About 1858 Major Henry Hancock, a surveyor and Mexican War veteran, who made the second official survey of the City of Los Angeles, acquired some four thousand acres of land, originally part of a Mexican land grant known as Rancho La Brea. He may have received some of it for his survey services but much was purchased by the Major and his brother John for about $2.50 per acre. It took many years of wading through heirs, land grants, commissioners and courts, even the United States Supreme Court, to gain clear title.
G. Allan Hancock inherited most of this property. In 1900 he organized the Rancho La Brea Oil Company, which drilled a number of oil wells on land now part of the Wilshire Country Club. After some years, oil produced contained so much tar, its value no longer justified the cost of production. Hancock considered other use of the land and some was sold.
About this time, circa 1919, and just after World War I, a few Los Angeles business men came up with the idea of constructing a golf course on this open area. Hancock was quite willing to lease at a very modest rental and to include an option to buy. Raymond and Moye Stephens were Hancock's attorney's. They also happened to be interested in golf.
The chief enthusiast of the golf group was Marion R. Gray, a business man, who became Wilshire's first president.
Other prime movers were C.E. Toberman, a real estate developer who had acquired some of the Hancock land in the neighborhood; Thomas C. Bundy, who served as the first secretary and whose office was used as the Club office until the Clubhouse was built; Norman Macbeth, who was also one of California's best golfers; George Eastman, later president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Guy Cochran, a prominent physician; George C. Greenwood and A.D.S. Johnston; and the Stephens brothers, who drafted the Lease and Option Agreement and also prepared the incorporation papers and bylaws for the Club.
The meeting, at which the Wilshire Country Club was formally organized as a corporation, without capital stock and with waiver of liability of members, was held in Bundy's office in the Merchants National Bank Building on October 19, 1919.
Plans had been carefully made well in advance of that meeting and its princical function was to approve the Lease and Option Agreement. The Directors held their first meeting immediately.
Gray was elected president; Toberman, vice president; Greenwood, treasurer; and Bundy, secretary. Other members of the first Board were the two Stephens, Cochran, Hancock, and Macbeth. All were in attendance except Hancock who, the Minutes noted, was "absent from the County of Los Angeles".
The Club name came from the Wilshire district, a rather large area along Wilshire Boulevard, an important thoroughfare and the longest street in the city. The term "Country" was then appropriate as the Club was certainly "out in the country". Today "Wilshire Golf Club" might be more suitable, as Wilshire is in the very heart of Los Angeles.
The lease was for fifteen years from January 1, 1920, with immediate right of possession but without rent until July 1, 1920. The exact property was to be fixed by the layout of the golf course. Rent was $1,650 for the first two years; $3,300 for the next eight years; and $4,950 for the five-year balance of the term. Rental was figured on the basis of a land value of $500 an acre, although the true valuation was though to be $2,500 an acre, "considered a reasonable valuation for subdivision purposes."
The Club also undertook to pay taxes and certain special assessments.
The option to purchase at any time during the fifteen years was at a price of $1,250 per acre, plus interest at 4% from January 1, 1920, plus certain assessments and $7,789 fixed as the cost of street improvements. This was certainly a bargain! If the option was exercised, the deed was to contain a condition requiring use of the property for golf and other amateur sports until 1950. Hancock also agreed to loan the Club "sums needed for improvement."
The president, the secretary and Macbeth were authorized to execute the Lease and Option Agreement, which was approved the next day by Hancock.
Further confirmation that plans had already been well laid was the fact that a Greens committee, consisting of Macbeth, Johnston and Charles A. Orr, was immediately appointed. Orr was another fine golfer who had won the first Southern California Golf Association Championship in 1900.
A building committee, made up of Ray Stephens, Eastman and H.G. Farand, was also appointed. Macbeth and Orr were elected to honorary Membership with no initiation fee "for services rendered". Thanks to Hancock were noted in the Minutes for his "very generous Lease and Option Agreement".
