Houston Country Club
Houston Country Club was founded in 1908, at what is now Gus Wortham Golf Course, by Will Farish & Walter Fondren - founders of Exxon; Howard Hughes, Sr. - founder, Hughes Tool Company, Captain James Baker - co-founder, Baker Botts law firm (grandfather of James A. Baker, III), Joseph Cullinan - founder, Texaco; Jesse Jones - Secretary of Commerce, Head of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and Houston businessman/philanthropist; and the estate of William Marsh Rice - founding entity of Rice University.
Houston Country Club’s current location was designed by Robert Trent Jones in 1955 and opened in 1957. Coore & Crenshaw redesigned the course in 1988. One of the five founding members of the Texas Golf Association, the club has played host to eight Texas State Amateurs (1911 - first on an 18-hole golf course, 1913, 1916, 1920, 1933, 1981, 2001, 2008) and five Women’s Texas Golf Association Championships (1917, 1921, 1928, 1938, 1961). The course has also held numerous famous exhibitions and USGA qualifiers and played host to the Houston Invitational from 1914-1954 with winners including Francis Ouimet (1922) and Doug Ford (1949). George V. Rotan was the first winner and won the event multiple times. Over the years, Houston Country Club has consistently opened its course to PGA section events and was a primary practice facility for the prolific University of Houston Men’s Golf Team during its championship runs in the 1970s and 1980s.
Two golf inventions originated at Houston Country Club. The original sand wedge was invented and patented by member Ed MacClain (Bobby Jones used it at 1930 British Open). Gene Sarazen modified it later after he got the new design idea from spending time with member, Howard Hughes, Jr. In 1947, member Dick Jackson invented and received a patent for the golf cart by welding a park bench on a Cushman scooter and called it the “Arthritis Special.”
Notable Houston Country Club members include President George H.W. Bush (son President George W. Bush active at club growing up), James A. Baker, III (former Reagan Chief of Staff, Secretary of Treasury, and Secretary of State), and Denton Cooley (renowned heart surgeon and performed first heart transplant).