Pine Hollow Country Club | golf course

USA / New York / East Norwich /
 golf course, country club

6601 Northern Blvd # A
East Norwich, NY 11732
(516) 922-0300
www.pinehollowcc.com/

At the turn of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt built his first home approximately two miles east of the course. Since he rode his horses every morning, he was probably familiar with this terrain. Consuelo Vanderbilt purchased the land in the 1930s and her home eventually became Pine Hollow’s clubhouse. During the time she lived here, she hosted many of the world’s most famous dignitaries, including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Winston Churchill and Charles DeGaulle.

The Depression and World War II had a debilitating effect on golf course construction on Long Island. There was not a single new private golf course opened on Long Island between 1930 and 1955, the year the Pine Hollow County Club opened its gates in East Norwich.

The Pine Hollow concept must be credited to Jerry Wolk, a Queens lawyer, and Irving Fagenson, a New Jersey businessman, who headed a small syndicate that invested more that $1 million to purchase the 133-acre estate of Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan and convert it into a golfing utopia, a luxurious private club that they hoped to sell eventually to the membership for a substantial profit.

The syndicate built a new two-story wing to house locker rooms, a dining room, grill room, and cocktail lounge. They also engaged New Englander, William Mitchell, to build a championship golf course, the first of several he would design on Long Island. More than 1000 trees and shrubs were transplanted to help frame the individual holes.

The club opened in April of 1955, and had a waiting list within a year. The original Pine Hollow membership included groups from Great Neck and Baldwin, former members at the defunct Sound View and Milburn clubs, respectively. The membership was 275 strong in 1960 when it was decided to purchase the club, fulfilling the syndicate's "raison d'etre." The club's first manager was Bill Chadwick, a/k/a, "The Big Whistle, " formerly one of the premier referees in the National Hockey League.

According to plan, the syndicate moved quickly to put the club's name in the headlines. In late June of 1958, Pine Hollow hosted the Pepsi-Boys Club Open, the first P.G.A. Tour event ever held on Long Island. It was won by Arnold Palmer.
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Coordinates:   40°50'58"N   73°31'21"W
This article was last modified 8 years ago