The Beginning.

On February 18, 1954, a meeting was held by a group of Concord Country Club members at the home of C.H. Doerger for the purpose of organizing an informal group to:

Further promote the game of golf among friends by encouraging regular and frequent play and the assurance of a "game" without the usual preliminaries. In addition, it would provide for the overall enjoyment that results from collective good sportsmanship and good fellowship.

In attendance at the meeting were the following:

Anderson, Roland D.
Dawes, William L.
Doerger, Charles H.
Jones, Robert H.
Karrer, Max R.
Leslie, Lloyd R.
Lukens, Paul W.
Peoples, Robert H.
Saville, J. H., Jr.
DiSabatino, E. J.*

*Unable to attend but voted by proxy on matters discussed.

It was the decision of the group to have a minimum of 16 players (four foursomes) in attendance each week, and to allow for absentees, it was proposed that the Club consist of as many as 19 members. In addition to the 10 men attending the meeting on February 18, 1954, a review of the records indicates that the following nine men completed the membership of the original nineteen:

Coats, Van R.
Downing, K. J.
Gardner, Austin T.
Grossman, Georges S.
Hirs, Eldred G.
McDonald, Elice
Otis, James O.
Preston, W. Ellis
Stack, E. L.

It was further agreed that the members were to be on the “tee” at 9:00a.m. for each meeting. The combination of “on the tee time,” and the number of members, resulted in the name 9-19. The members scheduled approximately 25 playing dates on Saturdays, from April through October. This still remains in effect today.

Foursomes or teams were made up by drawing from 16 cards. The four members drawing the 4 aces made up the first foursome, likewise the 4 kings, the 4 queens, and the 4 jacks. The member drawing the ace of spades was responsible for the next meeting, which included collecting and recording scores, making up the foursomes, serving as a clearing house for the reporting of absentees, and providing for guests. Paul Lukens handled this assignment for the first meeting and Chuck Doerger was named Treasurer for the first year.

During the first year, the membership was increased to (22) twenty-two. George White joined on June 5, Ed Woodhouse on August 14 and George Dutton on August 21, 1954. In 1955, the membership was increased to (25) twenty-five, and on February 24, 1962, a Resolution was passed providing for inactive memberships. On March 19, 1977, the active membership increased to (35) thirty-five. It was further increased to (40) forty in 2011.

As membership increased, the use of playing cards for making up foursomes became impractical. A “box” containing numbered metal/wood discs was used and each member was assigned a number. As each member arrived, his numbered disc was put in the box with the number side down. Foursomes were made up by randomly selecting 4 discs. This system remained in effect until the 9-19 Club tried a new system in 2013.

The new system was called preregistration. It took advantage of the widespread use of e-mail to allow the person assigned to put the foursomes together that week to do most of the work on Friday. This person was called the starter. Members who wanted to play on Saturday sent an e-mail to a special Gmail account. The starter would see who planned to play and put together tentative groups using the principles that had previously been in effect. Then on Saturday he just needed to adjust these groups to accommodate members who decided to play at the last minute or make other changes.

The following year WCC instituted starting times because the clubhouse expansion interfered with the bag room’s activities. Starting times allowed the bag room to get out the bags before members arrived to play. Our preregistration system allowed our starter to set up starting times for our foursomes. At this point, it is unclear whether starting times will continue when the clubhouse expansion is completed but we are likely to keep our preregistration system in any event.