Description
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BALTUSROL GOLF CLUB
Baltusrol has enjoyed a long and rich history in golf and has played a prominent role on the national golf stage for 125 years.
Baltusrol Golf Club?s story is much more than the history of a golf club; it is an integral chapter in the larger tale of golf in America.
Founded in 1895 by Louis Keller, the grounds were initially used by Keller and his friends as a country refuge for weekend escapes from the hustle and bustle of New York City. When golf started to take hold in America in the 1890s, Keller had the perfect property for a golf course. His goal was to develop the leading golf club for America?s leading city; a goal that has served as Baltusrol?s guiding mission for the last 125 years. The name of the Club was derived from the land?s previous owner, Baltus Roll, a Dutch farmer who was brutally murdered at his farmhouse during a robbery attempt in 1831. Some sixty years later, Roll?s first and last names were contracted to form the Club?s moniker: Baltusrol Golf Club.
Baltusrol has played host to 17 major championships in all, including seven U.S. Opens and two U.S. Women?s Opens. In fact, Baltusrol is the only club in America to have hosted U.S. Opens for men and women on both of its dual championship golf courses. The 1954 U.S. Open was the first to be nationally televised. The Club welcomed its first U.S. Women?s Open in 1961, with Mickey Wright earning the victory. In 1967, Jack Nicklaus cemented his status as the game?s top player when he defeated Arnold Palmer in one of golf?s most legendary duals. Jack?s famous 1-iron shot on No. 18 of the Lower Course is commemorated with a plaque in the fairway, 238 yards from the green. Nicklaus further bolstered his legacy at Baltusrol in 1980, when he outlasted Isao Aoki to claim his second U.S. Open title on the Lower Course.