Devereux Emmet (December 11, 1861 – December 30, 1934) was a pioneering American

golf course architect A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

who, according to one source, designed more than 150 courses worldwide.

Early life

Devereux Emmet was born in

Pelham, New York Pelham is a suburban town in Westchester County, approximately 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,078, an increase from the 2010 census. Historically, Pelham was composed of five villages ...

, on December 11, 1861, one of eight children of William Jenkins Emmet and Julia Colt Pierson. He was the great-grandson of

Thomas Addis Emmet Thomas Addis Emmet (24 April 176414 November 1827) was an Irish and American lawyer and politician. He was a senior member of the revolutionary Irish republican group United Irishmen in the 1790s. He served as Attorney General of New York from ...

College and marriage

Emmet graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1883; in 1889 he married Ella B. Smith in an elaborate wedding at her home in New York City. Miss Smith, born in 1858, was the daughter of Judge J. Lawrence Smith and a niece of

Alexander Turney Stewart Alexander Turney Stewart (October 12, 1803 – April 10, 1876) was an American entrepreneur who moved to New York and made his multimillion-dollar fortune in the most extensive and lucrative dry goods store in the world. Stewart was born in L ...

. Ella's sister Elizabeth "Bessie" Springs Smith was the wife of architect

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in additio ...

. The couple had two children, Richard Smith Emmet (born October 1889) and Devereux Emmet, Jr. (born January 1897).

Golf course design career

On a vacation in England he spent time with his friend,

Charles B. Macdonald Charles Blair Macdonald (November 14, 1855 – April 21, 1939) was a major figure in early American golf. He built the first 18-hole course in the United States, was a driving force in the founding of the United States Golf Association, won the f ...

, who was measuring British golf courses in preparation for the design of the

National Golf Links of America National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. Emmet's first design was Island Golf Links, a predecessor of Garden City Golf Club. A friend of his remarked: In 1924 he hired Alfred H. Tull as a design associate, and in 1929 made him a partner in the firm of Emmet, Emmet and Tull. The Tull-Emmet partnership continued until Emmet's death in 1934.

Amateur golf

Emmet was a talented amateur golfer. He made the quarter-finals of the 1904 British Amateur and won the Bahamas Amateur at the age of 66. In 1916, after he won the father-son tournament at

Sleepy Hollow Country Club Sleepy Hollow Country Club is a historic country club in Scarborough-on-Hudson in Briarcliff Manor, New York. The club was founded in 1911, and its clubhouse was known as Woodlea, a 140-room Vanderbilt mansion owned by Colonel Elliott Fitch Shep ...

with Devereux Emmet, Jr., the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

instituted the so-called ''architects rule'' that barred golf course architects from competing as amateurs in tournaments.

Death and legacy

Devereux Emmet died in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

, on December 30, 1934.

Courses designed

Emmet designed many of his courses in an era of wooden-shafted clubs. Because the holes are often short by current standards many of his designs have since been reworked. Note: Dates indicate when the course opened.
Note: This is a partial list, portions of which were taken from WorldGolf. * Belmont Hills Country Club, St Clairsville, Ohio, 1924 *

Bethpage State Park Bethpage State Park is a New York state park on the border of Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island. The park contains tennis courts, picnic and recreational areas and a polo field, but is best known for its five golf courses, inclu ...

(Green),

Farmingdale, New York Farmingdale is an incorporated Political subdivisions of New York#Village, village on Long Island within the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York. The population was ...

, 1923 *

Congressional Country Club Congressional Country Club is a country club and golf course in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. Congressional opened in 1924 and its Blue Course has hosted five major championships, including three U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship. It was a ...

(Blue),

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, 1924 *

(Gold),

, 1924 :(remodeled by George Fazio and Tom Fazio in 1977 and by Arthur Hills in 2000) * Hartford Golf Club (Blue, Green),

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The C ...

, 1914 *

Bonnie-Briar Country Club Bonnie Briar County Club is an 18-hole golf course and country club located in the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. The original course architect was Devereux Emmet, and it was later amended by A. W. Tillinghast. Alfred H. ...

Larchmont, New York Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village was 5,864 at the 2010 census. In February 2019, Bloomberg ranked Larc ...

