One hundred years ago, the first golf ball was struck on the new course designed by A.W. Tillinghast for Fenway Golf Club. The Scarsdale club observes its centennial this year by “celebrating both the old and the new,” according to President Marc Lisker. The celebration will kick off with a party in June and be marked throughout the year by a special logo everywhere. In the fall, the Tillinghast Cup will be held at the club. The event is a Ryder Cup-style tournament involving the head pros and club leaders from what the Tillinghast Society considers the top 10 courses he designed, including Ridgewood, Baltusrol, Winged Foot, Quaker Ridge, and Fenway.
Fenway’s celebration reflects its eminent stature in Westchester’s rich golf community. In 2022, it hosted the 120th Met Amateur and last year it co-hosted its first USGA event, the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. In the decade prior, the course was renovated under a master plan created by Gil Hanse. Most recently, all the bunkers and bunker faces were redone with the latest technology, and tee boxes have been rebuilt and redesigned.
Each spring, Fenway holds the Mittelmark Invitational Tournament, in which accomplished amateurs are invited to test their games against the course. Many of its champions, like Cameron Young, have gone on to successful PGA Tour careers. Stewart Hagestad, the 2015 champion, went on to win the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship as well as the 2023 Mid-Am.
Reflecting the changing lifestyles of its members, the club is working with an architectural firm to develop a master plan for club facilities other than the golf course.
One feature the club doesn’t want to change is its ambience. “Fenway is a welcoming place,” Lisker says. “People socialize, they hang out together. The club’s done a great job of increasing the diversity of membership.”
Related: 4 Community Organizations Making a Difference in Westchester
