The recent reprinting of “The Evangelist of Golf,” a biography of Charles Blair Macdonald, inexplicably fails to rectify a myriad of significant errors in the writing and research found throughout the book. The list of Seth Raynor courses is highly inaccurate and should be ignored.
This is the most comprehensive and correct list of courses on which Raynor worked in various capacities. Also included are the courses that wrongly claim input from Raynor or lack proof of his involvement.
The majority of the remaining Raynor courses have been altered over the years, many significantly. Only three of Raynor’s designs have 18 original greens, Chicago Golf Club, Blue Mound Golf and Country Club and Shoreacres.
Seth Raynor Golf Courses
All dates are the year a course or holes opened.
FKA = Formerly Known As; NLE = No Longer Exists; NKA = Now Known As
Courses Designed or Renovated by Seth Raynor that Were Built (49)
Augusta Country Club, Lake Course, Augusta, Ga. 1925, rebuilt all 18 greens, converting them from sand to grass, (NLE)
Blind Brook Club, Purchase, N.Y., 1917 (fairway bunkering added later by club without Raynor’s input.)
Blowing Rock (N.C.) Country Club, 1916, 1926. Little of Raynor’s work exists. (FKA Green Park-Norwood Golf Course)
Blue Mound Golf and Country Club, Wauwatosa, Wisc., 1926
Brookville Country Club, Glen Head, N.Y., 1922 first 9, 1924 second 9
Camargo Club, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1927
Chicago (Ill.) Golf Club, 1923 (Total renovation of Charles Blair Macdonald design with Macdonald’s blessing.)
Country Club of Charleston (S.C.), 1925
Country Club of Fairfield, (Conn.), 1921 (significant alterations to layout made by Robert Trent Jones in the late 1950s)
Dedham (Mass.) Country & Polo Club, 1925 (partial redesign of existing holes and construction of original holes)
Elkridge Club, Baltimore, M.D., 1925
Essex County Country Club, West Orange, N.J., 1925;
Essex Fells (N.J.) Country Club, 1929, renovated two holes
Everglades Club, Palm Beach, Fla., first nine 1920; second nine 1929, designed by Alexander W. MacDougall, who also renovated the existing nine.
Fishers Island (N.Y.) Club, 1926
Forest Park, St. Louis, Mo., 27 holes, (routing only)
Fox Chapel Golf Club, Pittsburgh, Penn., 1925
Greenbrier, #1 Course, White Sulphur Springs, W. Virg., 1923, renovation of 1914 Macdonald design, which he helped build (NKA Old White TPC)
Greenbrier, #2 Course, White Sulphur Springs, W. Virg., 1924, none of Raynor’s work remains (NKA Meadows Course)
Greenbrier, #3 Course, White Sulphur Springs, W. Virg., 1923 renovation of existing 9 holes. The course was later expanded to 18 holes, none of Raynor’s work remains (NKA The Greenbrier)
Hotchkiss School, Salisbury, Conn., 1925, nine holes (Subsequent renovation of three holes by Charles Banks.)
Knollwood Country Club, Elmsford, N.Y., 1927
Lake Wales (Fla.) Municipal Golf Course, first nine, 1925; second nine, 1926, (NKA Lake Wales Country Club, significant alterations to the course over a number of years, most of the routing remains.)
Lookout Mountain (Ga.) Club, Lookout Mountain, 1928 (FKA Lookout Mountain Golf Club, Fairyland Golf Club),
Metairie Country Club, Metairie, La., 1925 (no original holes remain.)
Midland Hills Country Club, Saint Paul, Minn., 1921 (significant alterations of the years.)
Mid-Pacific Country Club, Kailua, Hawaii, front nine 1928; back nine, 1949
Misquamicut, Westerly, R.I., 1913 (Renovated five holes, possibly Raynor’s first solo work.)
Monterey Peninsula Country Club, Pebble Beach, Cal., Dunes Course, 1926 (for the Del Monte Corporation). Greens, and possibly bunkers, were rebuilt prior to opening.
Mountain Lake, Lake Wales, Fla., first nine holes, 1917; second nine holes, 1921 (In the late 1920s Charles Banks combined the eighth hole and ninth holes into a par-5, then created a new ninth hole.)
