Mount Kisco Country Club was established in 1928 as a private member owned country club. The membership enjoys full country club facilities including an 18 hole golf course, five Har-Tru tennis courts, paddle tennis courts and a pool facility. Food & Beverage facilities include fine dining, casual dining, poolside dining and cabana services. Mount Kisco Country Club has truly evolved into a "family-oriented" Club with beautiful facilities and exciting activities for members of all ages and is particularly proud of its children’s summer program. The Club staff is dedicated to providing outstanding, friendly and professional service
Club History “Rich in family tradition and dedicated to sportsmanship at all levels” Mount Kisco Country Club is the by-product of two rich traditions that date back to 1917. The Town of Mount Kisco welcomed its first golf course in July, 1917, on the former Daly estate property adjacent to the present course, just north of today’s front nine. It was called Mount Kisco Golf Club, 6100 yards in length, and was the site of the 1923 Westchester Open, won by George McLean with rounds of 74 and 70=144, with Joe Turnesa, two strokes behind in second place.
In the early 1920s John Lawrence purchased the famous Annandale Farms from the estate of the late Moses Taylor, one of the nation’s leading bankers and industrialist from 1855 to 1882. Taylor had controlling interests in many companies that evolved into corporate giants like Citibank, the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad and several steel companies. He played a major role in generating the financing for the Union’s struggle to win the Civil War. Annandale Farms was Taylor’s pride and joy where he raised showcase bulls and cattle and entertained the Astors and many other notables. He died in 1882 but his family carried on his business interests and used Annandale Farms until it was sold to Lawrence.
Lawrence developed plans for Lawrence Farms, a 185-acre residential community that would also have a 165-acre country club as a community focus. The concept for Lawrence Farms Country Club was to include golf, tennis, horseback riding and a lake for swimming and skating. The Club officially opened in 1927 but did take a few years to reach full completion.
Lawrence wanted to retain some of the old farmhouse atmosphere that had made the estate so notable. He started with the clubhouse which he converted an old Annandale barn into a two story white brick building, flanked by two one story wings on each side. Lawrence was also sensitive to the Taylor traditions and did not disturb the tombstones of Taylor’s prize bulls, located where the circle driveway exists in front of the club house. Earlier members fondly referred to the area as the “graveyard”, but the tombstones were later removed for ambience reasons at the request of new members.
The Golf Course Lawrence wanted the golf course to be special, so he turned to Tom Winton, a famous Scottish-born greens keeper turned golf architect. During the 1920s, Winton constructed Mill River Country Club in Stratford, CT, and the well-known Westchester courses of Mohansic, Sprain Lake and Maple Moor. Winton started his design for Lawrence Farms in 1926. He became known as “the peer of all links’ architects” and he molded Lawrence’s golf course into 115 acres of rolling acres set in a natural depression between low wooded hills, well-bunkered greens and a persistent stream in play for 13 holes.
The Lawrence Farms golf course opened for play in 1930. The course hosted a number of local events and some international competitions in the 1930s. The club’s first professional, Bill Goldbeck, was a talented competitor, winning the 1935 Westchester Open by a six-stroke margin over the reigning PGA champion Paul Runyan and defending Westchester Open champion Willie McFarlane.
In the late 1930s, it was given a maintenance check by another golf course icon, A. W. Tillinghast. During World War II, the old Mt. Kisco Golf Club was forced to close and most of its members joined the Lawrence Farms Country Club. These new members had sufficient influence to change the name of Lawrence Farms Country Club to the Mount Kisco Country Club.
Today’s golf course has the same Winton architectural plan, except at the 17th green, which has been moved back and to the left, behind the creek.
The Lawrence Farms Country Club was designed for families, so the club house had to be roomy and comfortable to meet the needs of the first members. A major feature was a spacious ballroom that reportedly had the largest club dance floor in Northern Westchester. That ballroom was located where the current men’s lounge and locker room exist today. The Horace Greeley High School proms were held in this ballroom.
The first bar, the typical U-shape, was located in front of the fireplace in today’s grill room. There was also a modest grill room. The men’s locker room was located at the present ladies locker room site, while the ladies locker room was above the lounge in the central section of the house.
There was a porch out the back that overlooked the original practice putting green and two tennis courts. In the 1970s, the construction of more tennis courts caused the movement of the practice green to its current location.
During the 1960s, there were several major renovations that expanded and rearranged the club house facilities. Other major renovations occurred in the 1990s that resulted in today’s facilities including the current pro shop and the veranda.
Even the club’s pool has an interesting history. In the early days, it was one of the major attractions of the Club. The first pool was the largest in Northern Westchester. The pool was continuously fed by a fast-flowing stream originating in pure springs, so that there was a constant change of fresh clean water at all times. It was unique because it had a sand bottom and had a beach of "gleaming Long Island sand in which children take special delight”, all in the area of the existing pool facilities.
Horseback riding was a major feature of living in the Lawrence Farms community, so riding stables were constructed at the site where the current maintenance equipment is stored. The existing building was also home to the Westchester Playhouse during the 1930s and attracted people from all over Westchester as well as New York City.
In the 1930s, the barn that currently serves as the club’s maintenance facility, was a summer stock playhouse. Many notables, including Henry Fonda, appeared there.
Mount Kisco History The most famous Chief of the tribe was named "Chief Cisqua", known to us now as Chief Kisco. Chief Kisco was the bravest Indian Chief to ever roam these parts, and was known to carry a bow in his left hand, and an arrow in his right, and was adorned with a three feather headdress. And around his neck, he wore his greatest trophy; a necklace made from the claws of a black bear, one of his greatest feats.
Legend has it that the Chief was just a young warrior, he had a fondness for a woman, not just any woman, but a princess named Tacomus. And, apparently, so did many of his friends. They were all trying to compete to win her favor. But Tacomus paid no attention to them. One day, as Tacomus and her little sister were wading in the Kisco River, a giant black bear came upon them and snatched up the little girl and ran up a mountain. Luckily, warrior Kisco saw the whole ordeal and ran after them. He chased them, and finally caught up with them on top of what is now called Kisco Mountain, and there was a horrible fight. In the end, the young warrior killed the bear, and saved the little girl from certain death. When Tacomus saw that her little sister was saved, and that Kisco had risked his life, she instantly fell in love with Kisco. From that time forward, they were inseparable. Soon after, they were married, and when it was time, warrior Kisco became "Chief Kisco". They lived many happy years in the forest, which is now part of the Hudson Valley. Even to this very day, Chief Kisco is still remembered for his bravery, and a statue of him still stands in Mount Kisco, the town that bears his name. Historical Society The native people were the Leni Lenape (Sometimes called “Algonquian” because the local language is classified as part of the Eastern Algonquian language group) - renamed the Delaware by the Europeans. The most prominent legacy of the Native Americans here is in the place names that carry on: Katonah, Wampus, Sing Sing, Cisqua and many more.
Bedford Historical Society has one of the signed agreements from when the land was "purchased" from the Native Americans, and there are a few mentions in articles, mostly conjecture or general info, about their lives here.