Palos Verdes Country Club History

PALOS VERDES COUNTRY CLUB

Shortly after Frank Vanderlip acquired the 16,000 acre Palos Verdes Peninsula with a group of investors in 1913 he developed plans for a golf course on his property. Original plans included the construction of a magnificent golf club on the bluffs overlooking Portuguese Bend, to be known as “Los Palos Verdes Country Club”. The golf links was to include a clubhouse with 150 guest rooms, locker rooms, and numerous dining and community rooms. Other amenities were to include a large swimming pool, tennis courts, polo grounds, and a yacht club with concrete pier. World War I however curtailed these plans for the country club.

In the early 1920 €™s , developers of the Palos Verdes Project built a number of amenities to promote lot sales in the new community of Palos Verdes Estates. The golf club was constructed at the same time as other amenities of the new city, such as the La Venta Inn and the Palos Verdes Swim Club. Palos Verdes Golf Club opened on November 15, 1924. The golf course was designed and built by the team of William P. €œBilly € Bell and George C. Thomas. It is a classic example of courses built during the era that has become known as the €œGolden Age of Golf Course Architecture €. Other examples of their work in Southern Calif. include, the North Course at Los Angeles CC, Riviera CC, Bel Air CC, as well as the Ojai Valley Inn Golf Course. The course was designed with ocean views from 14 of its 18 holes. The club was very popular in the 1920 €™s with celebrities such as Douglas Fairbanks.

The land on which the course is situated is owned by the City of Palos Verdes Estates, and the club is operated under a concession agreement with the City. The club is semi-private, with private memberships sold giving club members priority tee times, and only club members and residents of the City (in the afternoon ) may play on the weekends. The public does have access at certain times and days mid-week.

The clubhouse was designed by Clarence E. Howard, with landscaping design by the Olmsted Brothers. The landscaping included hundreds of Eucalyptus Trees, which line the fairways of several holes, most of which had been planted years before by early ranchers. The clubhouse cost $60,000 to build, and it was determined almost immediately that it needed to be expanded. Both the course itself and its restaurant quickly became overcrowded. The building was extended 60 feet to the east to make room for a new golf shop and caddy house. The clubhouse was completely remodeled in 2007.

The Country Club hosts twice monthly meetings of the Palos Verdes Breakfast Club, a group of Palos Verdes Estates men who have met since the club €™s founding in May 1942. The intent of the club was to bring the people of the community closer together during the trying times of World War II.

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