The History of the South Shore Country Club
While several courses in Massachusetts celebrated their 100th Anniversaries in 2022, few are as special as Hingham's town-owned South Shore Country Club. In 1921, a group of visionaries decided to build a golf course, and invited charter members from neighboring towns to invest in the project. The initial $25,000 down payment on 157 acres of land is now worth close to $20,000,000. The Clubhouse, built in 1923 and designed by Harold F. Kellog, remains largely intact today. Built 3 holes at a time, construction started May 26, 1922 with nine holes (today's 10,11,12,16,18,1,8,9) completed by October 1922, costing approximately $18,000. These holes opened for play Spring of 1923 and the clubhouse and parking areas were begun. The remaining holes began construction in the Spring of 1924 and opened for play Spring of 1925. The Old Beacon Country Club - soon to be renamed the South Shore Country Club - was designed by the famed architect Wayne Stiles to be a course second to none.
Amongst many others, the course has hosted famous players Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and even Babe Ruth! Please see a rare video of from the Hingham Historical Society of SSCC from 1931
After a few changes of ownership and challenging years, the Town of Hingham purchased the Club via eminent domain in 1988 for $7,000,000 with the assistance of taxpayer dollars from both the Town and Commonwealth. It returned a profit of $87,000 in its first year of operation, and continues to be proudly operated as a Town owned Enterprise today.
“Having served on the original Country Club Development Committee, and now again having the privilege to serve on the Country Club Management Committee, it is wonderful to see that the original concept of the CCDC was not only to preserve the golf course from development and to prevent the loss of open space, but to transform the property into a true multigenerational recreational facility that would serve a wide and diverse part of our community. The current plans to build a new and beautiful pool complex furthers that original goal. ”