The Mobile Clubhouse

Once upon a time there was a most unique golf course that was set upon land that would eventually separate two countries, two political ideologies and a thin red line was so hot that any aggression by either side could set off a World War.

The golf course and its golf club I am writing about today predates these hostilities and what set it apart from almost every golf club across the world was its clubhouse…for its clubhouse was mobile and it literally moved every single day and one could argue, it was in a constant state of motion.

Your first thought may be that I am talking about a temporary clubhouse made from a mobile home. We have all seen them- no big deal.

Well I assure you this is not your average mobile clubhouse, for the club house at Guantanamo Bay was a United States Navy Battleship.

The golf club at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba was established in March of 1915 by the Admiral of the Atlantic Fleet and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher. The nine hole seaside golf course was built upon the beach and had nine holes which played in view of its floating clubhouse.

The “golf links” as the men called it, were nothing to write home about, but as the ship’s doctor once said of their fair course, “I think the men have more real enjoyment from playing these links, than men who play on high class links all the time.”

The Golf Links was once situated on the south west side of the bay, known as the "Hicical Beach,” or in the Naval parlance the "Hich Cackle" side. The land is still part of the United States base at Guantanamo, though the golf course has been lost to time.

The nine hole course was a proper course with a length of 3500 yards and a par of 42. The course’s difficulty would often depend on the season. As the ground was largely made up of clay soil, in the dry season the drives would roll for an eternity, but in the wet season the ball would sit upon hitting the ground, making the course a monster for 1915.

The architect of these links was Captain Reynolds of the USS Culgoa, who named the course, “The Culgoa Golf Links” in his ship’s honor. In truth the USS Culgoa was its first ever clubhouse, but the clubhouse would not only move every day with the waves of the sea, but the clubhouse would change as different ships came to port and the USS Culgoa would depart on orders.

I will leave you with the words of Dr. G.F. Freeman who did a crack job describing his beloved links, “These links are natural and the golf is more like golf in the early days when it was played in a field or across country, but the spirit and the game is the same.”

(This story was made possible thanks to an article published by Dr. G.F. Freeman in the American Golfer in June 1915)

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Yours in Golf History,

Connor T.