Greenwood Country Club
Greenwood Country Club
An organization to be known as the Greenwood Country Club will be perfected this week and the members who are to form same, held a meeting yesterday and purchased 120 acres of land two miles east of Greenwood on the Humphreys Highway from Mr. A. F. Gardner for the location of the club house and grounds. The tract of land was purchased for $30,000, or $250 per acre.
A modern and up-to-date clubhouse will be erected on the tract at an early date at an approximate cost of $100,000. The building will either be constructed of brick veneer or hollow tile. Golf links and courts for various other out of door sports will be placed on the grounds.
The club is to be composed of one hundred members. Another meeting will be held in a few days and arrangements will be made for the publication of a charter.
From The Commonwealth, November 5, 1919
An organization meeting of the Greenwood Country Club was held yesterday at the Elks Club and Mr. G. A. Wilson, Jr., was elected temporary chairman and Mr. B. B. Provine, temporary secretary. Another meeting will be held on February 17th, at which time permanent officers for the Club will be elected.
Work will at once be started for the laying off of the golf links on the Club's preserve, which was recently purchased of Mr. A. F. Gardner, east of Greenwood.
Plans have already been submitted for the new clubhouse, which is to be built on the grounds. The plans have not yet been accepted, but within the near future, the contract will be let and work started on the building.
From The Commonwealth, February 11, 1920
The cottage at the Greenwood Country Club is practically completed with the exception of a few minor details and will be ready for occupancy on next Wednesday. The club home is especially pretty and has all the modern equipments. Electricity is supplied by the city plant and shower baths have been provided.
The main room or lounging room of the club is 16 by 35 and one porch is 14 by 50 feet, providing sufficient space for dancing or other entertainments.
The club has employed Mr. Ensminger as golf instructor and he will give lessons to the members of the club. He is supplied with golf sticks, balls and all necessary equipment and the same can be obtained from him as none of the local stores carry a supply. Mr. W. G. Warmood, landscape gardener, has charge of the arrangement of the golf links.
Arrangements are being made to rush to completion the tennis court and it will be finished as soon as the city roller can be obtained for use on the ground.
Interest is growing in the Country Club and citizens view the pretty grounds and the attractive clubhouse with pride. It is ideally located and within easy reach of the city.
Considerable interest is being manifested in the trap shooting and members of the club are enjoying this sport three times a week.
Mr. J. H. Rogers has been appointed custodian of the club.
From The Commonwealth, August 25, 1920
Mr. George Ensminger is renovating the golf links at the Greenwood Country Club and when the work is completed in about sixty days, the local club will have one of the best courts in the State. Two tennis courts have been completed and the lovers of this sport took advantage of the beautiful weather last week and a number of closely contested games were played.
New locker rooms are now being installed at the club.
Commencing April 1st, refreshments will again be served in the clubhouse. Arrangements are being made for weekly dinner dances and other pleasing social events are being planned.
From The Commonwealth, March 30, 1921
Dick Newkirk, youthful pro at the Greenwood Country Club joined the "Dodo" club today with a hole in one on the links of the club.
Dick made the third hole, 215 yards, with one stroke. The first time this hole has ever been made in one stroke.
From The Greenwood Commonwealth, April 3, 1924
The formal opening of the new 9-hole addition to the Greenwood Country Club will be held Saturday, May 26, with a medal play handicap tournament, open to members of the club only. Golf players have been urged to get their handicaps posted so that all may take part in the gala event, which will mark the opening of one of Mississippi's finest 18-hole golf courses.
The completion of the new addition was an event long looked forward to by golfers here. No one will be allowed to play over the new course until the day of the tournament, when every man and woman will compete for the prize.
Dick Newkirk, professional, and officers of the Country Club have worked hard in making the new nine holes as difficult and on a par with the original nine. Since the rain Monday, the grass course will be as beautiful as the original course.
Golfers here are enthusiastic over the present layout and it is with difficulty they restrain themselves from playing the entire course before the date of the official opening. The Greenwood links are now on a par with the best in the south and offers 18 holes of unusual golf conditions. Not only will the opening of the course be an event in Greenwood, but golfers all over the state are looking forward with interest to playing here.
From The Greenwood Commonwealth, May 17, 1928
Dick Newkirk, golf instructor at the Greenwood Country Club, made another hole in one yesterday while playing a match with Mr. Hall of Memphis, visitor at the local club.
