by William Kelly
Originally Published: 1997 Hard Copy
Pages: 160
Brief Description: The first 100 years of Golf at Atlantic City Country Club; photo illustrated; profusely illustrated in black and white; history of the club and its luminaries.
Cost: $40.00
(Complete E-book will be e-mailed to you.)
Item No.: TOP-0003
For a preview of Birth of the Birdie - The First 100 Years of Golf at Atlantic City Country Club, see the chapters below:
Part 1
1900's - The Turn of the Century
The Ozone Club
1901 U.S. Amateur Championship
Walter J. Travis
John J. Mc Dermott
The Trolley and the Bell
Clarence H. Geist
James 'Jolly Jim' and Millie Frazer
Walter Hagen
The Course
Golf in Atlantic City
Leo Frazer - The Early Years
Leo Frazer - In His Own Words
Charles 'Chick' Evans
Clarence Hackney
Bob Hope
The War Years - 1941 to 1945
Part 2
James 'Sonny' Frazer
James 'Sonny' Frazer Invitational Tournament
Ed Dudley
Leo Frazer - The Later Years
Wilfred Reid
1948 U.S. Women's Open
1948 U.S. Women's Open Championship - Whitey Gruhler's Account
Mildred 'Babe' Didrikson Zaharias
Arnold Palmer's Coast Guard Days
Women Amateurs
1965 U.S. Women's Open
Carol Mann
Catherine Lacoste
1975 U.S. Women's Open
Sandra Palmer
Nancy Lopez
The Caddy Tradition
Atlantic City Country Club Pros
Don Siok
1980 PGA Seniors Tournament - The Beginning
Don January
Julius Boros
The Clubhouse
Leo Frazer - 1910 - 1986
Jim Frazer - The Past, Present and Future
Epilogue - Miles McCann
The Champions
Atlantic City Country Club Golf Professionals
Atlantic City Country Club Longtime Employees
Atlantic City Country Club Firsts
Additional excerpts from the book below:
BIRTH OF THE BIRDIE - ATLANTIC CITY COUNTRY CLUB
That the term "birdie" is of American origin or that it was coined at the Atlantic City Country Club is undisputed, though some of the details have shifted in the sands of time.
In Country Life magazine, on September 20, 1913, famed British golf writer Bernard Darwin wrote, "It takes a day or two for the English onlooker [in the U.S.] to understand that….a ‘birdie’ is a hole done in a stroke under par."
Since Atlantic City became a major resort town, people came from all over America and the world to vacation, and those who played golf went to the Atlantic City Country Club, where they learned of the local tradition, picked up the term and took it with them back to their home course.
The term "eagle," for two-under par, also has an Atlantic City Country Club origin, and first saw print in 1922.
Today a plaque marks the spot where Ab Smith made the first "bird of a shot," now used as the practice green.