Baltusrol
An overview of Baltusrol's clubhouse history
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Architect: Chester Hugh Kirk, 1909
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Baltusrol is the first club that came to mind.
It is the apotheosis of private American golf clubs. Two legendary courses, Upper and Lower, by an architect of golfing sainthood - Tilly himself.
Stuffy and inaccessible to outsiders. Benevolent and friendly to insiders.
The name itself is spoken in hushed tones, and impossible to forget.
Baltusrol.
The name of a farmer who was murdered on the land that eventually became a legendary golf club. Poor Baltus, we hardly knew ye. Thanks for the track.
Baltusrol's clubhouse is a prime example of the classic American golf clubhouse. A Tudor revival gem from the early 1900s, the house is brick on the lower levels, with half-timbering above. A series of dormer windows punctuates the roof between the two large gable ends which bookend the rear elevation.
Chimneys? We've got 'em. Six. Tall enough to make you think the clubhouse is harboring an English power plant. Maybe there is one inside - most of us will never be able to check.
Everything about the rear elevation is just symmetrical enough to be stately, asymmetrical enough to warrant a second glance. Or third.
And perhaps the most masterful bit of styling is the the silhouette of the clubhouse. From the front, the building is a series of two-story English gable houses, canted out of the main structure at intriguing angles - but take a look at the rear elevation and wow. A ratio of width to height that is majestic, the clubhouse reveals four stories of history and grandeur that have overlooked seven US Opens. And few clubhouses could provide a more fitting backdrop.
Like Nicklaus's famous 1-iron on the 18th hole, the clubhouse at Baltusrol is an act of bravado, a heroic shot that took guts to make, but in retrospect was the only sensible decision to be made at the time.
Nothing else should be here. Nothing else could be.
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