Applications already received for fourteen Life memberships, eighteen Regular memberships, and one lady's Special membership, were approved.
A brochure inviting members described the property arrangements and contained photographs of the bare land and a drawing of the location. It also outlined six classes of membership which included 500 Regular memberships at $250 and 50 dues-free Life memberships at $600.
Other memberships offered were 100 Special memberships for women, "either married or single", at $125 and 100 Nonresident memberships, also at $15. Dues, payable later, were to be not less than $6 per month for Regular members, with one-half payable by Special and Nonresident members. A war tax of 10% applied on admission fees and dues. Memberships could be purchased for 25% down, with the balance payable in ten monthly installments, plus 6% interest. Any default in payment would forfeit a membership.
As the 70th year begins there are eight classes of membership and 704 members. None of the original 50 life members are still living. There are 469 Regular members, 40 Associate members, 26 Special members (the ladies), 73 Social members, 50 Young Executive members, 5 Nonresident members, 4 Honorary members (one being Arnold Palmer) and 35 courtesy members.
The drawing showed the "links" area between Third and Melrose. Temple Street then ended at the east end of the Club property. Later, Temple became Beverly Boulevard and was extended through the Club, segregating the front and back nines. The brochure emphasized the "close-in location (two blocks from yellow care line, five-cent fare, approximately 25-minute streetcar ride from the heart of the city and about a 5-minute automobile ride from Hollywood and the Wilshire District)".
As is usually the case, the brochure was a bit optimistic in stating the course should be ready for use by members in the Spring of 1920. Actually, play did not begin until December.
At a second Board Meeting, held October 20, Moye Stephens resigned as
Director and A.D.S. Johnston was appointed to replace him. Sumner Hunt and S.R. Brun were then formally selected as architects to design a Clubhouse. Planning had already been started.
At a third meeting on October 24, nineteen Life members were elected. One was Everett Seaver, grandfather of Tom Seaver, the great baseball pitcher now a television commentator, and father of Charles Seaver, California Amateur Champion in 1933 and a Walker Cup golfer in 1932. Everett Seaver, himself, won the Southern California Golf Association 1920 Championship. Thirty-eight Regular members and five ladies were also accepted.
On November 18, thirteen more Life members and additional Regular members were elected, making a total of 90 Regular members. Things were going so well it was agreed the admission fee for the next forty Regular members would be $250, and thereafter increased to $300.
On November 26, Macbeth was formally instructed to proceed with the work of constructing the golf course and to employ "man and horsepower and implements" for the proper carrying out of the work. An additional 69 applications for Regular membership were approved, and it was agreed the next 25 applicants would pay $300, the admission fee would be $350 for the following fifty, and thereafter $400.
On December 10, the Board approved additional Regular memberships, and architects' plans submitted were approved with a proposal of a $75,000 maximum cost for the Clubhouse. Things were really moving.
On December 19, after the election of additional members, it was agreed the next 25 Regular members would pay $400, and the admission fee would then be $500.
In less than three months, Wilshire Country Club was off and running with a fine response in attracting members and a good start in planning constructing of a Clubhouse and golf course.
Minutes of Directors' Meetings during the next several months consisted principally of reports on membership applications received and accepted, and the progress and cost of the Clubhouse.
Oddly enough, the Minutes do not mention construction of the golf course. Obviously, this was going on and Macbeth probably made oral reports, but was apparently given a free hand in this vital activity.
Membership applications continued to come in, partly due, no doubt, to the participating rights in possible ownership of valuable land. In March 1920, admission fees for Regular members were increased to $700, and in July to $1,000.
C.W. Goodrich was appointed the first "house manager".
Rent under the lease became payable July 1, 1920. Again, Hancock was generous and agreed no rental need to be paid until the Clubhouse and golf course were ready for use by the members.
In October monthly dues not yet collected were set at $10, payable beginning November 1.
