Reflections from a Founder

On the occasion of Beverly’s 50th anniversary in 2007, founding member Ben Shekter reflected on the club’s beginnings

 
Five guys with a shared vision of what could be made from a humble farmer’s field.

This is how Beverly Golf and Country Club began, says Ben Shekter, the last of those five men still with us. “The five of us really loved what we were doing,” says Ben, now 91 years-old, and referring to his old friends Lou Davidson, Harry Beube, Morris Levine and Sam Paikin. “We all felt the same way.”

It took some dedication and commitment to start the club, Ben recalls. In the mid-1950s, there were few golfers and television had not yet become the powerful communications medium it is today. “There was no Arnold Palmer on TV. In those days, people just didn’t play golf. It was a much rarer thing.”

So instead of trying to build membership based on golf, Ben suggested less focus on ‘Golf’ and more focus on ‘Country Club’. “I knew about country clubs. There were 14 or 15 guys who played golf, that was it, so getting a golf club started was hard. I spoke to Dr. Morris Levine, and said ‘It’s about time you started on a country club. Put in a swimming pool.’ ‘Oh, come on, they said.’ Finally, they agreed to a swimming pool.”

After that decision was made, the memberships came in more easily, says Ben. “I would speak to someone, and say ‘Look, we’re going to build a country club, and put in a pool. I’ve got four kids, you’ve got three kids. Bring your kids down. We’re going to have a clubhouse.’ In five days, I signed up 19 families.”

“The membership grew slowly. Nobody joined to play golf, they joined for the membership. We had about 10 or 12 golfers at the beginning, and it grew from there,” says Ben.

Another key consideration at the beginning was the financial structure of the club, says Ben. He wasn’t interested in starting a for-profit club. “We agreed to the share structure. I wasn’t interested in profit. Here, you’re an owner.”

Ben remembers fondly the club’s genesis, which came with its share of fun, as well as growing pains. When the five men decided to start the club, they spent considerable time looking for the right property. Despite a very unwelcoming introduction to the property, they knew it was the right location. Ben chuckles at the memory. “When we were walking the property before buying it, we got chased by cattle heading across the field. One of us, Harry Beube, waved his jacket like a matador as Lou Davidson and I ran.”

“We found this property after looking around a lot – a property needed good soil, water, and no big hills. The soil was great, but there were no trees. If you look at the farm field to the west, as you go along hole number two, that’s how it once looked, exactly like that. We arranged for 10,000 little trees, from Guelph I think, they were only 6-8 inches high. We put them in nurseries, and then put them in their permanent spot when they grew.”

Course designer Robbie Robinson was engaged, with the instruction that members wanted a spacious course, with routing that did not go “up-and-down”. Ben was among the volunteers who spent time helping create the future fairways. “We created the original fairways by clearing stones, following carriages and moving rocks by hand. We helped clear those original stones.”

Ben and his collaborators also worked closely on the design of the clubhouse. “The original clubhouse design didn’t have a cellar. I went to a meeting and watched a fellow present the blueprints, and he was faking it. He was looking at them backwards. Nobody could read a blueprint,” says Ben. “I remember looking at the clubhouse design, and there was no cellar, for bag storage, etc.”

So Ben got involved, and helped re-design the clubhouse. Then he helped supervise the construction and design of the swimming pool.

Of course, not everything went smoothly. When the dam for the pond (near the tee on 13) was constructed, it didn’t include an overflow pipe. “We built it, and the first year it washed away. We were told to put in a pipe so the water could escape when it reached a certain level. So we did,” says Ben. “The second year, we put in cement pipes. Water went right under them and washed the dam away again. Then a farmer came in and suggested an L-shaped pipe, like in a bathtub, and which I think we still have to this day.”

Ben stopped his active membership about 20 years ago, but still keeps tabs on the Beverly he helped create and manage (he served as club president in 1976). He has watched with pride as the club has evolved, grown, endured crises and flourished. “I just enjoyed the whole concept of coming out there and watching those little 10-inch trees growing over the years, loving to see the people at the club enjoying themselves. I thought that was wonderful. None of that existed before.”

He notes that while the original concept of Beverly as a country club has evolved into Beverly as a golf club, the fundamental strength of the club – its strong membership and equity ownership structure – has helped it succeed over the last five decades. Ben wholeheartedly supports the recent changes to the club. “The new clubhouse is wonderful. I’m so impressed.”

And his view of the Beverly he helped create: “I think she’ll go on forever.”