HomeMy WebLinkAbout1925-02-13 - Foster Golf Links HistoryFoster Golf Course
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Early History of
Foster Golf Links, Tukwila, WA
Established 1925; Course Opened 2-13-1925; Second Nine Opened 1927
Course Architect: George H. Eddy
Named after the town of Foster (in turn named after Joseph Foster, an early Washington pioneer),
Foster Golf Links sits on the banks of the Duwamish River in what is now Tukwila, Washington. The golf
course began as a dream of one man who sought to own and operate a golf course. His name was
George Henry Eddy.
Seattle Times - March 4, 1938 Advertisement
Golf professional, golf architect, entrepreneur, inventor, Eddy was born in Zennor, Cornwall, England on
May 23, 1878. He emigrated to America in 1910 at the age of 32. His whereabouts from 1910 to 1914 is
a mystery until he surfaced in Oregon in 1914. He became the golf professional at a number of golf
clubs in Oregon including the Salem Golf Club in 1914, Pendleton Country Club from 1916 - 1919, and
Baker Country Club in 1920 - 1921. It was during this time, in 1914, that he laid out the second nine at
Gearhart Golf Links (Oregonian 9-20-1914).
He moved to Renton, Washington in 1922 to become the golf professional at Earlington Golf Club where
he would stay until 1924. Then Eddy took a bold and risky venture: he would build a new golf course
and operate it with his wife. Golf’s popularity exploded during the 1920s following World War I and
demand for more golf courses was high.
In the Puget Sound area, golf clubs were being added at a rapid rate: Rainier opened for play in 1920,
Inglewood in 1921, Fircrest in 1923, Glen Acres in 1924, and Broadmoor in 1924. And then there were
Jefferson Park and Earlington Golf Club nearby. Even with golf’s rapid growth, how could a new,
fledgling golf course built and managed by husband and wife survive in competition with all these other
clubs?
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Yet it did. In 1924, against the advice of others, and mortgaged to the hilt, Eddy purchased a fifty acre
tract of land on the Foster homestead on the banks of the Duwamish River. By September, 1924 Eddy
began laying out a nine hole course.
By February, 1925 the course, initially referred to as the Maple Grove golf course, was ready for play.
Constructed during the winter months, the course was undoubtedly rough. Yet the entire golfing
community in the Puget Sound area turned out in support of George Eddy’s creation.
Seattle Times – Feb. 8, 1925
On February 13, 1925, Foster Golf Links officially opened for play with a four-ball tournament. Governor
Louis F. Hart launched the first tee shot. In the feature match, Walter Pursey, Inglewood club pro
teamed up with amateur Lee Steil to defeat Robert Johnstone, Seattle club pro and amateur Bon Stein
1-up. Low score of the day was turned in by Pursey with a 72. Stein was low amateur with a 78.
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Green fees were 50 cents for all day. The old Foster farm house was used as the club house. Mrs. Eddy
did the cooking, and sold sandwiches. Thus began Eddys’ one family business venture.
Foster Golf Links Clubhouse – circa 1930 (Courtesy of MOHAI)
Measuring 3100 yards for nine holes, the course was of standard length for the time. It boasted two of
the longest holes on the Pacific coast: the No. 5 hole at 656 yards long, par 6, and the No. 7 hole at 598
yards, par 6. The holes were each split into two when the course expanded to 18 holes in 1927.
In 1927, Eddy purchased the adjoining property to bring the course to a full eighteen holes on 85 acres
of land. Eddy believed a 6000 yard course could be laid out, although for most of its existence, the
course operated between 5000 – 5500 yards.
Somehow the course survived the Great Depression and the 1933 flood which nearly destroyed the golf
course when the Duwamish River overran its banks. “It rained the entire month of December that year,
and by Christmas Eve, the flooding Duwamish River had belched unbelievable quantities of debris on the
course. Fairways, tees, and greens along its path were strewn with logs, pitted with holes and saturated
with water and muck.”
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Ever resourceful, George Eddy took out patents on several golf equipment, including this “leaf vacuum
machine” that he used on the Foster Golf Links.
Seattle Times 12-9-1934
George Eddy died in 1941 at the age of 63. His son, Robert Eddy, operated the course for some time
until 1951 when he sold the golf course to Joe Aliment. Aliment had worked for George Eddy as caddie
master and greens keeper since 1925.
In 1978 the City of Tukwila purchased the Foster Golf Links from Aliment brothers. Ceremony for the
transfer of the property took place under the maple tree planted on July 4, 1873 by Joseph Foster, early
pioneer. The tree still stands today in a dedicated area next to the parking lot.
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On September 19-20, 2015 the Northwest Hickory Players hosted its first annual Pacific Northwest
Hickory Championship at Foster Golf Links and at West Seattle Golf Course.
In discussing the course record at Foster, Billy Aliment recalled in 1978 that a “young amateur” shot a 61
on the par 68 course some years earlier during the Seattle City Amateur. That young amateur? He is no
other than Northwest Hickory Players’ own Roy Niznik.
Written by Martin Pool
October, 2015
fas1863@hotmail.com
www.nwhickoryplayers.org