Devereux Emmet


Devereux Emmet was a pioneering American golf course architect who designed more than 150 courses worldwide.

Early life

Devereux Emmet was born in Pelham, New York, on December 11, 1861, one of eight children of William Jenkins Emmet and Julia Colt Pierson. He was the great-grandson of Thomas Addis Emmet.

College and marriage

Emmet graduated from Columbia University in 1883; in 1889 he married Ella B. Smith in an elaborate wedding at her home in New York City. Miss Smith, born in 1858, was the daughter of Judge J. Lawrence Smith and a niece of Alexander Turney Stewart. Ella's sister Elizabeth "Bessie" Springs Smith was the wife of architect Stanford White. The couple had two children, Richard Smith Emmet and Devereux Emmet, Jr..

Golf course design career

On a vacation in England he spent time with his friend, Charles B. Macdonald, who was measuring British golf courses in preparation for the design of the National Golf Links of America. Emmet's first design was Island Golf Links, a predecessor of Garden City Golf Club. A friend of his remarked:
In 1924 he hired Alfred H. Tull as a design associate, and in 1929 made him a partner in the firm of Emmet, Emmet and Tull. The Tull-Emmet partnership continued until Emmet's death in 1934.

Amateur golf

Emmet was a talented amateur golfer. He made the quarter-finals of the 1904 British Amateur and won the Bahamas Amateur at the age of 66. In 1916, after he won the father-son tournament at Sleepy Hollow Country Club with Devereux Emmet, Jr., the United States Golf Association instituted the so-called architects rule that barred golf course architects from competing as amateurs in tournaments.

Death and legacy

Devereux Emmet died in Garden City, New York, on December 30, 1934.

Courses designed

Emmet designed many of his courses in an era of wooden-shafted clubs. Because the holes are often short by current standards many of his designs have since been reworked.