Mr. Newkirk made the ace shot on hole number 13 which is on the new nine hole course lately added to the local course. This is the first hole in one shot made on the new nine. It was a 100-yard shot.
From The Greenwood Commonwealth, September 8, 1928
A fire of unknown origin destroyed the swimming lockers of the Greenwood Country Club about nine o'clock Saturday night. No one was at the country club at the time the fire began and a passing automobile noticed the blaze and notified the fire department.
The entire building was in a blaze when the firemen arrived and they were unable to approach the swimming pool, which was the only source of water due to the hot blaze from the burning building.
The locker was a frame building and had all the conveniences of an up-to-date locker. The damage was estimated at $3,000.
The loss was partially covered by insurance.
Members of the club are urged to make an itemized list of all articles lost in the fire and file the same with the club secretary as soon as possible. A complete report has to be filed with the insurance company at once.
From The Greenwood Commonwealth, September 17, 1928
At a meeting of the stockholders of the Greenwood Country Club held in the clubrooms yesterday afternoon, it was unanimously decided to rebuild the locker rooms and bathhouse recently destroyed by fire.
A modern building will be erected at the north end of the present swimming pool, which will contain a men's locker room, a boy's locker room and a ladies dressing room. The building will also have quarters for the club professional. There will be a total of 138 lockers in the entire building.
A wading pool for small children will also be built which will be twenty feet in diameter and ranging from 10 to 15 inches deep.
From The Greenwood Commonwealth, October 16, 1928
Dick Newkirk, local golf pro, seemed to continue his hole in one shots, which he started several months back. Dick made another hole in one on a 110 yard shot yesterday on hole number 8 of the Country Club course.
This is the fourth hole in one shot that Mr. Newkirk has made in the last few months. Three of the shots were made on the local golf course and one was made on the Laurel Country Club course.
From The Greenwood Commonwealth, December 11, 1928
The Country Club has installed a new trap shooting sport- skeet. It is very interesting and difficult. The club will hold regular shoots on Wednesdays and Saturdays at three p. m.
The public is cordially invited to attend and take part in this sport. Shells may be had at the Club.
From The Greenwood Commonwealth, February 15, 1929
Contracts for building of a new clubhouse at Greenwood Country Club were approved by the board of governors at a meeting Saturday, and construction will begin at an early date. The building, when finished, will be one of the finest and most beautiful clubhouses in the state. The cost will be approximately $16,000.00.
The building contract was awarded to W. S. Howell, local contractor. J. D. Lanham Supply Co. was given the contract for plumbing and electrical work.
Bobby Moor was the architect and Mrs. M. McD. DuBard, the designer for the new beautiful brick building, which will be 150 feet long by 35 feet wide.
The clubhouse will face west, and will be located on practically the same site as the present building. There will be porches on the south end and the east side. A large ballroom and banquet hall will be built, with a huge open fireplace. There will also be men's and ladies' lounges, and a recreation room.
The old building will be moved and will be remodeled to provide living quarters for the golf professional. The golf shop and caddy house will be in the space now used as the pro's living quarters.
Membership of the Country Club has grown rapidly in the past few years, and a larger, more commodious clubhouse had become almost a necessity.
From The Greenwood Commonwealth, August 4, 1941
The new clubhouse being constructed at the Greenwood Country Club by W. S. Howell, local contractor, is taking definite shape and will be ready for occupancy before Christmas. According to the plans, this building is well appointed, modern in every respect, and when completed, will be a credit to the community.
Another much-needed improvement also now in progress is the hard surfacing of the gravel road leading into the club grounds and taken over by Leflore County as a public road several weeks ago. This work will be completed within the next few days and is being supervised by W. S. Vardaman, member of the Board of Supervisors, assisted by M. F. Jackson, engineer of American Bitumuls Company, from whom the club purchased the hard surfacing material through the cooperation of Allen Saffold of the City Council.
From The Greenwood Commonwealth, September 22, 1941
The formal opening of the new Greenwood Country Club will be held Christmas Day when members and their out-of-town guests will be entertained at an Open House, it is announced today.
The Board of Governors and their wives will be in the receiving line at this affair, which will be from four to seven in the afternoon.
As has been the custom in seasons past, the club will host at a midnight watch and breakfast New Year's Eve, it was stated.
"We will be happy to have all members enjoy these occasions at the club", the committee in charge stated, and especially do we want them to inspect the new building and equipment of which they may indeed be proud.
From The Greenwood Commonwealth, December 20, 1941