If golf courses could talk, the Santa Maria Country Club would have tales to tell. Since they can’t, 94-year-old Sally Scaroni, the club’s oldest and longest tenured member, is the next best thing.
Drawn by a passion for golf, Scaroni signed up for a junior membership at the club back in 1938. At the time, it was a just a nine-hole course, but it was the only place to golf between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.
Scaroni played several times a week alongside her golfing buddies, bringing their own sack lunches and sometimes fitting in multiple rounds.
“I guess I like to compete, and we used to do a lot of golfing weekends at other courses, too,” she said. “It gives you an in to other courses, too, if you belong to a club. I played a long time.”
Scaroni has had a close connection with the club since a group of Santa Maria businessmen incorporated it in 1921. Her father-in-law Leo Scaroni was one of its first stockholders, putting up $500 for five shares.
“[He] gave each of his kids one share of stock so we didn’t have to pay an initiation fee,” she said. “In those days the monthly dues were only about $12 a month, which wasn’t very much.”
In the early days, the course was home to two active oil wells, one located between fairways 2 and 17, and the other near the green on the third hole. Scaroni received $25 per year in return for her one share of club stock, but her fondest memories were witnessing the course play host to the state golfing championships.
“All of the pros in California would come here for the tournament,” she recalled. “In those days, we didn’t have much of a dining room. We made sandwiches for the caddies.”
The club has had its ups and downs over the years. It fell on some hard financial times during the Great Depression and was forced to sell nine holes to Santa Barbara County for a reported $4,500. The county later turned the land into Waller Park.
In 1948, the SMCC successfully purchased land from the Santa Maria Airport District to build a new back nine. That was how the course stood in 1958 when John MacGregor, another longtime club member, first signed up.
“My wife joined first, and we had two sons, and they both played golf,” MacGregor remembered. “My youngest son [Warren] won a club championship one year and my wife [Marge] was women’s club champion at the same time. He went to UCLA on a full scholarship. That was kind of neat.”
MacGregor still plays golf at the SMCC twice a week and recently celebrated his 90th birthday in the clubhouse’s dining room. He has fond recollections of the people he’s met in his time as a member, including Frank Hocknell, the club’s head golf pro from 1936 to 1977.
“I like the fellowship. It’s nice meeting people and playing with different people,” he said. “It was always a good course as far as we were concerned. A very nice club.”
The oil wells were removed from the course in the early 1970s, and since then, the club has gradually added other amenities: a pool, lighted tennis courts, and a fine restaurant.
“Today, we’re trying to offer a facility that’s geared around the family,” said the club’s general manager, Joe Priddy. “That’s what it’s all about these days … whether it’s having tennis camps or golf camps or swimming over at the pool.
According to Priddy, the club currently boasts a membership of 600—including Santa Maria Mayor Larry Lavagnino—and about half are golfing members. Each member pays monthly dues at differing price levels depending on whatever leisure activity is to their liking.
“What makes a successful country club is its members, that’s the biggest thing, and creating an atmosphere that becomes their home away from home,” Priddy said. “They want to come and be with their friends day in and day out. When you’re successful at doing that, the club can be successful.”
The club holds its own golf championships over two weekends in September, and its men’s and women’s teams compete against other country clubs every year. Community groups like the Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, and the Santa Maria Police Department regularly hold fundraising tournaments on the course’s well-manicured greens and fairways. The SMCC is also host to the State CIF golf championships and recently held the Women’s Golf Association of California’s North-South championship for the first time.
The course is open daily for golf for members, though Tuesday mornings are just for ladies. Wednesday mornings are for men only.
“It’s a good members’ course,” Priddy said. “You don’t want it too difficult because they don’t want to come out here every day and get beat up. They want to shoot a good score. It’s very member friendly and fun to play every day.”
According to Priddy, members are busy going through the archives in preparation for the club’s 90th anniversary celebration on Sept. 25. That evening, from 3 to 6, the club will be opening its doors to the public for an open house and tours of the facilities, as well as serving food and drinks. Longtime members, like Scaroni, will be on hand to share their stories.
Scaroni, who still plays golf regularly, said though some things have changed over the years, others have remained the same.
“It’s always been well-run, and it’s a nice course,” she said. “It’s very friendly, and it’s the sociability of playing golf and the amenities that I like. We have a nice dining room, a nice clientele, and nice employees. I hope we get more members.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas’s favorite club is a sand wedge. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2011.