The first annual meeting of members was noted for November 6, 1920, but was adjourned for lack of a quorum until November 13. On that date, still failing a quorum, the meeting was adjourned indefinitely. Marion Gray and the first officers continued to serve for a second year.
Early in December, both the Clubhouse and the golf course were ready for use. An opening dinner dance was held, and a nine-hole golf match was played on December 10. Five days later, "Play Away" was called for the first official eighteen-hole match.
The Wilshire Country Club came to be.
The Course
When Norman Macbeth received formal authority "to proceed with the work of constructing the Wilshire golf course", he lost no time.
The land area was valuable, and it was understood no more would be used than necessary. Hancock permitted the Club to determine land needed. The Club now occupies only a little over one hundred acres; much less than most golf courses of similar length. There was plenty of land available, however, and the course was planned to take full advantage of terrain and also consider the effect of the prevailing west wind.
Macbeth was not a golf course architect, but he had played a great deal of golf in many parts of the world and was one of the finest golfers – either amateur or professional – in California. He was also keenly interested in golf, an authority on rules and a student of all aspects of the game.
Norman Macbeth, Jr. believes Norman, Sr. was solely responsible for planning the course. He writes:
"I feel safe in saying that nobody else helped my father in the design and layout of the course. I went out with him several ties while he walked around and put stakes in the ground. We took an old Airedale along, but there was nobody else in the neighborhood. No one came to the house or discussed it on the telephone. I am rather puzzled that he could do the whole job in a few Saturday afternoons, but then I read recently of James Braid laying out a famous Irish course in one afternoon for a fee of 20 pounds (it had to be altered later)."
It may be, however, that Macbeth did have help or at least some suggestions from others. In his "History of The Los Angeles Country Club, 1898-1973", the writer, Jack Beardwood (who was a Wilshire member for several years before joining Los Angeles) states that the layout of the LACC course built in 1910, when the Club moved from Pico and Western to Beverly Hills, was by Joseph Sartori and Ed Tufts "along with Charles Orr and Norman Macbeth". If Orr helped Macbeth in that design, he may also have had a bit to do with Wilshire a few years later. In any event, Orr contributed to Wilshire sufficiently to be given, along with Macbeth, an Honorary membership.
It is also possible Macbeth received some suggestions from Roger Lapham, later mayor of San Francisco. Lapham worked with A.A. Tillinghast in the relocation, design and construction of the San Francisco Golf Club in 1918. Macbeth and Lapham were friends and frequent competitors as Lapham was also an excellent golfer. They may well have discussed some features of the Wilshire design.
Nevertheless, Macbeth is entitled to chief and perhaps sole credit for our enjoyable golf layout. Here is the way he described designing the course in an article published in August 1920 by Pacific Golf and Motor, a magazine of the time:
"Few players with any ideas in their minds about gold course design would have been without a longing to put them into effect upon looking over the land which was offered to the Wilshire Country Club by Mr. Allan Hancock. Certainly I had that longing as it is really good golfing country. It has one supreme virtue – that of naturalness; those narrow, winding stream-beds where the clumps of willow grow were put there by the hand of Nature herself, who, if she be not so cunning is at any rate infinitely more artistic than any golf architect."
Several of Wilshire's features, still important were pointed out by Macbeth in that article. He wrote that there would be no blind approaches and the bottom of every pin would be in sight for every approach shot. There were not originally, and there are not today, any blind shots to the pins at Wilshire – assuming of course, that the approach is of reasonable distance and not so far away as might be the case at No. 16, where the green is lower than the fairway, or at an angle from which the hole might be blocked by a mound, as at No. 2.
Macbeth also commented upon the consideration given the normal wind in determining the length of the holes. Only four holes are played into the usual west wind – Nos. 1, 6, 11 and 17. The rest are either with or across the normal wind.
The effect of the barranca was also noted. Macbeth referred to this little stream as "its outstanding glory – or its horror according to the light in which we view the matter". It was "almost an ever-present menace" having "something to say at every one of the holes, save the second, tenth and fifteenth."
