Town & Country Club

Overview: Town & Country Club in Saint Paul is one of the foundational places in Minnesota golf. The private course occupies a historic river setting and now combines a long club tradition with a modernized parkland layout. Its architectural record is layered: early golf was laid out informally, E.J. Frost designed the first formal nine, Robert Foulis became the club's first professional and later improved the course, and more recent work has continued the process of adaptation. The current course is best understood as a living historic club rather than a single untouched design.

History: Town & Country Club was organized in 1888 and moved to its present Mississippi River location in 1890. The first round of golf in Minnesota was played at the club in 1893, initially over a handful of holes marked out with simple equipment. E.J. Frost laid out a formal nine in 1895, another nine opened in 1898, and Robert Foulis joined the club as its first professional that year. Foulis improved the course while teaching, making clubs and tending the greens, helping establish the technical and social foundations of Minnesota golf.

Did You Know? The first Minnesota golf holes were marked with a lawn mower, an old driver, a gutta-percha ball and simple stakes. That origin story places Town & Country at the beginning of the state's organized golf history rather than merely among its oldest surviving clubs.