Brief History of the Watchung Valley Golf Club

The Watchung Valley Golf Club originally grew out of a social club that would play golf at the Hyde Estate (circa 1889). Louis Hyde’s estate ran from Valley Road in Watchung to Mountain Avenue in North Plainfield at the bottom of the first Watchung Mountain. Incorporated in 1898 as the Park Golf Club, the name was changed in 1915 to the Hydewood County Club. In 1925, the state construction of Route 29 (now Route 22) required the club to relocate and it purchased the 77-acre Ackor Farm in Watchung (sometimes referred to as the Cooley Dairy Farm). In this, its current location, the club was renamed Watchung Valley Golf Club in 1936. David Cronheim, a successful realtor, purchased the club in 1943 renaming it Twin Brooks County Club, the name likely originating from the two rivers that border the club. The club has been owned and managed by the Cronheim Family for four generations. After a restoration of the club in 2017, the club would once again pay tribute to its former name, and the ‘Twin Brooks’ name was dropped.