Winged Foot Golf Club - East Course

About the club

According to local lore, this club was started in the Twenties by members of the New York Athletic Club who wanted an alternative to Shinnecock Hills nearer to the city; when the club balked at their idea, the group resolved to set up their own club, and Winged Foot was born. The original plan was apparently for 18 holes, but when a larger than expected plot of ground became available, two courses were built. The commission went to the area's star architect at the time, A. W. Tillinghast. The grounds were once part of an enormous private property, and construction is said to have required the removal of over 7500 trees and the laying of a more than 20,000-foot drainage system and an even more extensive irrigation system. Of Tillinghast's two courses at Winged Foot, the East has less length but more character and more varied topography than its sister course.