River Oaks Country Club, Private golf course and country club in Houston, United States.
River Oaks Country Club is a private golf and social club in Houston featuring an 18-hole championship course woven into the surrounding natural landscape. Beyond golf, the facility provides tennis courts, swimming pools, dining spaces, and organized activities designed for members of different ages and skill levels.
Founded in 1923, the club hired architect John F. Staub to design a two-story Spanish Revival clubhouse south of a Donald Ross golf course; the current clubhouse replaced it in the 1950s. The course hosted the Houston Open in 1937, 1938 and 1946 and the Western Open in 1940. River Oaks admitted its first black member, attorney Rufus Cormier, in 1997, after 73 years of white-only membership.
The club's name comes from the River Oaks neighbourhood, and its red clay courts, installed in 2005, host the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships since 2008. The River Oaks International Tennis Tournament ran here from 1931; Ivan Lendl won his first ATP title at the club in 1980. Membership long carried a waiting list, and the club admitted its first black member, attorney Rufus Cormier, in 1997.
River Oaks Country Club is a private members' club at 1600 River Oaks Boulevard; the golf course, tennis courts and clubhouse are not open to the general public, so access depends on a member's invitation. The U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, held here since 2008 on red clay installed in 2005, are the usual occasion for outside visitors, with the centre court seating 3,000 and a second court holding 500.
The golf course was laid out by Donald Ross, the Scottish-born architect, south of John F. Staub's original two-story Spanish Revival clubhouse. The club has hosted the River Oaks International Tennis Tournament since 1931, and in 1997 it admitted its first black member, attorney Rufus Cormier, after 73 years of white-only membership.
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