City to Country

For four decades before it was a country club, The Manufacturers’ Club occupied a lavish building in downtown Philadelphia. We can think of very few entities that traveled a similar path—Olympic Club in San Francisco is one—but “Mannies” is unique in that its original incarnation had overtly political and business purposes. In the Twenties, when keeping tariffs in and unions out no longer animated the membership, the club found a millionaire’s mansion and grounds in a distant suburb, bought them and built a great golf course.

The unusual backstory delighted us as historians—who doesn’t want to look back at the Gilded Age? —and inspired us as writers. As much as the founders, the local man hired to design the course fascinated. He was William Flynn, now regarded as one of the best architects in golf’s Golden Age. We also focused on the unusual aspects of Manufacturers Golf and Country Club, such as that General George Washington bivouacked the Continental Army there 250 years ago, and the club’s almost manic enthusiasm for shooting, swimming, tennis, and pickle and paddle (in addition to golf).

All the elements—design, photography, writing, and the ink and paper of the book itself—came together beautifully. City to Country has been nominated for the USGA Book of the Year, the Herbert Warren Wind Award.