THE BRENHAM COUNTRY CLUB HISTORY

BY

W.F. HASSKARL, JR.

The Brenham Country Club is today a most attractive place.  The hilly, well designed 18 hole golf course, along with a fine clubhouse and a sizable swimming pool are an asset to Brenham and Washington County.

The history of the original Brenham Country Club goes back to the 1920’s when a group of businessmen purchased 100 acres three miles east of Brenham just off of Highway 290.  Besides a 9 hole golf course, a three story, handsome clubhouse was built.  The building is still a “stand out” and is now known as the Citadel.

For many years the clubhouse was a popular place for parties, weddings and Maifest activities.  The dances held there, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year were well attended.  My older sister missed very few dances.

The golf course covered by common Bermuda had few trees; the grass burrs were plentiful.  The “greens” were a circle of sand mixed with oil with a cup in the middle.  A “pitch-shot” into the sand would stop immediately.  A pipe with a handle resembling a rake was used to smooth a path to the cup.  A fairly firm putt had to be made to get the ball to the hole.  After several years grass was planted on holes #5 and #9 because they were close to the clubhouse and water.

Near every tee was a wooden box filled with sand and over the box hung a cone-shaped can filled with water.  When you wanted to tee up the ball, you needed to tilt the can, moisten the sand and with your fingers, fashion a lump to place your ball on.

A short time after the clubhouse was finished, an oval shaped swimming pool was constructed near the clubhouse.  When it became time to change the water in the pool, the used water was directed downhill, through a ditch which became a hazard on hole #1.

At one time there was a plan to combine Brenham Country Club with nearby Gun and Rod Club.  The deal fell through!

In 1929, when the stock market crashed, money became scarce.  The annual note of $10,000 became due and none of the Board of Directors or any of the members could come up with that much money.  A Mr. and Mrs. Schauffler moved to Brenham and they paid the note and took over the property.  Mrs. Schauffler was extremely religious and named the estate “Zion”.  She sold off some of the land later to finance her campaign for the U.S. Senate against Lyndon Johnson.

The story about the present Brenham Country Club goes back to 1950 when a group of men decided that Brenham and Washington County would support a golf course and club.  Dealing with Mrs. Schauffler was out of the question.  The following men agreed to borrow money and purchase 100 acres near Highway 105 northeast of Brenham.  They were:  District Judge Leslie Williams, Ollie Miller, Jack Ellwood, Leonard Polzin, Carleton Smith, Dr. R.A. Hasskarl, my father, W.F.  Hasskarl and myself.  Judge Williams loved the game of golf and from time to time added certain features of his own to improve the golf course.  The Board of the Club approved some of these ideas and some they didn’t-which made no difference to Judge Williams.  He brought about 100 pine trees from Bastrop and planted them on the hill behind #13 green and #14 tee.  Today these trees are large and look good.

A golf architect named Ralph Plummee who did work at the Colonial Golf Course in Ft. Worth and later the Champions Golf Course, was asked to lay out the 9 hole course.  We sent him an aerial photo and within a few weeks, he came and marked the areas for tees and greens.  He charged us only $200.  After thanking him profusely, he let us know that at the same time he was designing an 18 hole golf course for the Midland Country Club and was charging them $10,000.

A good water well was completed and pipes were extended to the tees and greens.  The fairways were at the mercy of the elements.

A clubhouse with small pro shop was built and short time later a swimming pool was added.

Many members brought lawn mowers and garden hoses from their homes to the club to help keep the grass green and cut.

A problem showed up we hadn’t counted on.  Armadillos were rooting up grass on and near the greens.  Several of us made visits to the club at night and with headlights and guns reduced their numbers somewhat.

At one time golfing member Eddie Baker of Somerville talked the Club Board into building a driving range where the putting green and bath house are now located.  Large floodlights were installed and members were able to hit balls out on the golf course.  I believe this project lasted only one season.

