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1901
Golf was news as the new century celebrated its first anniversary. The Portsmouth Herald reported on January 7, 1901 that “Parlor Golf is the latest.” On March 1st, The Herald took cognizance of the fast-approaching golf season:
“In a few weeks more, the golfers will appear in all their enthusiasm and the air will resound with calls for caddies. How they must have chafed through this long winter, with nothing more enlivening than bridge, whist, hearts, or pink tea gossip to engage their time.”
Scarcely had the Ides of March passed when the tiny seed, placed by “The Amateur” nearly a year before, germinated — the formation of a Country Club was an idea whose time had come.
The interest in that first meeting, to discuss organizing a country club and golf facility, drew the interest of 36 members. Two days before the second meeting, the Herald reported:
“Members of the Country Club tell me that the grounds of the Lafayette Road (Langdon Farm), upon which it is proposed to erect the club house, are finely located and can be easily converted into an admirable golf links. I am also told that the building will be single story, very roomy and have a gorgeous view of the course. The Portsmouth Country Club is destined to be one of the most important social organizations in the city.”
One problem was the remoteness of the site from downtown Portsmouth. There were no automobiles in Portsmouth at that time. Wherever people wanted to go they walked, cycled, drove their own horse and buggy or took the trolley which had come into service in 1898. At first, the electric cars served Middle Street to the Plains. Then a line was built along Islington Street which completed the Plains loop.
Before the Portsmouth Country Club was even incorporated, its prospective members started lobbying for a trolley line that would extend to the club grounds. In May 1901, the Mayor and Aldermen petitioned to permit the Boston & Maine Railroad, owners of the city trolley line, to extend its tracks beyond the Hayes Farm. As they were pleading with the city farmers, a fast talking, fast moving developer of electric railways, Wallace D. Lowell, swept into the city, unfolding, in a whirlwind visit, his plans for a power station that would provide a trolley line between Portsmouth and Exeter.
1929
Bigger is better and a new 18-hole course means a big investment and possibly a year of two to build. A special meeting was held July 2nd, and the members gave the go-ahead to expand. The committee proposed buying the low land between the existing gold course and Greenland Road.
A headline in the Herald on July 23rd announced that the new 18-hole layout would be “6,000 Miles Long.” No doubt, over the next quarter century, many players did think the course was of that length when their shots went stray, but on July 10, 1929, the PCC acquired 49.5 acres of land.
1930
Tragedy struck PCC on April 27th, when a small airplane crashed on the course, killing two youngsters who were passengers. The pilot had taken off from Portsmouth Airport, and the plane was climbing when its engine started to skip. The pilot turned back, but realized he couldn’t make the airport. He tried an emergency landing on the upper part of the golf course, but a wing snagged a tree, and the plane crashed, bursting into flames. Roberson’s heroic efforts to save his passengers were in vain. The flight had been purely intended for the pleasure of the two youngsters.
Not only did the flaming crash cause two deaths, but also started one of the worst bush fires in years. The blaze spread through the undergrowth, swept over the Portsmouth Gun Club’s range, destroying the shooting lodge and a storehouse.
1955 to 2004
In August of 1955, the Army Engineers took Portsmouth Country Club by eminent domain proceedings. Also, the PCC name changed to Pease Golf Course. In September of 1955, the members acquired one of the longest cultivated tracts of land in the State of New Hampshire, for future building.
As Pease Golf Course stands today, it is a three-nine hole course. It remains a public golf course for the enjoyment of residents and tourists of the Seacoast region.