Course Preview: The Edison Club
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqzcHLWsh78
THE CLUB’S HISTORY
Employees of General Electric first conceived the idea of The Edison Club in 1903. Records show that a plan was formulated during a barroom discussion while these employees were waiting for a train in Garrison, New York.
Mr. J.E. Brobst, Mr. A.R. Tanner and Mr. R.R. Earle were the GE employees responsible for this brainstorm. A "men's club" would serve as a place to meet socially and develop the friendships that had been growing in their business relationships. Golf was not part of the original plan.
(The club would come to be named after Thomas Alva Edison, the most prominent inventor of the early 20th century, who spent many years working at GE in Schenectady. There is not any documentation of Mr. Edison's involvement in the formation of the club.)
The idea of building a golf club was proposed by Mr. O.D. Young. Agreements were completed in 1925 between the General Electric Company and The Edison Club whereby the company's interest in making the advantages of a modern country club available to its professional and management employees was realized.
On July 2, 1925, the Washington Avenue property was turned over to GE and the present country club was opened. Initially the club consisted of an 18-hole golf course, four tennis courts, a combination locker house and recreational area, and a clubhouse that was later called 'The Annex." The grand opening of the golf course occurred on August 21, 1926, with a special foursome commencing play on temporary greens. The first Club Champion was J. McArthur.