As the membership increased, the clubhouse was enlarged and a sizable room for social events, plus a kitchen was added.  The social aspects of the club gained momentum and the clubhouse became a popular place.  Also, a sizable swimming pool with a bathhouse along with 2 tennis courts was built.  The pool caught lots of action.  However, the tennis courts were seldom used.

The first golf cart used at the club belonged to Ollie Miller (Chevrolet Dealer).  The front of the cart had a bench for 3 golfers and Ollie Miller sat behind, straddling the motor.  The gasoline engine was loud and could be heard over all the golf course.

Likeable member, Jim Beanland, played a good game of golf and it seems he was at the club daily.  There was  a large oak tree growing out into the left fairway on old course #7 ( now #17) and Jim hated and cussed that tree every time he played that hole.  One morning the tree was found on the ground and everyone knew who chopped it down. The Board asked Jim to replace the tree, which he did and now the new large oak is cussed and hit by golf balls.

Finally the club decided to add a sprinkler system for the fairways and this made a tremendous difference in the amount and quality of grass we played on.  A short time later golfer Ed Mather suggested the club build a second set of tees for each hole to give some variation of the original nine holes.  This worked well until the number of golfers increased and often after finishing the first nine holes there were many people waiting on #1 to tee off.

The Club’s Board began to talk of buying more land and I believe Bryan Miller pushed them to secure 50 acres northwest of the club.  Member Cordes Tieman succeeded in talking the Herman Family into selling us the needed acres.  When the golf course was expanded to 18 holes this 50 acres provided lots of trees and some tough golf holes.

Golf professionals were slow in finding a job at the Brenham Country Club because of a tight budget.  Fred Marberry of Bryan came to Brenham and gave lessons for several years.  Finally, Carl Gustafson was hired and he was not only a good teacher, but was well liked by everyone.  His wife, Lola was also popular.  After 10 years Carl was found to have a malignancy and retired.  Calvin Janner was hired to be club manager and in a  short time was replaced by James “Fella” Gillespie.  “Fella” worked hard to keep everyone happy.  However, a few took it out on him with minor complaints.

The best thing that happened to the club was when “fella” talked Trace Fricke into working on the golf course.  Trace who plays a good game of golf, caught on fast and we are fortunate to have him as our Greens Keeper.  He and Jesse arrive at the golf course at 4:00a.m. daily.

Next Larry Squires became pro and it was during his stay that the 9 hole course became 18 holes.  Larry’s wife Sharon was well liked and she ran the clubhouse with style.

When Larry moved to New Mexico, the club hired Dean Cole who was an assistant pro at Great Hills in Austin.  His boss was Mark Coward, formally of Brenham.  Dean and his wife Lynne though young, were polite and worked hard.  The club was surprised when he moved to a job in Houston.

Next the Board selected Mark Gray who had been working at “The Falls”.  Mark and his pretty wife Melissa were popular.

Mark left the club in January 2001 and has been replaced by Don Aken from San Antoine.

The Brenham Country Club is operated by a Board of Directors and a President.  I’m not sure that all of the members appreciate the dedication and time each Board member puts into making the club function.  In closing, I want to again say we now have a fine new clubhouse, a sporty 18 hole golf course, a beautiful swimming pool, and 500 members.  One disappointment is lack of members using the dining facilities.  Maybe in time that feature of the club will become more popular and our clubhouse will become a first rate social center.

W.F. Hasskarl, Jr.

Written Spring 2001

(Construction of a new club house and swimming pool was started in 1997.  First the pool had to be moved to its new location beside the bathhouse.  The original pool was located in front of the bathhouse where the new putting green is now located.  Next the old club house had to be torn down.  A portable building was used as the pro shop in the interim. Then our current club house was built.  The Grand Opening was held in the Spring of 1999.  In 2003 the Board decided to refurbish the original putting green located behind the new club house.  We now have two practice putting greens.)