By Guy Coates

The Hassayampa Country Club had its beginning in 1919 and quickly became a favorite social establishment despite its primitive conditions. Late in 1939, the Club and 160 acres of surrounding area were purchased by Harvey Cory, who immediately began many improvements. The old clubhouse was torn down and a new one constructed. A pool was added, as well as, tennis courts. The sand and oil greens were replaced with cotton seed and were rolled three times a day.

Between 1940 and 1945, fourteen summer homes were built. Two of these were for the use of the new club owner, Harvey Cory, and his family and the remaining homes were rented exclusively to families with children. This fulfilled his dream of creating a place for adults to socialize and play golf while their children enjoyed the town’s only swimming pool.

The club’s popularity soared during the years preceding and following World War II. Being a major center for social events in Prescott, success was largely due to the many business and professional people who brought their families to Prescott during the warm summer months.

“An exclusive up-to-date country club providing every facility for summer pleasure for young and old,” stated a 1941 club brochure. “Fun for old and young in a jewel-like setting of verdant foliage and towering pines with lovely Thumb Butte for a background.”

When Cory died in 1949, his grandson, Jack Bartlett, became the owner. Lush greens were installed during the 1950s and it was this same decade that ushered in new courses at Antelope Hills, Pinetop Lakes and the White Mountains.

Despite its relatively low monthly dues of $25, membership declined during the 1960s. Since the property was located outside the city limits, the club paid double water rates which created higher maintenance costs. Irrigation was restricted to only the greens and the tee boxes. Large clumps of dead grass on the fairways created an uneven surface and golfers had to locate a level spot for ball placement before taking the next swing.

Since the modest membership fees could no longer support the cost of maintaining the course, the golf course closed in 1969. It remained dormant for nearly 30 years until purchased in 1995 by Desert Troon Development.

The course was re-designed under the professional guidance of Tom Weiskopf, expanding it to 18 holes while taking care to preserve the existing landscape and sensitive natural creeks. The result is a stunning masterpiece. A new irrigation system was provided through the utilization of Prescott effluent which is diverted to the golf club’s own sewage treatment plant. The firm also developed a master-planned community of single and multi-family residences.

The new Hassayampa Golf Course opened in July 1998, followed by the grand opening of a 30,000 square foot wood and stone clubhouse in April, 1999.

In late 2001, the old clubhouse, bath house, swimming pool and tennis courts built in the early 1940s were demolished by the Canavest Group which purchased the 3.25 acres to make way for The Views condominium complex along today’s 12th fairway.

The 14 homes along Old Hassayampa Lane were purchased by a group of seven investors who agreed to protect them from demolition. In 2003 the Prescott City Council approved the creation of an historic overlay district for the homes which have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The efforts of the investors were recognized when they received the Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation.

In March, 2008, the Hassayampa Golf Club was purchased by its members, making it one of Prescott’s premier private golf clubs.

(Guy Coates is a researcher and author of many historical articles, most of which were published in the Sierra Sun of Truckee, CA.)

Check out the club website at HassayampaGolf.com for photos, membership, map and directions.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(courtesy photo) Reuse only bypermission.

Shown here in the 1940s, the Hassayampa Country Club was “Fun for old and young in a jewel-like setting of verdant foliage and towering pines with lovely Thumb Butte for a background,” according to the club brochure in 1941.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(courtesy photo) Reuse only bypermission.

The original clubhouse built in 1919 (photo in article Part I) was torn down in late 1939 and a new one built by the new owner, Harvey Cory, to include tennis courts and an Olympic size pool, seen here in the 1940s. The structures shown here built in 1939-40 were demolished in 2001 to make way for The Views condominium complex along today’s 12th fairway.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(courtesy photo) Reuse only bypermission.

Gray Madison, golf pro at Hassayampa Golf Course, stands in front of the pro-shop in the 1940s. Later the pro-shop was converted into a pool house when the clubhouse was expanded to include locker rooms and a new pro-shop.