Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2012 - 28

fi nally received some expert instruction
in the fall of 1897, when Scotsman Robert
Foulis arrived as head pro. Foulis returned
the following spring to again instruct
the members, build and sell clubs,
and assist in the redesign of the club's
nine-hole course.
Jaffray and the other Minneapolis
members of The Town & Country
Club engaged Foulis to lay out a ninehole
course off Cedar Lake Road that
was originally named Minneapolis Golf
Club; its name was changed in 1899 to
Bryn Mawr (a Welsh term for " big hill " ).
The club opened in the summer of 1898.
On July 7, 1898, Jaffray defeated Ed
Halbert in 19 holes to win the fi rst club
championship at the redesigned Town
& Country Club. A year later
Jaffray, Pudge Heffelfi nger and
other former Town & Country
Club members played for Bryn
Mawr in team matches against Town
& Country Club while waiting for the
opening of The Minikahda Club.
Jaffray had found the location for the
new golf club overlooking Lake Calhoun
in Minneapolis while on an autumn bicycle
ride. Searching for a picnic spot, the
cyclists-Jaffray and his wife, Madeleine;
Walter Tiffany and his wife, Lila; and
Page Robinson and his future wife, Grace
Minty-rode west on Excelsior Avenue
past the large ice houses between Lake
Calhoun and Lake of the Isles. They followed
a dirt trail around the swamp and
Martin
Koon
C.T. Jaffray
up the undeveloped hillside.
They ate their meal on
the hill overlooking the lake,
and by the time they left, Jaffray
had concluded that the gently
rolling meadow would make an ideal site
for a golf course and country club.
When he learned that the property was
for sale, Jaffray persuaded three Minneapolis
businessmen to visit the site: his
boss, Northwestern National Bank president
Joseph W. Raymond; grain merchant
Charles M. Harrington; and Martin
B. Koon, who had been judge of the
Fourth Judicial District of Minnesota before
returning to private practice in 1886.
They agreed with Jaffray that the site had
great potential as a golf club.
They set up a meeting of business leaders
at the West Hotel on Hennepin Avenue.
At that meeting, the initial opinion
was that the city's population of 200,000
couldn't produce enough members to
raise $50,000 to establish a club that far
west of the city. At a second meeting,
however, golf fever prevailed. The club
was organized and fund-raising began.
Jaffray was appointed chairman of
the Sports and Pastimes Committee. His
most important decision was to hire Scottish
golf pro William " Willie " Watson to
design the golf course and teach the game
to the members. Watson, along with Foulis,
designed a 2,850-yard course. Jaffray
kept a close eye on their progress.
" During the construction of this golf
course, I used to ride out to the site on
my bicycle each morning before going
to the offi ce, plan the work for the day,
and then go out again in the evening to
see what had been accomplished, " wrote
Jaffray shortly before he died in 1956.
" We lacked water to cultivate the greens
and I conceived the idea of renting from
the city a watering cart. We fi lled it with
water at the corner of Lake Street and
Calhoun Boulevard and hauled the water
around by horses to the golf course. In
26
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Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2012

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