Groundbreaking began along Third Street, then unpaved. The first green built was at the 7th Hole.
The photograph made in 1919 from the Clubhouse site, now enlarged and a decoration in the Club barbershop, shows a flat panorama with oil wells in the west, barley fields crossed by the barranca in the foreground, and a small grove of trees to the north of the Club property. Actually, the only trees on the course itself were some willows near the 5th and 12th greens. There were no shrubs or flowers.
Five abandoned oil wells on the 11th fairway had to be buried, with soil moved in. Beach sand, plentiful in those days, was brought in early and much of it was dumped on the fairways to minimize damage by equipment. There was plenty of sand for the bunkers, which were then larger and more plentiful. Several have been taken out over the years because maintenance of bunkers increased golf courser labor substantially.
Other photos, also enlarged and in the barber shop, show the same area as it was in 1945 and in 1965.
Although there have been few major changes, Wilshire plays quite differently than during the first quarter century or so. As at most golf courses, sprinkler systems have softened fairways and made the grass longer both in fairways and rough. Drives no longer roll thirty or forty yards. Today's long hitters have more advantage than in the early days, when even high handicap players could reach such holes as Nos. 6, 9, 12 and 18 in two shots.
The original course was 6,321 yards from the white tees; a few yards longer than it measures today. Much of the difference was in No. 10, which was then 220 yards, with the green at the northeast corner of the property, where Rossmore House is located. Also longer were No. 1 at 440 and No. 11 at 397. Two or three others were a bit shorter than they are now.
Since many present-day courses are 7,000 yards and longer, Wilshire is considered somewhat short. There have been comments by long-driving professional that all the 4-pars can be reached with a drive and a short iron. However the small greens, many closely bunkered, and the barranca threat, demand accuracy, and errant shots cost strokes. The lowest score in the four Los Angeles Opens played at the Wilshire was 278. More than half of the local Opens have been won by lower scores. The record, 264, was made at Riviera, considered much more difficult.
As Macbeth suggested, the barranca plays a significant role in making Wilshire interesting – particularly, to medium and high handicap golfers. As noted, it crosses or parallels fairways and affects play, importantly on thirteen of the eighteen holes, and to a minor extent on three others.
The little stream ordinarily running in the barranca, becomes a big stream during rain storms. Its origin is the Hollywood Reservoir. Flow is augmented by runoff from the Hollywood area and underground springs. Water comes into Wilshire near Hole 12 at Melrose and after going under Beverly exits underground at Hole 7 on Third Street where it goes underground and finally into Balogna Creek and the Santa Monica Bay.
A storm drain project, financed by a bond issue, was an improvement through the club property approved in 1964 and completed in 1972. However, the drains under Beverly and Third will not handle flood flows and during heavy rainstorms quite large ponds of water accumulate on the course, particularly at Holes 18 and 16. These holes have been completely submerged and photos show the greens with flag sticks nearly under water.
The barranca itself has changed greatly. Originally, there were no retaining walls, and it was left pretty much as nature made it. "Lost in hazard" was a frequent ruling. In front of No. 16 and around No. 18, the barranca was descried by some as a miniature Grand Canyon. It was much deeper and wider than it is today.
Above all, Wilshire is a course which can be played with pleasure and enjoyment day after day. It is never boring or monotonous. Pin positions make a great difference in shots needs.
Here are some hole-by-hole comments:
When play began, there was no boulevard through the course.
Both No. 1 and No. 16 fairways were wider. No. 1 also played longer. The tee was located where the practice green is today.
The extension of Temple Street, now Beverly Boulevard which bisects No.1 and No. 16, was accomplished in 1925. Hancock had agreed to pay the cost involved and deed the land to the City. The Club paid the expense of building the tunnel under Beverly. Fortunately, it was designed wide enough so that when golf carts came into use many years later, they could just make it through the tunnel.
In 1988 No. 1 tee was rebuilt and a small putting green was added alongside.
No. 2 has been changed very little. A long fairway bunker on the let has been filled in, the bunker in front of the green has been widened and the mound on the left enlarged.
No. 3 is unchanged, except that the trees across the barranca on No. 5 have grown and make second shots more difficult and tee shot placement more important.
No. 4 green was originally in front of the present green which was added to make two greens. Later the lower green was made part of the fairway.
No. 5 tee originally called for a drive over the barranca. The tee has been moved to the east and the green has been changed from flat to built-up, which lessens the chance a long second shot might go over the green. The rear bunker was added.
No. 6 green has also been built up to provide a better target. Originally, it was quite
flat, making it difficult to judge a long approach. Growth of the trees separating No. 6 and No. 8 has made tee shots on both holes more demanding.
No. 7, the first hole completed, was originally a single green. Then, for many years a second green was added. It was eliminated and the barranca widened to make this a "water hole" behind a small pond.
At No. 8 the tee has been moved back, a long fairway bunker on the left has been filled, the trees on the left have grown tall, and the small bunker left of the green is new.
No. 9 is unchanged except for bunker eliminations.
Going to the back Nine via the tunnel, we come to No. 10, one of the two holes which have been considerably changed. Originally, the green was in the corner near Rosewood and Rossmore, 220 yards from the tee located where the clubhouse now stands. A tennis court was in the area of the present green. The hole, however, has always been a three-par. The change was made when the corner of Rosewood and Rossmore was released to Hancock as a part of the package for which he gave title to the land now owned by the Club.
Not long after No. 10 was relocated, a Wilshire member and director, George Lockwood, frequently missed the green to the right. However, time after time, his ball would roll on the green, perhaps in birdie range. This happened so often, members began referring to any such shot as a "Lockwood". Changes in the right hand bunkers and contour have lessened the chance of this occurrence, and "Lockwoods" are now pretty well forgotten. Some years ago, in a series of doggerel verses, the hole was described this way:
An ornery hole
Is number ten,
Which golfers mostly
"Dinna ken".
Though once there played
A man whose name
Acquired immortal,
Lasting fame,
By hitting wide,
Or hill or sand,
And rolling to
The promised land.
So players now,
When on ten tee,
Say to themselves
Religiously,
"Father, above,
If I don't sock good
Make this darned
Ball do a Lockwood."
More than one "hole-in-one" has been recorded at No. 10 via a "Lockwood".
No. 11 was some twenty yards longer. The tee was nearer Rossmore. Here, also, the barranca in front of the green was deep and wide as nature made it. It is now narrow and walled in. Any ball going in must be lifted.
No. 12, like No. 6, was a relatively flat green, which has been built up to make a better and more interesting target.
No. 13 is the other hole which has been greatly changed. It was much shorter for many years with two "mound" greens, left of the present green. One, quite small, was the "Postage Stamp".
The No. 14 green has been slightly redesigned and a large fairway bunker on the left at the top of the hill has been filled.
No. 15 has been changed considerably in the inverted L-shape of the green and the bunkers around it.
No. 16, like No.1, had a wide fairway before Beverly Boulevard was cut through the Club in 1925. There were long fairway bunkers on the left, adjoining the driving range. The barranca, as noted, was a rough chasm.
No.17 fairway was similar to what it is today, but the green was surrounded by a ring of bunkers.
No. 18 has not been changed except that another long fairway bunker on the left has been filled, and the barranca is much smaller, with retaining walls added. This has always been a great hole, widely considered one of the finest finishing holes to be found. Macbeth referred to it in his 1920 article as "a noble hole". No Wilshire member has ever disagreed.
Although the course layout and design has varied but little, many improvements have been made through the years.
In 1934, a program was instituted under which all green fees were impounded and
used to fund a modern "hoseless irrigation system". This was done hole by hole, with the holes at which piping was being installed closed for Monday through Friday but open on Saturday and Sunday. Harry Dennis, Wilshire president a year later, devoted a great deal of effort to this project and received a commendation from the Board of Directors.
