In the spring of 1895, a small group of young Greenville men, soon to become known as the 'Piney Mountain Pioneers', loaded their wagons with shovels, rakes, sickles, saws and other tools and set out for Piney Mountain. Having taken possession of 50 acres of land conveyed to them by an Indian tribe then living in the area, their goal was to lay out the first golf course in this part of the country. The property, a grassy meadow carved out of the hillside, was the site for the course, crude clubhouse and other facilities built only seven years after the first permanent-site golf course was laid out in a cow pasture nearYonkers, NY.
Only a few years later, a larger and more modern facility was needed. The mansion and property of a one-time Provisional Governor of South Carolina were purchased and the new club, with 50 members, opened in 1905 as the Sans Souci Country Club. The original three-story Victorian style mansion was refitted into a semi-modern clubhouse with dining rooms, locker rooms, a dance hall and verandahs. The golf course was a nine-hole layout of 2,634 yards, featuring crossing fairways. Two clay tennis courts were built and cricket was also played on occasion at the new club. The initiation fee in 1905 was ten dollars, with annual dues of twenty dollars.
1909 Carolinas Golf Association founded
1910 First association Open held at Sans Souci
1911 First tennis championship of the Carolinas held at Sans Souci (uncontested for over 20 years)
1919 Real estate developer offered to convey 158 acres off Augusta Road for a fee of ten dollars, if they would operate a golf and country club for a period of 13 years
1923 New club opened with an 18-hole golf course, clubhouse, tennis facility and a swimming pool
1927 Club name changed to Greenville Country Club
1939 Clubhouse refurbished
1954 Current Clubhouse built; 19,000 sq.ft. facility along with a new swimming pool and bathhouse
1956 Club purchased 60 acres across Reedy River
1962 Newly redesigned golf course, including seven new holes across the river, opens
1964 Clubhouse renovated and expanded by 4,500 sq.ft.
1967 Club's Board of Governors authorizes construction of a new tennis house, development of a new 18-hole golf course three miles away from the Riverside Club
1969 Club enters into competitive swimming in the SAIL program
1970 Chanticleer Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, opens for play
1973 Golf Digest rates Chanticleer as one of America 's top 100 courses
1985 Clubhouse completely renovated and newly furnished (renovations begun in 1983), new junior-size Olympic pool built, new cart storage constructed, expanded parking facilities, additional tennis courts
1997 New bathhouse at pool, with locker rooms, kitchen and dining facilities
2001 Chanticleer Golf Course re-designed by Rees Jones, son of original course designer, Robert Trent Jones; Pro Shop and Turnhouse renovated
2003 Tennis Facility renovated; new building includes Tennis Pro Shop, Locker Rooms for men, ladies, junior boys and junior girls; enlarged viewing spaces, office space for Tennis Pro and staff
2004 Upper floor of Riverside clubhouse renovations completed
2005 Board of Governors makes plans to re-design Riverside Course and renovate/enlarge Clubhouse
2006 The Riverside Course is closed for renovation by renowned course architect Brian Silva
2007 The Riverside Course is officially re-opened.
