10 El Paso Country Club

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1Chapter“These were the…fields of happiness where we could

forget our misfortunes…and enjoy those comforts

so long denied us.”

12 El Paso Country Club

Golf originated in Scotland during the fifteenth century at about the same time that Spanish conquistadors arrived in the New World seeking personal fortune and fame. Following Columbus in 1492, they found riches in present-day Mexico, which Hernando Cortes conquered in 1520. In April of 1540, the viceroy of New Spain sent Coronado northward from Mexico City in search of El Dorado—the legendary city of gold. Between 1550 and 1590, settlement in New Spain had been slowly spreading northward. King Phillip II of Spain, who wanted to control this expanding settle-ment, decided to colonize the land of the Pueblo Indians. He granted Juan de Onate the right to settle and govern the colony named New Mexico. In early 1598, Onate led more than five hundred colonists north across the Chihuahuan Desert. The set-tlers struggled through the hot, dry land. When they finally reached the Rio Grande, the river seemed like an oasis with its shady willow trees and cool water. One colonist wrote, “These were the…fields of happiness where we could forget our misfortunes…and enjoy those comforts so long denied us.” The thankful soldiers held a feast to celebrate their survival. Near what is now San Elizario, Texas (east of El Paso), Onate claimed the Rio Grande region for Spain. The colonists then con-tinued upriver until they reached several Pueblo villages north of where Santa Fe, New Mexico, lies today. There they built their first Spanish settlement.

In 1845, Texas would enter the Union—nine years after the Battle of San Jacinto. El Paso was not part of Texas at that time and was considered to be part of New Mexico in Chihuahua.

A year later, the United States declared war against Mexico, and in 1847, Colonel Alexander Doniphan captured El Paso, Chihuahua. By 1850, after a $15 million pay-ment to Mexico under the Mexican Cession agreement, the way was paved for El Paso to join Texas as the boundary dispute was settled.

Established in 1849, El Paso’s first hub was Fort Bliss, whose primary objective was to protect emigrants living in or traveling through the new area. Fort Bliss and these

How It All Began

From 1670 to 1680, tension increased between the Pueblo Indians in northern New Mexico and the Spanish. Droughts and the attempt to stop the Pueblo from their traditional religious beliefs caused spiritual leader Pope to lead a revolt in 1680 against the Spanish. Governor of New Mexico Antonio de Otermin, Captain Alonso Garcia, and Father Ayeta led 2,418 Spaniards and 317 Indians toward El Paso del Norte. Eventually, a number of those Indians arrived at the Rio Grande, later to build the first Texas mission Corpus Christi de la Isleta, today known as Ysleta. Spain ruled this area until 1821 when Mexico gained independence. In both the Spanish and Mexican periods, El Paso was an important component of the trade and supply networks linking the peripheral set-tlements with central Mexico.

Pueblo Indian (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Div., Detroit Publishing Co. Collection, LC-DIG-ppmsca-17890)

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migrated west to the boomtown of El Paso from San Antonio in 1885. He quickly became one of the frontier town’s leading citizens in many areas. Davis formed a law firm in 1892 and starred on the El Paso Browns, a pioneer baseball team.

He also was a pioneer in the battle to civilize El Paso, helping found the Citizens

Ysleta Mission(Artwork courtesy of Carl Young)

settlers, particularly the Scots and English, would play important roles in the future El Paso Country Club.

More than fifty years later, Fort Bliss would serve as a site of El Paso Country Club, and the newcomers would be found-ing fathers, led by Waters Davis. The son of Texas Governor Edmund Jackson Davis, he

Reform League in 1901 to end gambling and prostitution. These goals were accomplished four years later, along with the banning of drinking.

With all of the prohibitions in place, cou-pled with the end of the gunfighters era, the community was on the verge of forming the El Paso Country Club.

The year was 1906, and El Paso, with a pop-ulation of approximately 15,000, was being referred to as a city. This dusty, far west border town was rapidly spreading to the east, and it was that same direction that the first El Paso Country Club came into being.

On April 25, 1906, eleven city forefathers, sharing a love of golf and a need for com-radeship, subscribed their names to a docu-ment constituting the El Paso Country Club. The men were Carl A. Beers, Waters Davis, W. T. Hixon, S. J. Larkin, E. Moye, E. Neff, W. Trace, A. L. Sharpe, Owen P. White, J. F. Williams, and T. M. Wingo, men who prob-ably never imagined that the legacy of the El Paso Country Club would live on to be the revered affiliation that is today.

14 El Paso Country Club

By summer of 1906, Waters Davis had been elected the first club president by his peers, and the El Paso Country Club had its formal opening. On June 1, 1906, for the club’s inauguration, President Davis stood on the first hole of the nine-hole course, amid a small gathering of onlookers, and shouted

“fore!” Play began immediately and was an instant success, as were popular Sunday morning hunt breakfasts.

The original clubhouse was a one-story adobe, boasting a kitchen, a lounging area, a screened-in porch (which doubled as a dance floor), a small “pro shop,” and a caddie shack. It was located in the area of the former Dudley Field baseball park. The golf course, laid out by members with stakes and chains, extended north to Alameda Avenue and south to the Rio Grande River.

With an initiation fee of $15, paid by one hundred members, it took only three months for the club to become a full-fledged social organization. El Paso’s first paved street did not appear until September of 1906, and during those early years, members arrived by horse, buggy, automobile, and streetcar.

The membership increased to $225 in 1907. There were sixty male golfers and only seven women at that time. Two of these ladies caused a banner headline story in

Carl Beers (left), one of the original founders of El Paso Country Club, accepts congratulations from member Mallory Miller in 1957. (EPCC)

The Early Years

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the El Paso Times for wearing the first “split skirt” ever seen and “smoking a cigarette in public.” Golf was played on fairways that today would be categorized as dirt or

“rough,” and golfers putted on greens made of packed dams. These conditions didn’t seem to diminish the enthusiasm of these dedicated sportsmen, as they went on to install the club’s first golf professional, a Mr.

Fovegard. During this early era, the course record for the 2,485-yard layout was 43, set by W. B. Sterling. The competitive record by A. W. Houck was four strokes higher.

In 1908, a new site for the club, located on the northwest corner of Dyer Street and Fort Boulevard, was selected. The directors leased the land from Fort Bliss, and many

army officers were members. It was not unusual for the heel of a lady’s shoe to get caught on a spur, as most of the club parties included cavalry officers and their invited guests. Until 1908, the charter members continued to serve as directors, and by their diligent efforts, they managed to maintain an average monthly profit of $400.

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By 1910, El Paso was known as a twentieth-century city, and the population was 39,000. Fading away were the adobe homes and pio-neer business establishments, and replacing them were modern steel-and-brick structures designed in turn-of-the-century style.

The Fort Bliss location of the club’s golf course also had sand greens. These primitive greens were the cause of many arguments during play, as each member was allowed to carry his personal rake. These rakes were custom designed to allow dauntless golfers to create a well-defined furrow between ball and cup, ensuring a perfect putt!

Texas Street looking west. (EPCC)

The Time of Their Lives