TOWN AND COUNTRY CLUB
The Town and Country Club was incorporated in February, 1888 as a social club in connection with the St. Paul Winter Carnival. The first clubhouse was a leased hotel located on the east shore of Lake Como. In an attempt to attract additional members from Minneapolis, the club decided to construct its own facility and purchased several lots located on the eastern edge of the newly completed Lake Street-Marshall Avenue bridge. In order to build their new clubhouse, members bought bonds worth $25,000 and engaged architect Cass Gilbert. The new clubhouse opened on this site in December, 1890.
The first five golf holes in the State of Minnesota were laid out in 1893 on land leased by the club. The course was expanded to nine holes four years later. All the current golf course land was purchased in 1903 for $40,000 and the course was expanded to eighteen holes in 1907. Town and Country hosted the Sixth Minnesota Golf Association Amateur Championship the following July, the first to be held on an eighteen hole course.
The Town and Country Club is the birthplace of golf in Minnesota, one of the six founding members of the Minnesota Golf Association an one of the oldest golf courses with continuous play in its original location in the United States. According to the USGA, it is the fifth oldest country club in the nation!
