Golf has been played on the Cape for over a century. Heralded as Cape Cod’s oldest golf course, and perhaps its most scenic is the Highland Links in North Truro. This link-style course is one of America s golf treasures, perched high along windswept bluffs overlooking the Atlantic next to a vintage Cape Cod Lighthouse. Founded in 1892, the Highland Golf Course is a destination that is not to be missed.
The Birth of Social Golf and the J.H. Sears Shipping Company
In the 1890’s, golf became a new social status symbol and a new athletic craze that blossomed quickly. While the Professional Golf Association of America did not yet formally exist, there were several golf professionals discussing the formation of a national organization starting in this decade. In Brewster Massachusetts, a sea captain named John Henry Sears became an early fan of the game. After acquiring a fleet of thirty-seven ships that sailed over the entire world, he now had the luxury of time and resources to pursue his new passion of advancing the sport.
His company, the J.H. Sears Shipping Company was officially on the wharf of Boston. He eventually built up a roster of forty registered sea captains with whom he could trade, transporting cargo to almost every port around the world. Throughout the growth of his shipping enterprise, he always kept Brewster as his homebase. Realizing that his captains would occasionally have some spare time on their hands and also have a need for some relaxation and social interaction, he began his plans to construct the Sears Clubhouse and Golf Course.
The Sears Clubhouse and Golf Course
This clubhouse was located near his home at a very high ocean bluff, one of the highest points on the Cape, where today the Eddy Bay Nature Trail provides an outstanding view of the flats. The largest and most notable tidal flats in North America are the Brewster Flats in Brewster, Cape Cod Bay. These are extensive areas of sandbars, tidal pools, and diverse sea life that are openly exposed at low tide, spanning over 12,000 acres along 10 miles of coastline.
The Legacy of the “White Lady” Figurehead
Captain J. Henry Sears acquired ownership of the ship I_mperial_ in 1875. According to local oral stories, he added possession of the “White Lady” figurehead in 1876. The shipping record lists New York, Liverpool, San Francisco, Antwerp, Shanghai, and Portland among the ship’s various ports of call. The ship was eventually turned into a three-masted schooner-barge, but later met her end in 1896, running aground on a sandbar in New Jersey. He displayed his strong love and appreciation for maritime life, by placing the “White Lady” taken from _the Imperial,_ right next to his new clubhouse.
The Captains Golf Course
Close to ninety years later, the town of Brewster opened its first publicly operated golf course, the “Captains Golf Course.” The original 18-hole Starboard Course at the Captains Golf Course was opened in 1985. In 1999, an additional 18 holes were added, creating the Port Course, leaving most of the original layout to become the Starboard Course. So, today, there are two distinct golf courses in the town upon which every hole bears the name of a local sea captain. Together, they are collectively known as “The Captains’ Golf Course.”
Appropriately enough, the finishing 18th hole of the Port course carries the name of J. Henry Sears on the tee box. The selection of the name, “The Captains Course” was originally chosen by the first town’s golf committee. This name was based on the significant number of local clipper ship captains residing in the town. Ironically, close to a century after the efforts of J.H. Sear’s to initiate golf in his town, a new course was constructed. It was aptly but perhaps unaware of some local history given the title of “the Captains Golf Course”.
A Photograph From Yesteryears
A photograph taken in the year 1900, depicts Captain Sears with his friends and family standing in front of his clubhouse with the figurehead,” the White Lady”, prominently featured right behind him.
Picture Courtesy of the Brewster Historical Society.
