SFCC was part of the boom of golf clubs that sprang up in the United States around the turn of the last century. Increased economic prosperity along with more time for leisure activities broadened the appeal of the game. Showy, interesting players like Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen dominated competitions and caught the public’s attention. 
 
Prior to this, golf was primarily a game for the wealthy; few public courses existed and private clubs were prohibitively expensive.  The USGA was created in 1894 and the PGA was formed in 1916, with the PGA Tour following in 1929.
 
The idea for SFCC all started 99 years ago with some clever publicity in the local, four-page Weekly Advertiser newspaper. Lloyd Early Johnson, the owner and editor of the small paper, published a compelling but anonymous letter advocating for a community golf club to serve as a social hub, similar to what was sprouting up in suburbs and small towns around the Northeast. It’s believed that Johnson penned the letter himself.  Evidently, he felt it would be more persuasive coming from a regular citizen.
 
Through his published announcement, Johnson appealed to the residents’ pride in their community and to their desire to expand their social networks.  His missive appealed to business owners and employees alike. Enthusiasm quickly spread and by mid-summer of 1924, a small group of interested people met to discuss details. Within months, officers were elected and members paid $10. The Gottshall farm tract--114 acres with a creek twisting through the hilly terrain-- was purchased, and the club was incorporated in November of 1924.
 
Renowned golf course architect and golf enthusiast J. Franklin Meehan was brought on and designed an 18-hole course on the site of the purchased dairy farm. The newly-formed club was anxious to play and persuaded Meehan to begin construction and complete nine holes by early 1925.
 
Just about half a year later, on Saturday, May 8, 1925, using temporary greens, the first foursome teed off on the 9-hole course.  Work continued through the summer and the first tournament was held on Saturday, August 22, 1925.  Work and play continued and members competed for SFCC’s first Club Championship in October 1925, just 18 months after Johnson first pitched his idea publicly.
 
Following WWII, the 1950s found another swell of interest in golf, and courses around the country eagerly expanded from 9-holes to regulation length. SFCC was no exception and William Gordon, you had an impressive resume building and expanding courses, was commissioned to redesign the course. He expertly mingled his style with Meehan’s and transformed SFCC to an 18-hole course in 1958. 
 
For decades, players enjoyed this challenging test of golf with trademark Meehan features such as perched greens woven in with Gordon’s scale and layering of bunkers. In the 1990s, Gil Hanse, Golf Magazine’s 2009 Architect of the Year, was contracted to evaluate and recommend revisions and improvements for the course and SFCC incorporated his ideas into its master plan.
 
Time takes a toll and by 2020 the course, especially the bunkers, needed renovating. Amid another golf boom brought on by the pandemic and the work-from-home trend that it created, architect, Tyler Rae, was hired. His vision was to bring back a grander scale, to make the land the star, to open up the creek and to layer huge bunkers, creating stunning visuals from the tee. Renovations began in the fall of 2021 and extended into the 2022 season. The rest, as they say, is history.