“Old Oaks is a special place,” says club president Andrew Weinberg. “The drive in on the tree-lined road, the club house, the golf course design. What makes it extra-special, though, is that the club is multi-generational. We have members who have been there for 70 years or more. We have families that are fourth or even fifth generation. We are very fortunate in that we keep our legacies while steadily attracting new families.”
In 1925, members of the Progress City Club organized what eventually became Old Oaks Country Club to expand the club’s activities in Manhattan beyond swimming, billiards, and card-playing to golf and other sports. It opened in Purchase as the Progress Country Club, then underwent several iterations before becoming Old Oaks Country Club when it merged with Tuckahoe’s Oak Ridge Country Club during the Great Depression in 1935. It’s believed that the “Old Oaks” name was derived from the logo on the Oak Ridge Country Club dinnerware that was put into use after the merger. Red oak trees were planted in 1988 to line the entrance road to the club to visually echo the club’s name.
The Progress City Club acquired the 205-acre estate of William Read (of Dillon Read, & Co. fame) from his widow for $600,000 and hired A.W. Tillinghast to design two golf courses which were ultimately built by Allison and Colt when Tilly couldn’t stay within the budget. One of the courses was lost to the construction of I-684, but the existing course has been updated several times and stands out as co-host for sectional qualifying for the US Open. The Met PGA Championship was held at Old Oaks in 2021 and the MGA’s Met Amateur Championship, the organization’s oldest event, will high-light the tournament schedule this year July 29-August 3.
The golf facilities are excellent, but the clubhouse at Old Oaks takes the member and visitor experience to an exquisite level. The English-style manor house was constructed in 1890 as a “summer cottage” by Trenor Luther Park, a Manhattan merchant and commodore of the New York Yacht club. He sold the property to Read in 1906.
Weinberg points out that the club has invested heavily in its future. “We just finished a major renovation of the interior of the clubhouse with all new furniture and décor throughout. We redid our terrace and we’re planning on redoing all our greens to USGA standards beginning in the fall of 2025.” Plans for subsequent years include rejuvenated tennis and pool areas and renovated locker rooms.
One thing that won’t change, Weinberg says, is the club’s desire to be family-friendly. “What promises to be a new tradition is a parent-child golf tournament we’re adding this year.” In addition to “The Treehouse,” a teacher-staffed activity room for kids, Old Oaks has a playground and basketball court and extensive tennis, swimming, and golf programs for youngsters.
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