The Butte Country Club, Montana’s pioneer golf club now in its 119th year of operation, plays host this year for the 24th time to the Montana State Amateur Golf Tournament.
The first Montana State Amateur Golf Tournament was held at the Butte Country Club August 17-19, 1917, as a wartime Red Cross benefit. That inaugural event gave birth to the Montana State Golf Association as it known today.
The club’s affiliation with Montana amateur golf is a long and storied one. Butte Country Club members have captured 39 of the 101 State Amateur titles that have been won since the MSGA tournaments started in 1917. The string was started by E.J. (Ted) Barker, who won the first official state championship in 1917 and then went on to capture eight more titles to establish himself as the MSGA’s leading titleholder. Other iconic Butte golfers to take home the title include Eugene Jones (6), George Sarsfield (2), Ed Zemljak (6), Danny Kane (3), Louie Bartoletti (2) and the last Butte Native to win it was Rick Lyons in 1999.
Recent Improvements
There have been several improvements within the past five years that have made the Butte Country Club more accessible to members and guests.
We’ve added two new ponds on the back nine. The first is in between Holes 10 & 11 and the second pond in is just off the right side of #11 green. Another great addition we’ve made is adding a short game area just south of the driving range. It’s a 60 yard area that allows players to tune up their game within the scoring distances.
The final amenity we’ve added is a Full Swing Golf Simulator. It’s been a huge success thus far with the membership. It’s a great way for us Montanans to play golf year round!!
History of the Butte Country Club
Looking back on the rich history of the Butte Country Club it’s hard to know what to include in this synopsis. After spending hours looking through old memorabilia of the Butte Country Club and trying to compile the right description of who we are and where we came from I ran across a poem one of our members wrote in 1998 describing the heartbeat behind this Club. I feel it sums up the history of our Club perfectly. I hope you enjoy!!
-Pat Johnson, 1998
Nestled in this little town amidst the towering pines
Where gallows frames linger and evidence of mines
Is a town that whispers history, a town that smiles pride,
Where memories of yesterday, today are by our side.
A golf course that is aging-it’s near a century old.
A golf course with a history and stories, some untold.
‘Twas born in 1899 on South Montana Street,
But need for clay deposits brought the golf course its defeat.
It then moved to its present site, the course composed of sand,
But trouble hit the clubhouse soon when the fire played its hand.
The Country Club we know now today is 84 years old.
Montana’s first grass course was mowed in ’41, we’re told.
Golfers toured through gullies, dirt, and sagebrush, too.
Caddies raked the black-sand greens and earned their pay, it’s true.
The man-made Lake Avoca was used for ice one day.
It sat upon a portion of the course we now play.
Years went by and progress came, old became what’s new.
The structure was rebuilt, and the grounds, they changes some, too.
The pro shop came, the swimming pool, the tennis courts and more.
The course, it showed improvement, as each golfer with his score.
The club is known for champions, of Butte and of the State.
They represent our city, and their honor is first rate.
The VIPs who came here are too numerous to name.
A few have touched our country club-they played so well their game.
Byron Nelson, Patty Berg, Massengale and more,
Jan Steered, Jim Sweeney, and they all know how to score.
Knievel and his long-time friends-actors and of sport.
They visited this mining town, to them a fine resort.
But, regardless of what year it is or what the annals say,
The game they loved to play back then is like it is today.
We come to feel the sunshine or battle through the rain.
We count the strokes with honesty, though often times with pain!
A wave from a familiar face or meeting on the tee,
A drive right down the middle that’s hindered by a tree,
A glimpse of mountains bold and true, a creek that flows with peace,
No matter if the putt is made, our love of golf won’t cease.
As the fairway stretches up ahead, it takes a dogleg right.
Yesteryear is history, and tomorrow’s looking bright.
Though drives may slice and chips may chunk and goals may seem so far,
A good day at the B.C.C makes bogey feel like par!