Nassau Country Club, N.Y., 1915 (renovation, one hole remains)
North Shore Country Club, Glen Head, N.Y., 1916 (renovation)
Oakland Golf Club, Bayside, N.Y., 1919, bunkered by Alec Gerard (NLE)
Ocean Links, Newport, R.I., 1921, nine holes, Charles Blair Macdonald consulted, (NLE)
Palm Beach Winter Club, North Palm Beach, Fla., 1926, (NLE) This is possibly main reason Raynor was in Florida when he died. None of his work remains although a few hole corridors survive, (NKA North Palm Beach Country Club)
Porto Rico Country Club, San Juan, 1919, nine holes (connected to Condado-Vanderbilt Hotel, NLE)
Riddell’s Bay Golf and Country Club, Bermuda, 1922 (NLE)
Rock Spring Club, West Orange, N.J. 1925
Shoreacres, Lake Bluff, Ill., 1921
Somerset Country Club, Mendota Heights, Minn., 1920 (substantial renovation by Stanley Thompson)
Southampton (N.Y.) Golf Club, Southampton, 1927 (the only club of which Raynor was known to be a member)
Statesville (N.C.) Country Club, 1926, nine holes, one of the few courses Raynor designed that had sand greens. (NLE)
Sunningdale Country Club, Scarsdale, N.Y., 1918 (Subsequent significant renovations by Walter Travis, Robert White, A.W. Tillinghast and Mike Devries. No Raynor-designed holes remain.)
Taft School, Watertown, Conn. 1925, nine holes, not on site for construction (NLE)
Thousand Island Country Club, Alexandria Bay, N.Y., 1922 (possible renovation)
Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1927 (five original holes lost to development)
Wanumetonomy Golf and Country Club, Middletown, R.I., first nine, 1923; second nine, 1924
Westhampton Country Club, Westhampton Beach, N.Y., 1916 (most likely with input from Macdonald, H.H. Barker and others)
Yale Golf Course, New Haven, Conn., 1926 (Charles Blair Macdonald consulted) FKA Yale Golf Club, The Course at Yale
Yeamans Hall, Hanahan, S.C., 1925
Courses Designed by Seth Raynor but Never Built (29)
Coral Keys, Englewood, Fla., 27 holes, routed to play as two 18-hole layouts. (1923)
Cragin Park, West Palm Beach, Fla., (“Laid out” by Banks after Raynor’s death. Banks likely tweaked Raynor’s plans.) (1925)
Cypress Point Club, Pebble Beach, Calif. (for the Del Monte Corporation) 1925
Del Monte Links, Pebble Beach, Calif., renovation (for the Del Monte Corporation)
Del Monte Links, Pebble Beach, Calif., new course (for the Del Monte Corporation)
E.C. Shotwell Private Course, Enterprise, Fla. 1920
Fishers Island (N.Y.) Club, second 18. (As late as July of 1926 alterations were made to the plans, most likely by Charles Banks.)
Glen Acres Country Club, Clarence, N.Y., also known as Mossy Springs Country Club. 1921
Hay Harbor Club, Fishers Island, N.Y., 1917, (unknown if nine or 18 holes, Raynor presented two routings and a plasticine model of one to the club)
Mid Ocean Club, Tucker’s Town, Bermuda, third nine, (plan dated Jan. 13, 1923. Raynor consulted on the proposed design voicing serious criticism of the routing.)
Monterey Peninsula Country Club, Pebble Beach, Cal.; Shore Course, 1927. Four holes constructed. Much of Raynor’s routing used when layout was built in the 1960s. (for the Del Monte Corporation)
Mountain Lake, Lake Wales, Fla., Plan shows line drawings for holes 5-15 with a note at the bottom reading, “Record of proposed 2nd 18 hole golf course as studied by Raynor,” 1925
Mountain Ridge Country Club, N.J., Consulted on proposed site with Charles Banks, told club land unsuitable for golf.
New Haven (Conn.) Country Club; the club has a letter from Raynor stating he drew up three plans. The course was designed by Willie Park. (1918)
Olympic Club, San Francisco, Cal., Lake Side Golf Course (1918)
Saint George Country Club, Bermuda: attached to the St. George’s Hotel (Newspaper accounts in 1924 have Raynor laying out a course. Nine holes did not open until 1928 and were designed by Devereux Emmet.)
Southampton (N.Y.) Golf Club; Raynor produced a plan for the original site called Cow Neck (1923), as well as plan for the current location, but on a smaller parcel of land (1925). When more land was purchased, that necessitated the drafting of the third plan that was eventually implemented.
St. Paul, Minn.: two newspaper articles describe a 36-hole complex. C.W. Gorden, founding member of Somerset, was one of the principal backers. 1921
Suffolk County Country Club, Islip, N.Y. (for Marion Hollins’s father)
Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii (1926), Raynor drew up three additional plans in case the club could not purchase the intended property, which it eventually did.
