Club History:
The Beaumont Country Club, one of the oldest clubs in Texas, was organized in 1906 and opened the next year. Constructed on the bank of the Neches River, the club featured a golf course, bowling alley, boat docks, tennis courts, and a plantation-style clubhouse. The club had complete facilities for wedding parties, anniversary celebrations, and corporate meetings. The Beaumont Enterprise praised the new club as “a favorite retreat” with a beautiful setting “on the banks of the river . . . in the shade of the trees.”
Charter members amounted to a “Who’s Who” of local business, professional, and industrial leaders, as well as prominent Beaumont families: Bordages, Broussard, Carroll, Crawford, Edwards, Gilbert, Gordon, Hobby, Keith, McFaddin, Norvell, Proctor, Reed, Shepherd, Stedman, Steinhagen, Tyrrell, Wiess, Wilson, and others. Charter directors included Charles H. Markham, Gulf Oil, J. Edgar Pew, Sun Oil Company, and Colonel Sam Park, Industrial Lumber Company. Colonel Park, later American Vice Consul to France, served as BCC’s first president.
On October 25, 1907, Colonel Park and fellow members opened the golf course. Park drove a golden ball off the Number 1 tee and christened the new nine-hole facility that was laid out by Alex Findlay, a Scotsman who designed more than one hundred other American courses including the San Antonio Country Club and The Greenbrier in West Virginia. The BCC course, later expanded to eighteen holes, has seen numerous outstanding golf competitions; in 1946, a match among “the Big Four”, Ben Hogan, Jimmy Demaret, Byron Nelson, and Sam Snead; and during 1953-1964, the Babe Zaharias Open, a Ladies PGA tournament that drew all the nation’s top women golfers including Louise Suggs, Patty Berg, Betty Jameson, and the world-famous Babe Didriksen Zaharias.
Clubhouse:
The light and spacious clubhouse provides dramatic views of the golf course and the Neches River. Sunset over the golf course is often spectacular. The clubhouse has an upper-level entry with a porte-cochere that is invaluable in inclement weather and an elevator for the use of members. The reception lobby, ballroom, and private and semiprivate dining areas are on the upper level and are all carefully planned to accommodate private member-sponsored luncheons, dinners, meetings or parties for up to several hundred guests without undue inconvenience to other members. On the lower level, there is the casual grill, the men’s grill and locker room, the ladies’ locker room and the golf pro shop.
Golf:
The BCC course, long famous for towering pine trees that crowd narrow fairways, was completely renovated during 2004. In a project directed by Houston golf course architect, Baxter Spann and costing approximately $2 million, the course was rebuilt by Landscapes Unlimited, LLC, one of the largest golf course development companies in the United States. All tee boxes, fairways, bunkers, and greens were reconstructed, and new drainage and irrigation systems were installed. Architect Spann is very pleased with the outcome. Praising the original layout by Scotsman Alex Findlay and the natural beauty of the wooded setting, Spann points with pride at the new rolling fairways, deep fairway bunders, and undulating greens. Spann expects the BCC course will be “one of the finest in Southeast Texas,” one that will challenge better golfers and provide enjoyment for weekend players.
Tennis:
The tennis courts are located amidst lovely pine trees and offer a beautiful setting for any type of tennis, whether social or match play. The eight lighted asphalt tennis courts are the best in the city and the facility includes a backboard and pro shop. The tennis programs are multiple and varied, with events ranging from Junior Programs to Women’s Clinics. Private lessons are offered as well as excellent group instruction.