A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offerings are golf, tennis, and swimming. A country club is most commonly located in city outskirts or suburbs, and is distinguished from an urban athletic club by having substantial grounds for outdoor activities and a major focus on golf. Country clubs originated in Scotland and first appeared in the US in the early 1880s. Country clubs had a profound effect on expanding suburbanization and are considered to be the precursor to gated community development.
By nation
United States
Country clubs can be exclusive organizations. In small towns, membership in the country club is often not as exclusive or expensive as in larger cities where there is competition for a limited number of memberships. In addition to the fees, some clubs have additional requirements to join. For example, membership can be limited to those who reside in a particular housing community. Country clubs were founded by upper-class elites between 1880 and 1930. By 1907, country clubs were claimed to be “the very essence of American upper-class.” The number of country clubs increased exponentially with industrialization, the rise in incomes, and suburbanization in the 1920s. During the 1920s, country clubs acted as community social centers. When people lost most of their income and net worth during the Great Depression, the number of country clubs decreased drastically for lack of membership funding. Historically, many country clubs were "restricted" and refused to admit members of minority racial groups as well those of specific faiths, such as Jews and Catholics. Beginning in the 1960s civil rights lawsuits forced clubs to drop exclusionary policies. In a 1990 landmark ruling at Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club, the PGA refused to hold tournaments at private clubs that practiced racial discrimination. This new regulation led to the admittance of black people at private clubs. The incident at Shoal Creek is comparable to the 1966 NCAA Basketball Tournament, which led to the end of racial discrimination in college basketball. The Philadelphia Cricket Club is the oldest organized country club in the United States devoted to playing games, while The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts is the oldest club devoted to golf.
In the United Kingdom, most exclusive country clubs are simply golf clubs, and play a smaller role in their communities than American country clubs; gentlemen's clubs in Britain—many of which admit women while remaining socially exclusive—fill many roles of the United States' country clubs.
