Alexander Findlay

Alexander Findlay, the “Father of American Golf,” laid out the first golf course in Nebraska – one of the first in the United States – in 1887, and a decade later he helped form Omaha’s first golf club and laid out its course.

The Scotsman, who in 1886 was credited as the first golfer to shoot 72, came to America shortly thereafter to study farming and ranching and made his way to Nebraska by rail. On April 4, 1887, he and a friend played a round on a six-hole course he laid out on the Merchiston Ranch near Fullerton. It was one of the first rounds of golf played in America – if not the first. The course was used through 1889.

He went west in the 1890’s, to U.S. Cavalry outposts at Cheyenne and Laramie, WY., and to Denver. When he found less interest in golf than polo, he returned to Omaha and sold sporting goods. He laid out a nine-hole course to replace the rudimentary course on the Patrick estate known as Happy Hollow – now the browns of Browned-Talbot School – and the Omaha Golf Club was founded in 1897. “I found a few nice places in Omaha and played a few shots in fields there,” Findlay said. “When through with ranch life, I settled in Omaha for a few years and talked to many, and finally got them going (in golf).” He is credited with building more than 100 courses in 21 states as far west as Montana. He was a promoter of the game nationally and a top amateur who was the 1902 Mexico Open Champion. He was appointed to the USGA Museum Committee in 1941, a year before his death.