In 1920, a foursome at San Gabriel Country Club had this far-fetched notion of wanting to create their own private country club. Samuel M. Newmark, Louis Isaacs, Karl Triest and Joseph Y. Baruh spent several weeks quietly searching for a suitable site and finally came across a charming little parcel of rolling hills on Pico Boulevard, a half day''s drive from downtown on an old dusty road, owned at the time by the Huntington Land and Water Company.

Mr. Newmark and Mr. Isaacs paid $5,000 to Mr. Huntington for a purchase option on the land. A Board of Directors was subsequently comprised and authorized the purchase of 142 acres of land at a cost of $50,000 plus the expenditure of an additional $550,000 toward the cost of the golf course and clubhouse construction.

The rest, as they say, is history, and, it goes without saying, is our collective good fortune.