Golfing on Virginia's Middle Peninsula - Pt. 5 - The "Golf Museum"

Today, we actually move off the Middle Peninsula to Virginia and head south to Newport News. Known primarily as a shipbuilding town, there are three unusual facts about my current hometown worth sharing. First, within its city boundaries sits the largest park east of the Mississippi River. In fact, Newport News Park, with 8,065 acres, is nine times larger than Central Park. I see it everyday, the park hedges across the street from Elizabeth and myself.

Second, both Ella Fitzgerald and Pearl Bailey were born and raised in Newport News. Their legends hold the most prominence in the downtown section, where buildings and streets bear their names. 

Finally, the oldest golf museum in the world, yes, the WORLD, can be found here. (I would have assumed Scotland; in fact, the original curators sent people to Scotland for collecting purposes, as noted in the article.) Simply called the "Golf Museum," or officially, the Golf Museum at James River Country Club, one can see some of the oldest golf balls, clubs and books known to the game.

One of the most unique hidden treasures in Newport News can be found tucked within the St. Andrews room adjacent to the lobby of the James River Country Club. Within the four walls of this high ceilinged confine, the oldest golf museum in the world can be found.

Upon entering “Golf Museum,” a visitor will be greeted from across the room by a glass enclosed topographical map of the legendary Old Course at St. Andrews golf course, spanning at least 15 feet. Another picture map of the Scottish course, this one dated to 1836, hangs to the left. It is not a coincidence that many of the items in the Golf Museum are from Scotland. According to museum trustee Bill Hargette, it was all part of Archer M. Huntington’s plan 80 years ago.

“He (Huntington) liked to build museums,” recalls Hargette, before identifying three others which emerged from the vision of the Newport News shipyard owner, including the nearby Mariner’s Museum. “In 1931, it was the height of the Depression and not many people were buying golf artifacts. Mr. Huntington sent several people to Scotland and they came back with some amazing items.” In 1932, Huntington presented the museum to the James River Country Club; however, the club only houses the museum; it is owned and operated by a separate Board of Trustees.

The artifacts in the collection tell the history of the game. There are many “first and oldest” items included. Among them is the oldest identifiable golf club in the world, the Simon Cossar, dating back to 1790. The oldest golf ball in the world, also from 1790, is among the 150 on display. The oldest book in the world with reference to golf, published in 1566, can be found among the 1000 volumes in the library. The A.G. Spalding and Bros. first set of golf irons, designed in 1920, are also available for viewing.

The oldest artifacts in the museum may be two Kolven clubs plus a ball. Kolven was a Dutch game which was played on ice, a cross between golf and hockey. It is believed that the clubs and ball are approximately 500 years old.

Personal touches from some of the game’s most renowned heroes are interspersed throughout the room. Harry Vardon’s complete set of clubs and golf bag can be found, as well as the putter used by Horace Rawlins when he won his first U.S. Open in 1895. Bobby Jones donated three clubs uses in his Grand Slam (winning all four major tournaments) year of 1930, including the legendary “Calamity Jane” putter. Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen are among the other professional golfers to have donated clubs. Pictures of more current golfers such as Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer provide the backdrop for the 16 glass casings which surround the museum.

Each exhibit is aptly named. Along the left wall, there are separate club displays – putters, short irons and wedges, long irons and drivers. Other exhibits include an “Early Golf in America” display, as well as one titled “British Open.” One significant section shows the Young and Old Tom Morris’s. The father-and-son Morris tandem both won four British Opens in the 1860’s, and the younger Tom is credited with the first official hole-in-one, scored in 1868.

On many of the displays, a quote is enclosed, sometimes from a celebrity or sports figure not known for having a solid golf game. One saying comes from baseball legend Hank Aaron, whose quip reads – “It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.”

There is more than golf equipment at the museum. Artwork and pictures decorate the wooden walls of the room, with over 100 lithographs and oils on display, adding color and life to the visual history lesson.

Says Hargette, “It is really amazing to have all of this history right here in Newport News,” modestly adding, “This is really something special.”

The Golf Museum at James River Country Club is located at 1500 Country Club Rd. in Newport News (off of Shoe Lane). It is open every day except Monday. The clubhouse phone number is 599-3327. Admission is free; however one may want to call ahead as the room is occasionally used for social functions.