Interesting Facts Baking powder cans served as holes at the original sixhole course in Hinsdale. William Coffeen, director of the Price Baking Powder Company, supplied the cans. The original 1909 clubhouse was burnt to the ground in a 1920 fire, and a second clubhouse suffered a similar fate in 1922. The current clubhouse was completed a year later, and has stood for 90 years. Jane Moeller made two holes-in-one in the same round on August 12, 1992, acing the fourth and sixth holes. To this day, the ladies’ league holds Jane Moeller Day annually to commemorate this improbable feat. process, Forbes said HGC is always looking to add new members, and offers rates that compare favorably with many other clubs. “You can’t buy your way in, but it’s a club that really thrives on attracting new families and new members,” he said. “I think the monthly dues and initiation fees are very competitive.” The family-based membership is complemented by an experienced staff that enables the club to continue to thrive. Golf professional Phil Campoli, dining room manager Margaret Ferguson, club manager Jim Kravcik and caddymaster Walter Kowalczyk have each spent multiple decades with HGC in significant leadership positions. “We were drawn into this club, because the people we met happened to be members [here],” said Julie Akers, whose family joined the club last August. “It goes beyond the members—it goes to the staff; the staff is like family. You come in after the winter break, and everybody hugs and welcomes each other back— staff and members alike.” Pinto echoed the same sentiment. “The club [has an] excellent, longserving and devoted staff that makes everyone, member or guest, feel very much at home, and anticipates their every wish,” he said. “Most of the senior staff has worked for the club for a long time, and has known several generations of members. “The staff, in many ways, is part of our family.” With many of the members being so well acquainted with their forerunners, upholding tradition is carefully weighed with crafting changes for the future. For instance, when the course was recently rehabbed in 2005, the club made an effort to restore some of its original features while improving upon several greens that
Samuel Stout, Jr., won the Men’s Club Championship 11 times in five different decades (1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s). Mr. Stout captured his first championship in 1955 and his last 42 years later in 1997. In 1952, HGC tennis coach Harold King and swimming coach Dixon Keyser partnered to open a sporting goods store in downtown Hinsdale. More than 60 years later, KingKeyser continues to serve local residents. required modification. And the pool, which has stood in its present place for the past four decades, will be supplanted this fall and be replaced by a new one that will be completed by next spring. Comprised of 12 members serving three-year terms, the Board of Directors is entrusted with making such pivotal decisions. “I think it’s a board that, if you get asked to serve on, it’s a real honor,” Forbes said. “You find out very early that there’s a lot of policy and procedure that’s gone before you. But to be an organization of any kind, you need to adapt; you don’t want to turn your back on what’s good about tradition, but you don’t want to have a blind eye towards
changing demographics.” Pinto said the family-rooted nature of the club, coupled with the focus on tradition, ensure the next century will unfold as many memories as the last. “Among our membership, we have always been able to find competent people willing to step up and devote the time and effort, as officers and directors, to the governance of the club,” he said, “and the continuance of its many fine traditions, as well as properly planning for it’s future. “We have a great family-oriented membership, and continue to get new, younger members to ensure the continuity of this tradition in the future.”
www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 35