Elisa Gaudet - Two Good Rounds Titans: Leaders in Industry & Golf

Copyright 2014 by Elisa Gaudet

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Cover photo credit

Ueberroth photograph courtesy of Peter Ueberroth

Rockefeller photograph Courtesy of the Rockefeller Foundation Archives, Rockefeller Archive Center

Nicklaus photograph by AP

Back Cover photo by John Angelillo

Print ISBN: 978-1-62914-807-6

Printed in China

Love and Gratitude to:
God

&

Coco Chanel for grace, style, and setting a stunning example of
the ultimate female entrepreneur.

People line bird cages with newspaper articles.
Your grandchildren will read books. Bill Wolfsthal

I was early taught to work as well as play,

My life has been one long, happy holiday;

Full of work and full of play

I dropped the worry on the way

And God was good to me everyday.

John D. Rockefeller Sr.

The harder you practice the luckier you get.

Gary Player

You have to begin with the end in mind.

Greg Norman

Success is most often achieved by those who dont know that failure is inevitable.

Coco Chanel

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.

Coco Chanel

Contents

Introduction

Titans of industry have a long history with their passion for golf. In the 1920s, many of the industrialists and Americas wealthiest families had homes on the North Shore of Long Island, the East Coast, and outskirts of New York, and it became quite fashionable to have your own private golf course. John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, John Paul Getty, Charles Pratt, the Roosevelt family, as well as the Vanderbilt and Whitney familiesto name a fewall had estates with private golf courses or a passion for golf. A number of these massive country estates have since been converted to golf and country clubs.

Today golf is shared by many around the world, approximately 80 million, and growing. On a global scale, golf is reemerging as a sport in the 2016 Olympics; the last time it was played as an Olympic sport was in 1904. It has gained in popularity and is constantly changing its reputation from a rich persons game to a sport that embraces all who want to play it. However, we have many of the titans throughout time to thank for building golf courses and leaving legacies.

Merriam-Webster defines titan as: one that is gigantic in size or power: one that stands out for greatness of achievement. The individuals I was fortunate enough to interview for this book all exemplify this definition, and their stories are compelling and inspiring. The past, present, and hopefully the future will always have titans of golf, leaders who are passionate enough to follow their dreams and build magnificent courses and sanctuaries.

OHEKA Castle on the Gold Coast of Long Island, N.Y., the second largest house in the United States, was once the weekend retreat of Otto Kahn. Its also said that OHEKA was one of the inspirations for Jay Gatsbys mansion in F. Scott Fitzgeralds acclaimed book. Born in 1867, Otto Hermann Kahn was one of the most celebrated financiers in American banking before his death in 1934. A true renaissance man, he was an investment banker, collector, philanthropist, patron of the arts, and golfer. Completed in 1919, the 109,000-square-foot mansion contains 127 rooms, originally set on 443 acres. Twice the size of the White House, it reflected the excess and opulence of the early 20th century. Kahns estate boasted an 18-hole, par-71, Seth Raynor-designed golf course used exclusively by Kahn and his guests. The property has gone through a number of changes over the years and it has now been restored to a beautiful 32-room hotel. Kahns private golf course is now the Cold Spring Country Club.

The story of Old Westbury Country Club goes back prior to the turn of the century when William C. Whitney, then Secretary of the Navy, purchased a massive swath of land in Old Westbury to build a true sporting paradise. He also built 80 stall stables, which housed many great Thoroughbred horses. In 1904, the estate was passed on to his son Harry Payne Whitney, who was married to Gertrude Vanderbilt, founder of New Yorks Whitney Museum, and who also maintained a string of horses, one of which won the 1915 Kentucky Derby. The estate was then inherited by Cornelius Vanderbilt Sonny Whitney in 1942. He demolished the old mansion and that same year built a new house on the old foundation. In 1961, the Old Westbury Golf & Country Club was formed after purchasing 200 acres of the estate, including the mansion house, tennis house, polo buildings, stables, and tower. The tower serves as the clubs insignia and has been used as a beacon, a watchtower during World War II, and a windmill with blades once considered the largest in the world. According to North Shore historian Paul J. Mateyunas, the grandeur of the North Shore survives on this former grand estate.

The Village Club of Sands Point is a private country club that was once the estate of two Guggenheims. Built for Isaac in 1916 and completed in 1918, the northern Italianstyle villa was only occupied by Isaacs family until his death in 1922. The property later was purchased in 1924 at auction by his brother, Solomon R. Guggenheim, and boasted a nine-hole golf course. It was sold to IBM as a corporate retreat and private country club for its employees, and the first nine holes of this private course were redesigned by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. In 1994, the Village Club of Sands Point purchased the property and added nine holes in 2001 as designed by architect Tom Doak.

William K. Vanderbilt II was an avid sportsman best known for his abilities as a yachtsman and automobile racer. One of the wealthiest men of his time, he built a waterfront maritime summer estate called Eagles Nest at Centerport, Long Island. His estate included a modified nine-hole golf course for his private use and to entertain the likes of Sam Snead, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Charles Lindbergh, and Erroll Flynn. According to author Paul J. Mateyunas, the golf course was as unique as Vanderbilt, and the first tee was off the roof of his private marine museum, the Hall of Fishes. Since large plots of land can be scarce, few can create their own private courses, but Steven Schonfeld has made it possible. His $90 million home on Long Island features a nine-hole golf course designed by Rees Jones to keep the dream alive.

Newport Country Club, founded in 1893, is a historic private golf club in Newport, Rhode Island, that hosted both the first U.S. Amateur Championship and the first U.S. Open in 1895. The Newport Country Club was founded by members of Americas most prominent families in 1893. A group of prominent men at the time got together and purchased the 140-acre Rocky Farm property for $80,000 and established the golf club. The group included: John Jacob Astor IV, great-grandson of John Jacob Astor who went down with the Titanic in 1912; Theodore Havemeyer, president of the American Sugar Refining Company and first president of the USGA; Cornelius Vanderbilt II, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt (head of the New York Central railroad); William K. Vanderbilt, second son of William Henry Vanderbilt, who was into horse racing and breeding; and Frederick William Vanderbilt, third son of William Henry Vanderbilt. At the time of the clubs founding, Newport was at the peak of its prestige as the favorite summer colony of Americas wealthy elite. Because of the popularity of Newport at the time amongst the wealthy, the Newport Country Club was one of Americas earliest golf clubs in the United States, thus establishing golf as a game for the wealthy.