Golf in 'Sconset

It is incontestable that golf was imported into America from Scotland in the 1880s, and various sites claim to be the locus of first activity in the country. In the village of 'Sconset, some of the same imprecision exists. It is claimed that, starting around 1894, some summer 'Sconseters assembled just above the north end of Shell Street, hit and rehit golfballs out to the west through Plainfield, onto the property of Levi Coffin, possibly shooting at poles standing upright in buried tin cups, and probably terminating at Phillip's Run. It is a fact that such a group did organize the Siasconset Golf Club in 1898, renting a clubhouse structure and leasing land from Levi Coffin, laying out and playing nine holes on Coffin land, and the next year extending the course by an additional nine holes on adjoining land.

Within a few years, particularly with the growth of the Actors Colony, the 'Sconset Golf Club had developed into a central social venue for the village. A pleasant stroll or short buggy ride would take you there. Sunday afternoon tea at the little clubhouse overlooking the eighteenth green became de rigueur. By 1915, as 'Sconset's famous actors and actresses were enticed to Hollywood, their leadership and participation at the the club were steadily replaced by the growing tide of summer 'Sconseters from the East and Midwest, especially Detroit, under the preeminence of David and Martha Gray. By 1920, the golden age of golf-club development throughout America had arrived; the nation was replete with many new and beautifully manicured golf courses and resplendent clubhouses. By comparison, the 'Sconset course was situated on relatively low and untextured terrain, and both the course and clubhouse had become run down.

Therefore, David Gray and select associates scouted nearby land, found Mayflower Hill, Sankaty Head, and the surrounding acreage available, purchased it, and organized and built the Sankaty Head Golf Club, which opened in 1922. Funds from initiation fees of over a hundred founding members financed the course construction, while David Gray funded the land and clubhouse cost, deeding the land and structures to the club in 1925. In 1928, David Gray died, leaving an immediate leadership vacuum. Shortly, the nation was in a deep depression; summer residency in 'Sconset declined as did Sankaty membership. The club outlook was bleak, but it was maintained intact both physically and socially by the strong leadership of club president Emory Buckner. Buckner died in 1939 and once again a void existed. During WWII, the island as a whole was insolated and essentially taken over for military purposes. Sankaty Head barely limped along. With a shortage of manpower and materials, the northeast nine holes were allowed to fall fallow. In 1946-47, the course was brought back into shape, and its renewed condition was celebrated by the first Member-Guest Tournament in 1948.

Since then, expansion of membership and improvement of the course were steady and gradual through the mid-1970s and much more concerted in the last twenty years, to the point that SHGC is now considered one of the best "classic" courses in New England and one of the finest "links" courses in America. At 6,650 yards from the back tees and a course rating of 73, and with the wind blowing unremittingly, Sankaty will test the skill of the very best golfer.

Sankaty has the distinction of having the only remaining caddy camp in America. Started in the early 1930s under Emory Buckner, Sankaty Camp is going strong after more than seventy years with sixty summer campers recently in residence.

All through these years, the 'Sconset Golf Club, reduced to nine holes in the the 1930s, has continued its operation as a public nine-hole course, under Coffin-family ownership, although with a cloudy future. On adjoining land to the west and north, formerly owned by the Coffin family, a new 18-hole private course, designed by Rees Jones, opened in 1997, along with a handsome clubhouse and related facilities. In its opening year, the Nantucket Golf Club was considered the best new private golf course in the nation. Golf Magazine currently ranks it fifty-seven in the top hundred golf courses in the country. At about 7,100 yards from the back tees and with a course rating of 74.7, the NGC is a super-challenging layout And thus, in 2008, still within a short distance of the center of 'Sconset, there is an abundance of private and public golf available to members, residents, guests, and tourists—keeping alive in 'Sconset, after 110 years, the camaraderie, challenge, and pleasure of the sport from the Scottish links.

Golf by the sea, Nantucket Island, Mass.
Marshall H. Gardiner, photographer
c. 1920s
PC-Clubs-31

Caddies of 1941 teeing off
A28-16a

Actor Digby Bell, teeing off at hole number 7 of the 'Sconset Golf Club
1920s
F3243

A digital exhibition by the Nantucket Historical Association