Club History

Fairview Country Club was founded in 1904 on land leased from the Fairview Links in Bronxville, the nine-hole course that also spawned Siwanoy. The lease ended after the 1907 season, and the club moved to a farm in Elmsford. Within a few years, the land was needed by New York City for an aqueduct, and the club moved 500 yards across the road. A huge English Tudor mansion with a spectacular view across the Saw Mill River Valley became Fairview’s clubhouse.

John Inglis came to Fairview in 1907 as golf professional/caddie master and remained for 57 years before retiring in 1964. The list of caddies who apprenticed under Inglis is long and impressive. Prominent were the seven Turnesa brothers—Joe, Jim, Mike, Phil, Frank, Doug and Willie. Their father, Vitale, came to the United States from Naples and is said to have walked the 26 miles from Manhattan to Elmsford in 1908, where he saw construction of the new Fairview course underway. He accepted a job and remained with the club for 54 years.

Fairview’s caddie ranks also included the Farrell brothers, Johnny and Jimmy (the former won the 1928 U.S. Open); the Creavy brothers, Bill and Tom (the latter claimed the 1931 PGA); and Tony Manero, winner of the 1936 U.S. Open.

The new 18-hole golf course, designed by Donald Ross, opened in 1912. It served until 1968, when, as a result of the commercialization of the Elmsford area and the development of Interstate 287, the club moved to its present site in Greenwich where Robert Trent Jones designed a new course.

Fairview’s two nines offer a marked contrast to each other. To score well on the relatively short front nine, one must avoid water, which is very much in play on five of the first seven holes. Then the golfer must rely on length and accuracy to score well on the longer back nine.

The second hole is a scenic par five, cut through the woods. Two bunkers flank the fairway to the left at the top of a sharp fall-off into the woods. Few players go for the green in two because a large pond dominates the final 100 yards with just a narrow landing area to the right. The green is elevated beyond the water, but falls off steeply toward a pond on the left.

The short par-five fifth features a divided fairway. A large pond on the left side of the fairway leaves a relatively narrow landing area to the right approaching the green.

Fairview hosted two major MGA championships: the 1930 Met Open and the 1959 Met Amateur. John Inglis’ caddies carried for the winners in both events.