures, as geography, demographics, politics or natural disasters
forced them to alter their original plans. With that being said, let’s dispel a few myths that have continued to linger around area golf like
clubs were: St. Louis CC, The Field Club (forerunner of Bellerive), Florissant Valley CC, Kinloch Club, St. Louis Golf Club (called the Jockey
When we finally opened on May 25, 1901, there were already nine courses in the area - though all but Triple A were only nine-holes. The
of their history, though most of it remains undocumented. What we are is a Club and Course that has stood the test of time; we’ve weath-
Club as it was located inside the race track in Fairgrounds Park), Triple A, Algonquin GC, Jefferson Barracks Club and the Carondelet Park
A Century of Families
with them, suffered the fate of many of the other early organizations; they either moved from their original site or disbanded within a few
Club (an all ladies club which was actually located in Tower Grove Park). Each of these original courses, and many of the clubs associated
temporarily change names, so in the continuous area we must defer to others– with that recognition falling to the Del Monte links in Pebble
Beach, another early nine-hole layout. We aren’t the oldest golf club in town, that honor goes to St. Louis which opened its nine-holes in
1896. And we didn’t have the area’s first eighteen-hole course as Triple A opened their second nine in the spring of 1901, just months before
in the west - public or private - but at least two public facilities in Colorado - Overland Park and Patty Jewett - offer challenging accounts
our gala affair, though that course was razed just months later to make room for the World’s Fair. We may well be the oldest 18 hole course
Echo is the oldest private 18-hole course west of the Mississippi. Few courses, in and out of our town, would attempt to
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