Siwanoy Country Club

Siwanoy Country Club Profile and History

Siwanoy is a club whose nomadic wanderings in the early part of the century had the cumulative effect of crossing the street. Back in the late 1890's a harness track occupied a corner of the present club property, and attracted real estate developers Augustus and Middleton Rose, who bought land adjacent to the racetrack where they laid out a 9-hole course which they called Fairview Park. Among tho se playing at Fairview during 1898-1900 was a group of 18 from Mt. Vernon. For them a day of golf included a half-hour ride on the Hokey Pokey Trolley up White Plains Road, and then the return trip, usually after a long wait for the trolley. This led them to discuss the possibility of establishing a club closer to home. Their dreams became a reality when they leased land along White Plains Road, and built a 9-hole course, which was completed by autumn of 1901. The name chosen for the club once belonged to a Mohican tribe that lived in the area bordering Long Island Sound extending from New Rochelle to Hell Gate in the Bronx. When the club learned that its lease would not be renewed after the 1903 season, it moved north on White Plains Road to where it now intersects the Cross County Parkway. There it built a new nine-hole course, designed by Willie Dunn, which opened in 1904. Siwanoy remained at this site for ten years, through 1913, by which time it had become obvious that nine holes were no longer sufficient for the growing membership. During the 1913 season the club had to decide whether to purchase some adjacent land and extend the existing course to 18 holes, or to purchase a larger tract to the north in Bronxville and start over again. Donald Ross saw far greater potential in the Bronxville site, and so the club purchased 110 acres there. The club's new home, ironically, was located across the street from the old Fairview course where Siwanoy's founding fathers had learned the game. The new property was known as "Paulding Manor" because it had been given to Revolutionary War hero John Paulding by the ...