If you are a golfer, you grew up knowing that the game's first venue was the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. You may not know that the game's American roots can be traced to the tiny rural community of Foxburg in northwestern Pennsylvania. Golf has been played in America - in one form or another - since 1786, but none of the courses established before 1888 has survived to the present day, except one.
The Fox family emigrated to America from England in the footsteps of William Penn and established themselves in Philadelphia as a family of distinction and means. The family took an active role in the politics of the day. On January 10, 1765, Joseph Fox was elected Speaker of the Colonial Council. His first act as Speaker was the appointment of Benjamin Franklin as Colonial Agent to England.
Later, as a member of the Committee of Correspondence, he would meet with Paul Revere following his famous ride from Boston to Lexington. On July 25, 1777, Joseph took the Oath of Allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania as a free and Independent Commonwealth, renouncing all allegiance to George III.
On May 1, 1785, the Land Office of Pennsylvania issued warrants for land purchase in Western Pennsylvania. Ten years later, Samuel Fox purchased six warrants along the Allegheny River, establishing the site for what would later become the oldest continuously used golf course in the United States.
In June 1884, Samuel's great-grandson, Joseph Mickle Fox, sailed to England as a member of Philadelphia's Merion Cricket Club team, "The Gentlemen of Philadelphia," to participate in many cricket matches in England, Ireland, and Scotland. The American team was good enough to reach the championship match, which was played in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 6 and 7.
Following the match, young Fox was invited by friends to travel to St. Andrews to watch golf being played. This new game instantly took him, and he soon struck up a friendship with bearded old pro, Tom Morris, Sr., who taught him the fundamentals and provided him with clubs and balls.
Fox returned to America and began to play golf with his friends and neighbors on the meadows of the estate his grandfather had carved out of the wilderness. Enthusiasm for golf grew so quickly that it soon became apparent that the holes Fox had laid out on the family estate could not accommodate the number of golfers who wanted to learn and play the game. So, in 1887, the Foxburg Golf Club was organized, and Joseph Fox provided the land upon which to build a golf course. The game has been played here ever since.
