3. 12 El Paso Country Club
Golf originated in Scotland during the
fifteenth century at about the same time
that Spanish conquistadors arrived in the
New World seeking personal fortune and
fame. Following Columbus in 1492, they
found riches in present-day Mexico, which
Hernando Cortes conquered in 1520. In
April of 1540, the viceroy of New Spain sent
Coronado northward from Mexico City in
search of El Dorado—the legendary city of
gold. Between 1550 and 1590, settlement
in New Spain had been slowly spreading
northward. King Phillip II of Spain, who
wanted to control this expanding settle-
ment, decided to colonize the land of the
Pueblo Indians. He granted Juan de Onate
the right to settle and govern the colony
named New Mexico. In early 1598, Onate
led more than five hundred colonists north
across the Chihuahuan Desert. The set-
tlers struggled through the hot, dry land.
When they finally reached the Rio Grande,
the river seemed like an oasis with its
shady willow trees and cool water. One
colonist wrote, “These were the…fields
of happiness where we could forget our
misfortunes…and enjoy those comforts
so long denied us.” The thankful soldiers
held a feast to celebrate their survival.
Near what is now San Elizario, Texas (east
of El Paso), Onate claimed the Rio Grande
region for Spain. The colonists then con-
tinued upriver until they reached several
Pueblo villages north of where Santa Fe,
New Mexico, lies today. There they built
their first Spanish settlement.
In 1845, Texas would enter the Union—
nine years after the Battle of San Jacinto. El
Paso was not part of Texas at that time and
was considered to be part of New Mexico in
Chihuahua.
A year later, the United States declared
war against Mexico, and in 1847, Colonel
Alexander Doniphan captured El Paso,
Chihuahua. By 1850, after a $15 million pay-
ment to Mexico under the Mexican Cession
agreement, the way was paved for El Paso
to join Texas as the boundary dispute was
settled.
Established in 1849, El Paso’s first hub was
Fort Bliss, whose primary objective was
to protect emigrants living in or traveling
through the new area. Fort Bliss and these
HowItAllBegan
From 1670 to 1680, tension increased
between the Pueblo Indians in northern
New Mexico and the Spanish. Droughts and
the attempt to stop the Pueblo from their
traditional religious beliefs caused spiritual
leader Pope to lead a revolt in 1680 against
the Spanish. Governor of New Mexico
Antonio de Otermin, Captain Alonso Garcia,
and Father Ayeta led 2,418 Spaniards and 317
Indians toward El Paso del Norte. Eventually,
a number of those Indians arrived at the Rio
Grande, later to build the first Texas mission
Corpus Christi de la Isleta, today known as
Ysleta. Spain ruled this area until 1821 when
Mexico gained independence. In both the
Spanish and Mexican periods, El Paso was
an important component of the trade and
supply networks linking the peripheral set-
tlements with central Mexico.
Pueblo Indian (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Div., Detroit Publishing Co. Collection, LC-DIG-ppmsca-17890)
4. 13
migrated west to the boomtown of El Paso
from San Antonio in 1885. He quickly became
one of the frontier town’s leading citizens in
many areas. Davis formed a law firm in 1892
and starred on the El Paso Browns, a pioneer
baseball team.
He also was a pioneer in the battle to
civilize El Paso, helping found the Citizens
Ysleta Mission
(Artwork courtesy of Carl Young)
settlers, particularly the Scots and English,
would play important roles in the future El
Paso Country Club.
More than fifty years later, Fort Bliss
would serve as a site of El Paso Country
Club, and the newcomers would be found-
ing fathers, led by Waters Davis. The son of
Texas Governor Edmund Jackson Davis, he
Reform League in 1901 to end gambling and
prostitution. These goals were accomplished
four years later, along with the banning of
drinking.
With all of the prohibitions in place, cou-
pled with the end of the gunfighters era, the
community was on the verge of forming the
El Paso Country Club.
The year was 1906, and El Paso, with a pop-
ulation of approximately 15,000, was being
referred to as a city. This dusty, far west
border town was rapidly spreading to the
east, and it was that same direction that the
first El Paso Country Club came into being.
On April 25, 1906, eleven city forefathers,
sharing a love of golf and a need for com-
radeship, subscribed their names to a docu-
ment constituting the El Paso Country Club.
The men were Carl A. Beers, Waters Davis,
W. T. Hixon, S. J. Larkin, E. Moye, E. Neff,
W. Trace, A. L. Sharpe, Owen P. White, J. F.
Williams, and T. M. Wingo, men who prob-
ably never imagined that the legacy of the El
Paso Country Club would live on to be the
revered affiliation that is today.
5. 14 El Paso Country Club
By summer of 1906, Waters Davis had been
elected the first club president by his peers,
and the El Paso Country Club had its formal
opening. On June 1, 1906, for the club’s
inauguration, President Davis stood on the
first hole of the nine-hole course, amid a
small gathering of onlookers, and shouted
“fore!” Play began immediately and was an
instant success, as were popular Sunday
morning hunt breakfasts.
The original clubhouse was a one-story
adobe, boasting a kitchen, a lounging area,
a screened-in porch (which doubled as a
dance floor), a small “pro shop,” and a caddie
shack. It was located in the area of the former
Dudley Field baseball park. The golf course,
laid out by members with stakes and chains,
extended north to Alameda Avenue and
south to the Rio Grande River.
With an initiation fee of $15, paid by one
hundred members, it took only three months
for the club to become a full-fledged social
organization. El Paso’s first paved street did
not appear until September of 1906, and
during those early years, members arrived
by horse, buggy, automobile, and streetcar.
The membership increased to $225 in 1907.
There were sixty male golfers and only
seven women at that time. Two of these
ladies caused a banner headline story in
Carl Beers (left), one of the original founders of
El Paso Country Club, accepts congratulations
from member Mallory Miller in 1957. (EPCC)
TheEarlyYears
6. 15
the El Paso Times for wearing the first “split
skirt” ever seen and “smoking a cigarette
in public.” Golf was played on fairways
that today would be categorized as dirt or
“rough,” and golfers putted on greens made
of packed dams. These conditions didn’t
seem to diminish the enthusiasm of these
dedicated sportsmen, as they went on to
install the club’s first golf professional, a Mr.
Fovegard. During this early era, the course
record for the 2,485-yard layout was 43, set
by W. B. Sterling. The competitive record by
A. W. Houck was four strokes higher.
In 1908, a new site for the club, located
on the northwest corner of Dyer Street and
Fort Boulevard, was selected. The directors
leased the land from Fort Bliss, and many
army officers were members. It was not
unusual for the heel of a lady’s shoe to get
caught on a spur, as most of the club parties
included cavalry officers and their invited
guests. Until 1908, the charter members
continued to serve as directors, and by their
diligent efforts, they managed to maintain
an average monthly profit of $400.
7.
8. 17
By 1910, El Paso was known as a twentieth-
century city, and the population was 39,000.
Fading away were the adobe homes and pio-
neer business establishments, and replacing
them were modern steel-and-brick structures
designed in turn-of-the-century style.
The Fort Bliss location of the club’s golf
course also had sand greens. These primitive
greens were the cause of many arguments
during play, as each member was allowed to
carry his personal rake. These rakes were
custom designed to allow dauntless golfers
to create a well-defined furrow between ball
and cup, ensuring a perfect putt!
Texas Street
looking west.
(EPCC)
TheTimeofTheirLives
