History of The Springhaven Club

At The Springhaven Club we are proud of our rich and storied past as well as our present day offerings and future development plans.

We have a strong, diverse and active membership. More than 100 years of success is quite an accomplishment and we are well-positioned to meet the challenge to continue to grow and thrive for another 100 years and beyond.

  • The Founding of Springhaven

    • The founding of The Springhaven Club came at the hands of several well-to-do ladies of the area and was the outgrowth of trips abroad where they were first exposed to the game of golf.

      Banding together with Miss Eleanor Reed were Mrs. William H. Corlies, Mrs. T. R. Tunis and Mrs. Casper T. Miller, The Springhaven Club was founded in October 1896, making it one of the earliest golf clubs in the country. At the time there were only four other clubs in the Philadelphia region.The group chose a location the Rowland farm at the junctions of Providence Road and Jackson Street in Media, now called Five Points, and convinced Farmer McCandless, owner of the farm, to rent the use of his pastures for a demonstration of the game. In 1897, with W. S. McIntyre as club captain, a long-term lease was signed for the property and the farmhouse was added to the Club’s holdings. Two years later, an additional field was obtained, expanding the layout to encompass all 60 acres of pasture.By 1900, the membership had reached 160.By 1903, the membership ranks had swollen to nearly 200, making the original 9-hole course and the converted farmhouse was insufficient to handle the demand. In September of 1903, the Club purchased the Snyder Farm on Providence Road in Wallingford, less than three miles away from its original location. Construction of the golf course and clubhouse continued through the fall of 1903 and was completed in May of 1904.

  • Ida Dixon

    • It is believed that the courses original design was attributable to one of its founding members, Ida Dixon.

      At the very least, she was the driving force behind the design, which makes her the first female golf architect in the United States. She later served as president of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia (WGAP) from 1911 until her untimely death, in 1916. The following year, Springhaven hosted the inaugural Ida Dixon Cup; open to lady golfers with USGA handicaps of less than 18. Almost 100 years later, the tournament continues to be played at Springhaven by some of the finest women golfers in the Philadelphia region. Since 1956, the tournament has been conducted by the WGAP.

  • Horace Rawlins

    • By the summer of 1904, the course and clubhouse were ready to open.

      On July 4, 1904, the Club hosted a day of golf, tennis, bridge and other games accompanied by a luncheon and dinner. By this time the Club counted more than 300 members and they were all invited back for a formal opening on July 9th. To complete the ascension of Springhaven to the top rung of the Philadelphia golf ladder, the Club hired Horace Rawlins, one of America’s most renowned golf professionals. Born on the Isle of Wight on August 5, 1874, Rawlins had won the first U.S. Open in 1895 at age 19. Over the years, the course has evolved as additional land was purchased, however, it has remained remarkably true to its original design. There have been only two major renovations. When Horace Rawlins arrived he used his experience as one of America’s most traveled and knowledgeable pros, to incorporate some design changes he had seen first hand, having played in ten straight U.S. Opens conducted at the finest courses America had to offer.

  • Andy Campbell

    • Andy Campbell, a native of Troon, Scotland came to the Club in 1908.

      Like Rawlins before him, Campbell was a prominent golfer in the early part of the last century. He played in a number of U.S. Opens, his best finish being a tie for 7th in 1909. And like Rawlins, he supervised changes to the golf course as it matured throughout his 25 years of service. In 1910, Herbert H. Barker, an English golf professional known for his distinctive bunkering, was contracted to toughen up the course. He staked out 50 new sand pits which were rectangular, deep and with an accompanying mound to the greenward side of the sand field. Records of the day indicate it was all and maybe more than the average golfer needed.The Club also turned to world famous golf architect, William Flynn on a couple of occasions in the 1920’s. One of his most lasting contributions was the removal of Barker’s sand pits and replacing them with the more modern spherical bunkers we see today. Over the 2nd half of the century, the course has continued to evolve just as the game itself has evolved. Holes have been lengthened and rerouted. Bunkers have been added and this plot of ground, which in 1904 supported less than two dozen trees, now features a wide variety of Copper Beech, Dawn Redwoods, Flowering Cherries, Dogwoods and Japanese Maples.

The tournament was first officially contested in 1923 as "The Springhaven Cup Invitational" although history and documentation date the "Springhaven Cup" back to 1902.

In 1923, Springhaven Club head pro, Andy Campbell, along with tournament committee founders Jack Sproul and M.H. Paul, officially began to construct "The Springhaven Cup Invitational". The tournament was designed to elicit the play of the nations elite golfers. The format was a 3-day event beginning with an 18 hole qualifier, followed by multiple 16-player match-play brackets.

On Thursday September 6th, 1923, over 250 contestants from all over the country descended upon Springhaven for the inaugural Springhaven Cup Invitational. The first competition was won by Springhaven Club superstar William "Bud" McIntire. McIntire qualified for match play with a score of 80 (1 below the cut of 81) followed by the match play victories below:

Opening Round - Defeated Marcus Greer 3&1 (1921 Quebec Amateur Champion and Philadelphia Amateur Runner-Up)
Quarterfinals - Defeated Joe Coble 1up through 20 holes (1924 US Amateur Public Links Champ, 1927 PGA Section Champion)
Semifinals - Defeated J. Wood Platt 1 up (USGA Sr. Amateur Champion, Pennsylvania Amateur Champion, 7x Philadelphia Amateur Champion, 7x Silver Cross Champion, 4x Patterson Cup Champion)
Finals - Defeated Charley Doelp (Kendrick Cup Champion)

In 1941, at the request of the membership, the tournament committee made the event a more inclusive invitation & member based event. They also moved the competition for the "Champions Cup" to a 36 hole Individual Medal Play for the first time. Along with the competition for the Cup, there were 4 other member and guest based events that took place over the weekend of September 28, 1941. The eventual champion was J. Wood Platt, who bested Billy Hyndman in a playoff after firing a course record 65 in the afternoon round.

The tournament continued in its original individual format until 1950 where tournament chairman, J Herbert "Herb" Glenn, changed the event to a two man team event. This change was strongly urged by the Springhaven membership. The first pairing to take home the championship were Bob Albertus and Leo Heller, who defeated Allan Sussel and Ira Gruber in the final match.From 1950-1954 the event was competed as a better-ball of partners match play tournament with 18 holes of qualifying, followed by multiple 16 team match-play brackets.

In 1955 tournament chairman, Herb Glenn, again elected to slightly modify the tournament format to a member guest style event with one Springhaven Member inviting a guest of another club. The two-man, 36-hole, better ball of partner medal format was won by Charles Albertus and Allan Sussel.
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