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Back in 1931 when the James River Country Club in Newport News, Virginia was beginning construction, Mr. Archer Milton Huntington, who was the principal owner of Newport News Shipyard, suggested to the officials of the Club that since he was giving the Mariners’ Museum and other museums to the people of that area, that he endow a golf museum for the Club, aptly named GOLF MUSEUM.

Huntington not only suggested the museum, but he sent his plant engineer, Mr. John Campbell, to Europe with a pocketful of money to collect every golf relic available. This happened before anyone thought of collecting golf artifacts and during the Depression, when you could get a lot for a little. So the GOLF MUSEUM at James River Country Club was born - the oldest golf museum in the world. It opened concurrently with the James River Country Club on July 4, 1932.

The museum is owned by a trust and governed by a board of five trustees. Administered by a curator and assistant curator, it is funded by the James River Country Club and private contributions.

The museum has more than 500 golf clubs in the collection, including the oldest identifiable putter in the world - a Simon Cossar dated 1790. The club collection also features 85 long-nose woods and two Kolven clubs, plus a Kolven ball, about five hundred years old. A complete set of clubs and bag which belonged to Harry Vardon are on display. The putter used by Horace Rawlins when he won the first U.S. Open in 1895 at Newport, Rhode Island is part of the collection. There are also three clubs used by Bobby Jones during his championship years, including the 1930 Grand Slam. Clubs donated by Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and many others round out the impressive club collection.

The 1000-volume library contains the oldest book in the world with a reference to golf – the Scottish Acts of Parliament from 1566. The golf ball collection includes over 150 balls dating from 1790 to 1932, with a 1790 feather ball being one of the oldest known. Two of the six oldest known golf medals known, dated 1826 and 1838, reside at James River. The museum and the club house are graced with over a hundred lithographs, oils and photographs, including an 1836 map of the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland.




				The Golf Museum at James River Country Club


		Back in 1931 when the James River Country Club in Newport News, Virginia was beginning construction, Mr. Archer Milton Huntington, who was the principal owner of Newport News Shipyard, suggested to the officials of the Club that since he was giving the Mariners’ Museum and other museums to the people of that area, that he endow a golf museum for the Club, aptly named GOLF MUSEUM. Huntington not only suggested the museum, but he sent his plant engineer, Mr. John Campbell, to Europe with a pocketful of money to collect every golf relic available. This happened before anyone thought of collecting golf artifacts and during the Depression, when you could get a lot for a little. So the GOLF MUSEUM at James River Country Club was born - the oldest golf museum in the world. It opened concurrently with the James River Country Club on July 4, 1932. The museum is owned by a trust and governed by a board of five trustees. Administered by a curator and assistant curator, it is funded by the James River Country Club and private contributions. The museum has more than 500 golf clubs in the collection, including the oldest identifiable putter in the world - a Simon Cossar dated 1790. The club collection also features 85 long-nose woods and two Kolven clubs, plus a Kolven ball, about five hundred years old. A complete set of clubs and bag which belonged to Harry Vardon are on display. The putter used by Horace Rawlins when he won the first U.S. Open in 1895 at Newport, Rhode Island is part of the collection. There are also three clubs used by Bobby Jones during his championship years, including the 1930 Grand Slam. Clubs donated by Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and many others round out the impressive club collection. The 1000-volume library contains the oldest book in the world with a reference to golf – the Scottish Acts of Parliament from 1566. The golf ball collection includes over 150 balls dating from 1790 to 1932, with a 1790 feather ball being one of the oldest known. Two of the six oldest known golf medals known, dated 1826 and 1838, reside at James River. The museum and the club house are graced with over a hundred lithographs, oils and photographs, including an 1836 map of the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland.