A century ago, Senator Edgar T. Brackett, founder of the Adirondack Trust Company, was approached about building a golf course to accommodate the tourists that were flocking to Saratoga’s grand hotels. He went out on a scouting mission and came upon a stretch of sandy, rolling terrain north of the city. On July 23, 1921, Brackett proudly watched as the first ball was driven from the newly minted McGregor Links golf course. Today, McGregor remains one of the region’s premier golf clubs, proving what longtime golf pro George Pulver said in 1961: “Golf links are not built—they are found.”
“McGregor at last has come to fill a want so universally felt, that it is not too much to feel elated and certain that countless travelers—golfers, lovers of beauty, artists, men and women occupying different rungs on the ladder of success—will be attracted here to be entertained in McGregor halls.”—The Saratogian, 1921
McGregor Links By the Numbers
400: Members of McGregor Links the day it opened
50: Men and women who played a full 18 holes on McGregor’s opening day in 1921
38: Years George Pulver served as the head golf pro at McGregor
17: LPGA titles won by Dottie Pepper, who grew up playing golf at McGregor and training under Pulver
72: Par for McGregor’s 18-hole, links-style course
422: Current memberships, individual and family, at McGregor
