History

The history of Tequesta Country Club began in 1955 when Charles Martyn, a land developer, "discovered" this unique area and set about creating the Jupiter Inlet Colony, the J.I.B. Club and Waterway Village.

He soon turned his eyes west to what is now our Club and the Tequesta Country Club Community, acquiring 350 acres to subdivide into 600 home sites.  This was then the Village of Tequesta.  Martyn (who was joined in 1956 by John P. Kurtz, Jr. and Walter F. Lathrop) started with the golf course.  He envisioned the Tequesta Country Club as the recreational and social center of a community still to be built on the banks of the beautiful Loxahatchee River.

The course was designed by the late Dick Wilson, a noted golf course architect.  Construction of the golf course began in 1955 and the Clubhouse and Course were officially opened on December 12, 1957 by Jack Kurtz, the first president.

The occasion featured an exhibition golf match played by Arnold Palmer, Dow Finsterwald, Truman Connell and Jack Kurtz.  Finsterwald was named Club Pro.  The next year he won the PGA Championship.  With the name printed boldly on his golf bag, he brought Tequesta Country Club national exposure.  Golf greats such as Palmer, Nicklaus and Player joined him here to play the Tequesta course.

In 1958, the Village was expanded to include land east of the Country Club Community.  The Village now extends east to the ocean and covers 1,077 acres.  In the early sixties, the Village of Tequesta's population hovered around three hundred.  There were no high-rises, few restaurants and a mere handful of stores.

In 1963, the members took the Club over from Martyn's Development Company, making it fully private.  A crisis developed when unfilled membership slots, loss of fees from the public and unreasonably low dues combined to produce a $125,000 deficit.  Clubhouse and course were falling into disrepair.  The sale of bonds and stock shares, as well as Life Memberships, soon brightened the financial picture.

Down through the years, the Club has remained a social center of the Village and in the lives of its many members.  Although young by some standards, Tequesta has a sense of history.  Warm memories of happy social events are cherished; tales are told and retold of unforgettable golf matches.