The post about Will Rice and the Houston Country Club drew enough emails to merit another look at the 1938 booklet printed by the club on the occasion of its thirtieth anniversary. I confess that the first time around I quit looking as soon as I found what I was looking for, a rookie mistake if ever there was one. There turned out to be quite a few other interesting bits in there. Close inspection of the list of the 507 charter members revealed the surprising fact that there were a number of Jewish founders of the club. Foremost among them were Abraham Levy, president of Levy Brother Dry Goods, and Emmanuel Raphael, a founding member of the Rice Institute board of trustees.

Someone in the comments asked whether women were allowed on the course in those days and indeed they were. It looks like some of them were big hitters too, way past parallel on a couple of those backswings. This montage isn’t dated but looks like late teens to me:

And finally, the staff.  Of all the people pictured and noted in this booklet these men are the ones I would most like to talk with:

Bonus: Out of its misery. It’s a blessing, really.