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Golf on Cape Cod - Golf History
Memories of Seapuit
Among the dwindling number of former Seapuit caddies — all of them having learned the game on its natural fairways and rough greens – is retired Osterville businessman Warren Hansen, who, along with Shields, can now be found touring the fairways of Cummaquid Golf Club. With a gleam in his eyes, Hansen recounted the days he looped at Seapuit. “I carried many bags there. I remember it as hilly with small greens and, believe me, roughs that were rougher than rough. I was one of about six kids who was paid a dollar a day to show up to caddy for the guests. I think we were paid something like 50 cents each time we caddied.” The elder Shields chimed in saying, “I’ll tell you what caddies in my time got. Twenty cents, and then later a quarter. Maybe a nickel tip. And this was a private club for the wealthy.” Hanson also remembered the small caddy shack, and other highlights of his employment at Seapuit. It wasn’t all fun and games though, and he recounted the day his pants caught fire while caddying for a player. He had a pack of matches in his back pocket, and the friction from the bag caused them to ignite as it rubbed against his pants. He also fondly remembered Camelia Bearse, “A pretty young lady who served as kind of a manager in the pro shop.” Ex-caddies, such as Walter “Buster” Sanford of Osterville, remembered what it was like to serve the wealthy members of Seapuit. They would roar up to the club in their sleek, shiny limousines. The cars carried wealthy corporation power brokers and members of Congress who had come to tee it up at Seapuit. There were humorous stories about things that took place aside from the golf. “I remember it for more than just caddying,” Sanford said with a slight chuckle. “I had the scare of my life as a kid one day when I was walking down a fairway, and out of the woods came these two huge Irish wolfhounds. I thought they meant to chew me up. I went running down the fairway yelling for help. It turned out they just wanted to play.” If one were to break down the history of Seapuit, it could be done in two parts — the early years, which ran through 1930, and the final 12 years of the club’s existence. During the early years, the operation was run by Parsons, until his death in 1925. Davis was associated with the Aluminum Company of America until 1928, when it was bought out by Aluminum Limited of Montreal. He was named president of the new company. Of his three sons, Joel, who now resides in Brooksfield, Maine, is considered the family’s “Seapuit Historian.” Davis’ other two sons, Nathaniel and Holbrook, both live in Osterville. “When Parsons died in 1925, Seapuit Inn went into bankruptcy,” Joel explained. “My father bought the course and the Inn in 1930, but he tore down the Inn two years later.” Joel Davis remembered Seapuit as an active course, played mostly by business executives who were friends or acquaintances of his father and by Washington politicians. Back then it was extremely private, and only the privileged few could get on the course to play. In later years, however, caddies were able to sneak on and play, as the pro and the shop manager looked the other way. The course itself was pretty well respected and made more challenging by the existence of two ponds on the premises, Bog and Dam. Bog was a fresh-water pond, while Dam was a body of salt-water that was actually a part of West Bay, according to Joel Davis. “There is no question that many golf balls found their way into those ponds,” Davis pointed out. When scouring the history books for information on the course, only two names surfaced in a search for golf professionals who worked at Seapuit — Roy Brondson and Al Grauer. Brondson later became the head professional at Wianno Golf Club, and Grauer’s son, Don, would later be named the head professional at Hyannisport Golf Club. Joe Hallett of Cotuit, a retired plumbing contractor, also caddied and played at Seapuit before it was abandoned. He had a close friendship with Grauer. “He was great with the caddies and very helpful to me,” Hallett said. “I don’t remember how long he was there, but he was very good to all of us.” Hallett also had a strong recollection of the course. “The hole I remember best was the par-3 on which you couldn’t see the green from the tee.” That was the 165-yard fifth hole, the only par-3 hole on the entire layout.
The other holes bore their own names, many of them self-explanatory. They were: No. 1, “First”; No. 2, “Waterloo”; No. 3, “Commandment”; No. 4, “Yellow Leg Cove”; No. 7, “Easy Street” and No. 9, “Home.” Hitler was sweeping his way through Europe, and it was only a matter of time before the United States was going to be included in this conflict. The number of rounds decreased as the men of power became more wrapped up in World War II and maintaining the course became more of a chore. “I would say the threat of war and my father’s waning interest in the golf course combined to lead him to close Seapuit,” Joel Davis explained. Even so, the course remained open until mid-1942. Davis took the profits that the course generated during 1941 and 1942 and donated them to the American Field Service. “The reason he did that,” his son explained, “was because my brother, Holbrook, was driving an A.F.S. ambulance in North Africa where our troops had landed.” The actual onset of war was the final nail in the coffin for Seapuit. Davis pulled the plug on any further activities in mid-1942 and closed one of the early chapters of golf history on the Cape, a history that the “Seapuit Kids” — Hallett, Sanford, Shields, Hanson, and a handful more — fondly remember.
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But, of the legions of golfers who troop across Cape Cod courses today, there are only a handful with a memory of the long-gone private links that spread west across the rolling, well-wooded section of Osterville. It might still be here, were it not for World War II and the owner’s decision to give it up.
Then came the transition years. The entire package — hotel and golf course — was bought by E.K. Davis, whose present-day estate encompasses a large section of the village of Osterville.
Overall, the course had seven par-4 holes and one par-3 and a par-5. The total distance of the course was 3,001 yards and played as a par 36. The par-5 hole measured 500 yards and carried the moniker “Bunker Hill.” There was no explanation as to why, but one can only speculate that it was like fighting a battle, much like the patriots during the Revolutionary War.