Wistariahurst Museum
Wistariahurst Museum
The Orchards Golf Course Exhibit
The Orchards Golf Course
o 1922 - Joseph Allen Skinner hired Donald Ross and Mr. Hatch to build a 9-hole golf course for his daughter, Elisabeth, a promising golfer.
o 1927 - Ross built the second nine holes at The Orchards
o 1905 -1931 - Skinner joined the Board of Trustees and became board president in 1912.
o 1922 - James D. Young (Jimmy) was hired as the first pro. Mary (Minnie) young, his wife, helped at the clubhouse.
o 1941 - Mount Holyoke College purchased The Orchards for $25,000.
o 1948 - East Area Air Force Golf Championship played a The Orchards
o 1949 - Champion long-ball hitter Jimmy Thompson gave a demonstration at The Orchards
o 1960 - Jimmy Young retired
o 1968 - Connecticut PGA Championship played a The Orchards
o 1970 - Bob Bontempo hired as pro; started Mount Holyoke College golf team
o 1973 - National Women's Intercollegiate Championship held at The Orchards.
o 1987 - The Orchards hosted the USGA Junior Girls Championship
o 1993 - Mount Holyoke College hosts the National Golf Coaches Association Division II and III National Championship
o 1998 - Prichard took over restoration of the course; he fixed the drainage problem and watercourse management, refaced and regressed the bunkers with turfgrass and rebuilt the second green.
o 1999 - Mount Holyoke College entered 25-year lease with Arnold Palmer Golf Management to run the golf course. APGM launched $1.5 million renovation program to clubhouse, grounds and course. This included $800,000 restoration of course to original Donald Ross design
o 2002 - Mount Holyoke College hosted Division III Women's National Championships
o 2004 - The Orchards hosts the US Women's Open Championship
Joseph Allen Skinner, son of Holyoke industrialist William Skinner, was instrumental in the birth of The Orchards golf course in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Being a man who loved to watch golf and build, the land purchased in South Hadley seemed perfect. He hired Donald Ross to design his Orchards course, named after the apple orchards that lined the course.
Though it is widely believed Joseph built The Orchards for his daughter and her love of golf, Elisabeth asserts that her father liked to play golf and he liked to build. "He also liked the game of golf so well that he decided to have the Orchards course built." He contracted Donald Ross to design a nine-hole golf course in 1922. The course became known as The Orchards because of the rows of apple trees Joseph planted along the 200-acre lot over the years.
After a walk on a mild summer day, Joseph comments of his golf course that "the lawn has been mowed as also the putting green flower beds trimmed and everything looks beautifully. It seems as though I have never seen the place so fine." Joseph Skinner's Journal, May 18, 1941. Skinner Family Collection, Wistariahurst Museum
His daughter, Elisabeth took up golf and became one of the top golfers in the state, winning the Endicott Cup twice.
Elisabeth Skinner held The Orchards course record (74) for forty years. This was a record established in 1933 from the men's tees because there were no women's tees at the time. Pat Bradley (LPGA) broke Elisabeth's record in 1973 with a score of 73.
Please call the museum for details about the opening reception and exhibit hours. 413-322-5660.
