Red Oak Country Club celebrates 100 years

The Red Oak Country Club is celebrated a major milestone.
Oct. 31 marks the 100-year anniversary of the clubhouse. Club members and brothers Bill and Bob Boeye have been compiling the club’s history into a documentary film to be presented at a celebration Nov. 2 at the Red Oak Country Club.
The documentary traces the history of Red Oak citizens journey to bringing the game of golf to the community.  Bob stated “I started researching it because I wanted to provide the history of the club of those who came before and their legacy of hard work and the joy of the game.”
The mutual process of the documentary started in 2016 and over the years has morphed into a 70 minute documentary.  Bill summarized their reason for this venture.
“Bob and I were talking about the Country Club and he thought it would be a good idea to memorialize the history of the golf course and clubhouse. He had been talking with Fred Davis about all of the stories the old timers use to tell us when were were kids when the realization hit them that we were now the old-timers! That thought started the project in 2016. Bob started off with researching the old Red Oak Express microfiche at the library and some artifacts from the club. We dragged in Bob’s son Beau and put together a rickety framework. We decided to do a video documentary Ken Burns style but had to learn from scratch and self help YouTube education.”
Through their research they discovered, through the Red Oak Express digital archives, that the Country Club clubhouse was dedicated on Oct. 31, 1924. Although they had plans to show it at various other times, the documentary kept growing and took on its own, never-ending life and never seemed to be done. The 100th year anniversary of the building of the clubhouse gave them a deadline of Oct. 31, 2024.
Golf in Red Oak actually preceded the building of the country club. Red Oak’s first golf course was built on the land that currently houses the Inman Elementary building as far back as 1897.
Bob relayed “We had no idea at that time that golf had been in Red Oak that far back. We started doing the deep research, and I don’t think anybody had an idea that the clubhouse was built 100 years ago this year. The railroad didn’t go through Red Oak until 1869, so the first settlers traveled by horse and wagon and founded the town. Some of the settlers were farmers, some were bankers, some ran hotels, churches, businesses and all other occupations that make a village or a Junction as Red Oak was originally called.. It was fascinating that out of this variety of citizens that some of them thought playing golf was a good idea.”
Another piece of history Bill found interesting was the fact that the country club actually went through a period of being called the Oak Hill Country Club for about two decades. “The new Club was started in 1919 by local businessmen who had champagne tastes on a beer budget. Once they realized their expenses were much greater than the income generated by the club and that the value of the land drastically fell after World War I they solved the problem. The members came up with a financial solution. Wealthier men put money in for the benefit of all of the members and the facility became known as The Oak Hills Country Club and as soon as they financially got on their feet changed back to the Red Oak Country Club. As part of this solution, the name was changed to the Oak Hills Country Club. This temporary restructure of finance was to last only about five years but in reality lasted until 1942.”
As the club moved through the Great Depression and World War II, Bill said little was affected. “Red Oak has always had an active membership and, if you look back through the history who were the members, you’ll see that the club was not an exclusive club but was supported by all kinds of just regular folks. The club always had a good membership base and was able to persevere through the depression and WWII.
One of the bigger changes at the club took place less than 50 years ago, when the “back nine” was added. “It was a nine hole course until around 1988. It had always been the members’ dream to add the acreage to the south to construct an additional nine holes. The club was able to acquire that ground in the mid 1980s and in 1988 the Red Oak Country Club became a full fledged 18 hole course.
The brothers had never taken on a task such as the documentary, and it presented many challenges over the eight years. The project took on a life in itself in that every article seemed to open new inquiries and new paths. The paths were pursued, fleshed out and many were discarded. During the process the Red Oak Express microfiche system was thankfully replaced by the online Red Oak Express digital archives that opened up so much more information. Local photographer Steve Miller worked with the Montgomery County History Center to copy black and white negatives from their collection of Express photos to add to the documentary images, and family members dug through their old films and pictures to add to the effort.
Bill commented that for him and his brother, the country club has always been a family affair for them and other members. They agree that the club has always faced the headwinds and the unfortunate impression that the club was exclusive. The club was created and grown because it was a social meeting place for the people of Red Oak back before the modern times we live in. As was stated by an article in the 1923 American Golfer magazine, “ A day or so on the grounds of the Oak Hill Country Club will furnish abundant evidence that the club is run for the glory of the game and all good things that go with that and that it comes pretty close to being a community affair. It is a bucolic Tom, Dick and Harry club.”
One of the things that has been a boost for the club in recent years was opening up to non-member events, such as dining, and adding the kitchen crew from Johnny’s Steakhouse to the country club’s own kitchen staff.