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Old Siasconset Golf Course

Developed in 1894, the Old Siasconset Golf Course – usually shortened to the Sconset Golf Course or “Skinner’s,” after co-owner Robert “Skinner” Coffin – was among the first 100 courses in the country and is believed to be the oldest privately-owned golf course still being played.

While the land has been in the Coffin family for generations, the Sconset Golf Course had been under lease by the Nantucket Golf Club for 10 years until two years ago when Hank Coffin reclaimed control of the family property.

The course has had a number of facelifts over the course of its 113-year history. Square greens have been changed to more typical round greens and relatively flat holes have been converted to holes with more rolling topography. The course went from nine holes to 18 holes and back to nine before World War II, and was even at seven holes for a time in the last decade.

In comparison to the two private golf clubs on the east end of the island, the public Sconset Golf Course stands on its own.

The Old Siasconset Golf Course has been in the Coffin family from the beginning. In 1894 John Grout leased property outside of Sconset village, owned by Levi Coffin, to develop the course on land which had been used as the old Bloomingdale Farm. The current Sconset Golf Course clubhouse is the old farmhouse, and the old barn still sits next to the greens, a constant reminder of the history of the land.

The course flourished until 1922, when multimillionaire David Gray bought land to the northeast of the Coffin property and developed Sankaty Head Golf Club. Sconset Golf Course champion Emerson Armstrong was the architect of the course, which appealed to the more affluent golfers on the island.