, 1921 * Bedford Golf and Tennis Club Bedford, New York, 1891 * Brentwood Country Club,

Brentwood, New York Brentwood is a hamlet in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 62,387 at the 2020 Census, making it the most populous in Suffolk County and on all of Long Island outside of New York C ...

, 1925 * Capital Hills at Albany,

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, 1928 * Cherry Valley Club,

, 1916 * Coonamessett Country Club

Falmouth, Massachusetts Falmouth ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,517 at the 2020 census, making Falmouth the second-largest municipality on Cape Cod after Barnstable. The terminal for the Steamship Authority ferri ...

(now Cape Cod Country Club) * Copake Lake Country Club,

Craryville, New York Craryville is a hamlet located within the town of Copake in Columbia County, New York, United States. The hamlet is named after the hotelier Peter Crary, who purchased the town's hotel in 1870. Its ZIP code is 12521. Education The Taconic Hills ...

, 1921 * Dudley Hill Golf Club (9 holes),

Dudley, Massachusetts Dudley is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,921 at the 2020 census. History Dudley was first settled in 1714 and was officially incorporated in 1732. The town was named for landholders Paul and Will ...

, 1926 * Edison Club,

Rexford, New York Rexford is a hamlet in Saratoga County, New York, United States, located on the north bank of the Mohawk River. Rexford is in the Town of Clifton Park, near the southwestern town line. Its boundaries, like those of neighboring Alplaus, are unof ...

, 1925 * Engineers Country Club,

Roslyn Harbor, New York Roslyn Harbor is a village in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Incorporated Village of Roslyn. The population was 1,051 at t ...

, 1921 :(originally designed by

Herbert Strong Herbert Augustus Strong (24 November 1841 – 13 January 1918) was an Australian scholar, professor of comparative philology and logic at the University of Melbourne. G. R. Manton,Strong, Herbert Augustus (1841 - 1918), ''Australian Dictionary o ...

, remodeled by Devereux Emmet in 1921) * Country Club of Farmington,

Farmington, Connecticut Farmington is a town in Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The population was 26,712 at the 2020 census. It sits 10 miles west of Hartford at the hub of major I-84 interchanges, 20 miles s ...

, 1924 * Garden City Golf Club,

, 1899 (later remodeled by

Walter Travis Walter J. Travis (January 10, 1862 – July 31, 1927) was an American amateur golfer during the early 1900s. He was also a noted golf journalist and publisher, an innovator in all aspects of golf, a teacher, and golf course architect. Golfing ca ...

) * Leatherstocking Golf Course,

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

, 1909 * Mohawk Golf Club (East),

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, 1907 * Glen Head Country Club,

Glen Head, New York Glen Head is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the greater Glen Cove area, which is anchore ...

, 1920s * Hartford Golf Club (Green, Red),

, 1914 * Greenacres Country Club,

Lawrenceville, New Jersey Lawrenceville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Lawrence Township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States.

, 1932 * Green Meadow Club,

Rye, New York Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it r ...

, 1917 - known today as Willow Ridge Country Club. The Green Meadow Golf Club was an offshoot of

The Apawamis Club The Apawamis Club is a private country club located in Rye, New York, Westchester County, long known for its 18-hole golf course and prominence in the sport of squash. The 1911 U.S. Amateur Championship was contested here, resulting in a playoff ...

and formed in 1917 directly adjacent to Apawamis but with frontage on North Street. In fact, in 1927 the two clubs considered consolidating. * Hampshire Country Club,

Mamaroneck, New York Mamaroneck ( ) is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of Ma ...

, 1927 * Huntington Country Club,

Huntington, New York The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. ...

, 1910 * Huntington Crescent Club,

, 1914 :(renovated by Devereux Emmet and Alfred H. Tull in 1931) * Keney Park Golf Club,

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, 1927 * Lake Isle Country Club, Eastchester, 1926 * Leewood Country Club (Eastchester (town), New York) 1922 * Long Hill Country Club,

East Hartford, Connecticut East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospac ...

, 1930 * Mahopac Golf Club,

Mahopac, New York Mahopac ( or ) is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the town of Carmel in Putnam County, New York, United States. Also known as Lake Mahopac, the exurb is located some north of New York City, on US Route 6 at the county's southern centr ...

, 1893 * Manchester Country Club,

Manchester, Connecticut Manchester is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 59,713. The urban center of the town is the Manchester census-designated place, with a population of 36,379 at the 202 ...

