The Kittansett Club

The Kittansett Club, appropriately named from two Native American words meaning “near the sea,” is situated in the town of Marion at the end of Butler Point, which extends into Buzzards Bay. Originally, it was the Native Americans who led the Plymouth settlers and their cattle to the warmer winter pastures on these shores.

An 18-hole golf course became a possibility when in the early 1920''s a group of residents bought the land on Butler''s Point, which until that time had been occupied solely by the Beverly Yacht Club. On this peninsula could be seen the possibilities of a different type of course than most in this country at that time, and one that might have the character of the famous sea-side courses of Great Britain. The project was soon undertaken by a group of local golf enthusiasts, many who gave generously of their time and financial resources to support the construction of Kittansett.

A club was formed and the course was built with play beginning in 1923. Kittansett was one of the first courses to be built with predetermined specifications. Several experts had been consulted regarding the course layout, including Donald Ross and William Flynn, but it was founding member Frederic C. Hood who undertook the actual construction of the course based on his considerable knowledge of American and British golf courses of that day. The fairways were laid out over uncut wooded territory through which paths were cut as the areas for the holes took shape. The New England ground produced glacial stone and Hood built mounds to cover these huge boulders. The land provided well-drained and unusually fine fairways and greens. The course layout originated and concluded at the unprotected ocean end of the Point.