Myopia Hunt Club
Encyclopedia
Myopia Hunt Club is a foxhunting and private country club
at 435 Bay Road in South Hamilton, Massachusetts
founded in 1882 by J. Murray Forbes. The name "Myopia" is due to some of its founding members having come from the Myopia Club
in Winchester, Massachusetts
, which had been founded by four brothers with poor vision. Today, the Myopia Hunt Club is a drag hunt, meaning that the hounds follow a laid scent rather than live fox.http://myopiahunt.com/
Myopia also boasts the oldest continually running polo
field in the nation. Polo is still played on Sunday afternoons and is open to the public for a small fee.
In 1902 a real tennis
court was opened at the Myopia Hunt Club, but has since been converted to other uses.
as having two of the United States's top 100 signature holes, Myopia's fourth and ninth.
The U.S. Open
was held at the club in 1898, 1901, 1905, and 1908. The 72-hole winning score by Willie Anderson
in 1901 was 331, a record high that still stands today. He defeated Alex Smith (golfer)
in an 18 hole playoff, 85 to 86, his highest 18 hole score of the tournament. Herbert Corey Leeds was the course designer. The first nine was completed in 1896, but the second nine was not finished until 1901, so the 1898 U.S. Open was actually played on eight rounds of nine holes.
From 1995-2005, the course underwent a series of major improvements under the leadership of Club president Michael Greene. Greene, along with Captain of Golf Steve Warhover (and with the consent of the voting members of the club), lengthened the course with new tees on the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 15th, and 18th holes. In addition, many trees throughout the links course were removed and replaced with traditional mounds, as the historic design of Herbert Corey Leeds demanded.
Myopia was the home course of the late golf writer and novelist John Updike
.
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
at 435 Bay Road in South Hamilton, Massachusetts
South Hamilton, Massachusetts
South Hamilton is that part of Hamilton, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States that the Postal Service has assigned the zip code 01982; otherwise it is indistinguishable from Hamilton...
founded in 1882 by J. Murray Forbes. The name "Myopia" is due to some of its founding members having come from the Myopia Club
Myopia Club
The Myopia Club, regarded by some historians as being the oldest country club, was founded in the 1870s by four brothers with poor vision: Gordon, Charles, Morton, and Frederick Prince. At first it was a neighborhood boys club devoted to boating and tennis, based on the shores of Wedge Pond in...
in Winchester, Massachusetts
Winchester, Massachusetts
Winchester is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, eight miles north of Boston. With its agricultural roots having mostly disappeared, it is now an affluent suburb...
, which had been founded by four brothers with poor vision. Today, the Myopia Hunt Club is a drag hunt, meaning that the hounds follow a laid scent rather than live fox.http://myopiahunt.com/
Myopia also boasts the oldest continually running polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
field in the nation. Polo is still played on Sunday afternoons and is open to the public for a small fee.
In 1902 a real tennis
Real tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original indoor racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis , is descended...
court was opened at the Myopia Hunt Club, but has since been converted to other uses.
Golf
This is the only course in the United States to have been listed by Golf MagazineGolf Magazine
Golf Magazine is a monthly golf magazine owned by Time Inc.. It was started in 1960 by Universal Publishing and Distributing, who sold it to Times Mirror in 1972. Time Inc. acquired it in 2000. It was the world's most widely read golf publication from August 2006 to January 2007. The magazine is...
as having two of the United States's top 100 signature holes, Myopia's fourth and ninth.
The U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
was held at the club in 1898, 1901, 1905, and 1908. The 72-hole winning score by Willie Anderson
Willie Anderson (golfer)
William Law Anderson was a Scottish immigrant to the United States who became the first golfer to win four U.S. Opens, with victories in 1901, 1903, 1904, and 1905. He is still the only man to win three consecutive titles, and only Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus have equalled his total...
in 1901 was 331, a record high that still stands today. He defeated Alex Smith (golfer)
Alex Smith (golfer)
Alex Smith was a member of a famous Scottish golfing family. His brother Willie won the U.S. Open in 1899, and Alex won it in both 1906 and 1910. Like many British professionals of his era he spent much of his adult life working as a club professional in the United States.In 1901 Smith lost to...
in an 18 hole playoff, 85 to 86, his highest 18 hole score of the tournament. Herbert Corey Leeds was the course designer. The first nine was completed in 1896, but the second nine was not finished until 1901, so the 1898 U.S. Open was actually played on eight rounds of nine holes.
From 1995-2005, the course underwent a series of major improvements under the leadership of Club president Michael Greene. Greene, along with Captain of Golf Steve Warhover (and with the consent of the voting members of the club), lengthened the course with new tees on the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 15th, and 18th holes. In addition, many trees throughout the links course were removed and replaced with traditional mounds, as the historic design of Herbert Corey Leeds demanded.
Myopia was the home course of the late golf writer and novelist John Updike
John Updike
John Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
.