An automatic irrigation system was installed in 1965. As mentioned, bunkers were eliminated and relocated, and changes in green design and sloping were made. A tree planting program has aided greatly.
In 1987 substantial renewal became necessary and a complete golf course improvement program was undertaken. The irrigation system work, computer controlled, involved substantial expenditures. Fertilizer injection, cart path installation, sand trap renewal and barranca remedial work made the total cost almost $1 million.
Much golf course work in the last decade has been in line with architect’s tendencies in building new and remodeling old courses. More lakes and ponds are being installed. Railroad ties are in wide use for repairing spots which need shoring up. Cart paths are being both better built and located.
A new entrance on Rossmore and exit on Rosewood, which is helpful traffic-wise, were installed in 1988.
In addition, there have been many improvements in equipment available for the never-ending task of maintaining the course in top playing condition for use 365 days every year. The only exception is occasional closure following a heavy rainstorm.
The Land
How Wilshire suddenly managed to get out of debt and acquire title to the land is an interesting story.
In the Spring of 1925, the Club owed a bank loan of $220,420. Exercise of the option to buy the land at the specified price would have required another $226,000. However, a beautiful golf course had greatly increased the value of the surrounding property. A few members, including President Ray Stephens and Norman Macbeth, developed a novel plan to pay off the debt and also acquire ownership of the land.
At the time, the lease and option included a parking lot on the east side of Rossmore opposite the Club and some land along No. 18 fairway and No. 7 green, which was not in use. Macbeth thought No. 10 green could be changed and the valuable corner of Rossmore and Rosewood given up. Parking could be done at the north side of the Clubhouse. A member had been injured crossing Rossmore to get to his car and this was made a talking point.
A discussion with Hancock resulted in an agreement that, in return for release of these three parcels, aggregating three acres, he would sign a deed to the remaining property to come into effect if members of the Club raised the amount needed to pay the Club debt, which Hancock had guaranteed.
On June 6, 1925, Hancock executed a deed to the Wilshire Country Club covering about 110 acres of land. It contained certain financing conditions before it could be effective. Within four months, the Club had to be in a "fully-financed status", described as having resources sufficient to pay off the bank loan, plus estimated costs of $34,000 needed for improvements.
The "resources" could be obtained only from members of the Club, with at lest 50% money in hand, and the balance in written obligations promising to pay the full amount plus 7% interest.
Regular members were requested to sign subscription forms agreeing to pay in cash, or installments, a total of $550 plus 7% interest after September 1. Regular memberships were also made transferable by members who paid the subscriptions prior to October 1. All but about 15 Regular members subscribed.
Associate members were asked to pay $275 each and were also given the right to apply for conversion to Regular memberships by payment of $750 plus 10% War tax, also payable either in cash or over a period of time with 7% interest added.
Life members were also asked to make contributions. These memberships were not
transferable, although they had the same privileges and property interests as regular members, and were free of dues. Some Life members objected to any additional contribution, and the Board agreed Life members’ contributions would be "entirely optional".
By September 1, the Board was able to declare the Club in a "fully-financed status". Here were the figures:
Subscriptions paid in - $162,149.59
Obligations confirmed - $94,975.41
Total: $257,125.00
This was enough to pay the bank loan and interest and provide the amount needed for improvements.
The Board immediately authorized payment of $150,000 to the bank.
Soon thereafter the bank load was paid in full, the conditions in the
deed were complied with and Wilshire owned the land, the golf course and the Clubhouse. The By-Laws were then amended to provide the Club could never again become indebted. This amendment was again amended later when funds were needed for new construction.
Within another year, some members who were speculators, rather than golfers, sold their memberships. The value then dropped for a while. But the Club was established; solvent, with a fine Clubhouse and golf course superbly located in the prestigious Hancock Park area in Los Angeles.
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