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A VISION The year was 1946 when members of the Willowbrook Country Club in Baldwin, having lost their lease, set out to find a new site. OHEKA (Otto HErman KAhn), the mansion of Otto Kahn stood in regal splendor on 20 acres. It was a 127 room castle that was copied from the best European architecture. On additional acreage, surrounding this magnificent estate, was Otto Kahn’s own 18 hole golf course. There was a garage and three cottages. And, there was a stable. $300,000 could purchase everything except the "castle" and its acreage. That would cost an additional $60,000. Fifteen bold Willowbrook members put up $12,500 each and consummated the deal . . . without the castle. And so Cold Spring Country Club came into being. The horse stable was renovated and the men’s and women’s locker rooms were built to accommodate the members. Membership grew but not without a little subterfuge. Fearing that prospective members would be leery of joining a 15 member club, the founding fathers started their first club number at 100. When asked how large the membership was, the interviewer was, the interviewer could honestly say, "I’m number 115." When membership reached 50, a golf professional was hired. At 75 members, a chef was added to the staff. There was outdoor dining on the lawn and dances were held on the roof of the ladies’ locker room . . . the very area that still exists to the left of the main entrance. By 1951 there were almost 150 members. Time to build a pool as befits a "real" country club. A modest pool was built in the vicinity of today’s snack bar. Surrounding all this and adding to the splendor that was taking shape, was Otto Kahn’s golf course, considered to be one of the great private estate courses built during the Roaring Twenties. Imagine Cold Spring Country Club with an additional 88 traps. Some were so deep, golfers would disappear upon entering them. Each hole was a replica of the great holes he played on courses around the world . . . only with bigger and better traps. As the story goes, Otto Kahn would add traps to the spots he saw his guests’ balls land most frequently. Cold Spring Country Club has far surpassed anything the founding fathers could have envisioned. But memories of by-gone days still warm the hearts of those who remember. |
