St. Augustine and the Fort

A remarkable 1902 photograph features golfers teeing off on the 4th hole of the St. Augustine Golf Club, one of several holes adjacent to the landmark 17th century Castillo de San Marcos, which was then known as Fort Marion. The St. Augustine Golf Club officially opened its golf course in 1895 with three holes located on the grounds of the fort. The club soon acquired more nearby land and expanded to nine holes. Unlike many early clubs, membership was open to both men and women. As part of their agreement with the Fort, the St. Augustine Golf Club disbanded in the 1920s, the club had to replace the greens, remove the tee boxes, and replant the grounds with grass. Today, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, operated by the National Park Service, remains Florida’s dominant Spanish Colonial landmark and the oldest masonry fort in the United States.

In the early 1900s, the City of St. Augustine had three golf courses, the St. Augustine Golf Club, St. Augustine Country Club, and the Ponce de Leon which was designed by Donald Ross. In 1925, St. Augustine sought to become the ‘‘winter golf capital of America” when D.P. Davis, who had created Davis Island in Tampa, announced he was creating a new development, “Davis Shores” on nearby Anastasia Island. Davis hired golf architect A.W. Tillinghast to design two 18-hole golf courses. When Davis died in late 1926 his grand plans were never finalized.