, 1917 :(with

Tom Bendelow Tom Bendelow (1868–1936), nicknamed "The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf" and "The Dean of American Golf", was a Scottish American golf course architect during the first half of the twentieth century. He is credited with having designed some ...

) *

McGregor Links McGregor Links is a golf club located just outside Saratoga Springs, New York in the town of Wilton. As of 2015, McGregor is the fifth-largest course in the Capital District. The course is semi-private; it is open to the public every day but Tues ...

Country Club,

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

* Mechanicville Golf Club,

Mechanicville, New York Mechanicville is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,196 at the time of the 2010 census. It is the smallest city by area in the state. The name is derived from the occupations of early residents. The city is lo ...

, 1909 * Nassau Country Club,

Glen Cove, New York Glen Cove is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Nassau County, New York, United States, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island. At the 2020 United States Census, the city population was 28,365 as of th ...

, 1896 * Oliver D. Appleton Golf Course at St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY 1926 (Original 9 holes) * Pelham Country Club,

Pelham Manor, New York Pelham Manor is an affluent village located in Westchester County, New York. As of the 2020 census, the village had a total population of 5,752. It is located in the town of Pelham. History The Bolton Priory, Edgewood House, and Pelhamdale are ...

, 1908 * Pomonok Country Club,

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

, 1921 – closed in 1949 * Powelton Club,

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a city in the U.S. state of New York, within Orange County. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area. Located north of New York City, a ...

, 1892 * Radisson Cable Beach & Golf Resort, Commonwealth of the Bahamas, 1929 *

Eisenhower Park Eisenhower Park, formerly known as Salisbury Park, is a public park in East Meadow, New York bordered by Hempstead Turnpike on the south and Old Country Road on the north. At , it is larger than Central Park (in Manhattan, New York City), with mu ...

Golf Course (Red),

East Meadow, New York East Meadow is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York. The population was 38,132 at the 2010 census. Many residents commute to Manhattan, which is away. History In 1 ...

, 1914 * Hartford Golf Club (Red, Blue),

, 1896 :(with Donald Ross) * Riddell's Bay Golf and Country Club, The Islands of Bermuda, 1922 * Ridgewood Country Club,

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

, 1927 * Rockaway River Country Club,

Denville, New Jersey Denville Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, located west of Manhattan. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 16,635, reflecting an increase of 811 (+5.1%) from the 15,824 counted in the 2000 census. ...

, 1923 * Rockville Links Club,

Rockville Centre, New York Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated village located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 24,023 at the 2010 census. Histo ...

, 1924 *

Rye Golf Club The Rye Golf Club is a semi-private, municipally-owned country club in Rye, New York, and one of five constituent properties of the National Historic Landmark Boston Post Road Historic District. The centerpiece of the parcel is an 1854 Gothic Re ...

, 1921 * Salisbury Golf Club,

* Schuyler Meadows Club,

Loudonville, New York Loudonville is a hamlet in the town of Colonie, in Albany County, New York, United States. Loudonville was a census-designated place in the 1970, 1980, and 1990 US Census, but ceased to be in the 2000 Census, but became a CDP again in 2020. Hist ...

, 1928 * Seawane Country Club,

Hewlett Harbor, New York Hewlett Harbor is a Village (New York), village in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,263 as of the 2010 census. The Village of Hewlett Harbor is located withi ...

, 1927 * St. George's Golf & Country Club,

East Setauket, New York East Setauket is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on Long Island, in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. Before that it was part of the Setauket-East S ...

, 1917 * St. Mary's Country Club, Saint Mary's, Pennsylvania, 1924 * Wee Burn Country Club,

Darien, Connecticut Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under 13 square miles, it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast. It has the youngest population of any n ...

, 1902 * Mohawk Golf Club (West),

, 1903 * Wheatley Hills Golf Club,

East Williston, New York East Williston is an incorporated village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 2,556 at the 2010 census. History Most of the farmland was owned by the Willis family in t ...

, 1913 :(remodeled by Devereux Emmet and Alfred Tull in 1931) * Wheeling Country Club,

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

, 1902 * Wheeling Park Golf Course,

, 1926

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emmet, Devereux 1861 births 1934 deaths Emmet family Golf course architects Columbia University alumni People from Pelham, New York