Yale Golf Course, New Haven, Conn., second 18-hole course (1924)
Yeamans Hall Country Club, Hanahan, S.C., 1926, second 18-hole course
Unknown Seth Raynor Work
Bellport (N.Y.) Country Club, first nine, 1915, unknown architect; second nine, 1919, unknown architect. (Records from 1917 show cost estimate for construction of one fairway, two greens and channel dredging. No confirmation that the work was implemented.)
Hollywood Golf Club, Deal, N.J., 1916, club paid Raynor $200 and allocated $2,500 to implement his recommendations.
Hope Ranch, Santa Barbara, Cal., 1923, name mentioned in a newspaper article about planned real estate development that did not come to fruition.
Nassau, Bahamas, 1921, newspaper accounts have Raynor as architect of record for a project that never materialized.
Newport (R.I.) Country Club, 1923, fee of $500 plus expenses of $38.90 paid, “For services rendered in connection with the golf course.”
Swope Memorial Golf Course, Kansas City, (1921) at the request of Chick Evans, Raynor visited the course and made suggestions that were implemented.
Women’s National Golf and Tennis Club, Glen Head, N.Y., 1923, Macdonald and Raynor consulted on Devereux Emmet design. (NKA Glen Head Country Club)
Clubs Purported to have Seth Raynor Connection, Some Evidence Exists
Rumson (N.J.) Country Club
Clubs Purported to Have Seth Raynor Connection
but Lack Proof or Contradictory Proof Exists
Babson Park (Fla.) Golf and Yacht Club, (Ralph Barton design)
Berwind Country Club, Puerto Rico
Crawford Country Club, N.Y.
Gardiners Bay Country Club, 1915, (FKA Manhasset Country Club)
J.P. Knapp Private Course, Southampton, N.Y., 3 greens
Maidstone Club, Easthampton, N.Y. 1923, designed second course (NLE), renovation of existing course.
Minnesota Valley Country Club, Bloomington, Minn. Designed by W.C. (Bill) Clark, opened in 1924. FKA Bloomfield Golf Club
Roselle (N.J.) Golf Club, (Robert White design, NLE)
Sequoya Hills Country Club, Oakland, Cal.
Watchung (N.J.) Valley Golf Club, Marty O’Loughlin design, FKA Hydewood Golf Course
Westchester Hills Golf Club, N.Y.
William E. Stauffer Private Course, New Orleans, La., 1921 (Never existed)
Courses Seth Raynor Built or Renovated for C.B. Macdonald
Cold Spring Country Club, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.,1919, FKA Otto Kahn Private Course, Oheka Golf Club
Creek Club, Locust Valley, N.Y., 1922
Deepdale, Great Neck, N.Y. 1924
Edward S. Moore private course, Roslyn, N.Y. 1922, 3 greens, (NLE)
Gibson Island Club, Gibson Island, Md., 1924 (36 holes designed, 18 built, portions or all of 7 original holes remain. Most likely Macdonald’s only 36-hole project.)
Greenbrier, #1 Course, White Sulphur Springs, Virg.1914 (NKA The Old White TPC)
Greenwich (Conn.) Country Club, 1916, rebunkered
Lido Club, Long Beach, N.Y., 1917 (NLE)
Links Golf Club, North Hills, N.Y. 1919 (NLE)
Mid Ocean Club, Tucker’s Town, Bermuda, 1922
Morris County Country Club, Morristown, N.J., 14 holes 1918, 4 holes 1919 (Renovation of an existing layout and the construction of holes on newly-acquired land.)
National Golf Links of America, 1909, Southampton, N.Y. (The first time Raynor ever worked for Macdonald.)
Payne Whitney Estate, Manhasset, N.Y., 1917 (three-green course)
Piping Rock, Locust Valley, N.Y., 1913
Shinnecock Hills, Southampton, N.Y., 1917 (Subsequently renovated by William Flynn, four-and-a-half Macdonald holes remain.)
Sleepy Hollow Country Club, Scarborough, N.Y., 1913 (Significant renovations over the years by a number of architects have removed much of Macdonald’s work, at least five holes are not original.)
St. Louis (Mo.) Country Club, 1914
(This list was compiled by Nigel Islam, Bret Lawrence and Anthony Pioppi. It was updated on Aug. 27, 2024. Please send questions, corrections, vitriolic rants and updates to AnthonyPioppi@gmail.com)
