Fairway Estates

Dunedin History    Dunedin Station

Dunedin Historical Society

In 1906 Baron Otto Quarles von Ufford arrived from Holland. He acquired the land north of Dunedin, including the future Fairway Estates and built a beautiful mansion on the site of the present Dunedin Country Club. After a few years he left for the social life of Tampa.

In 1926 the same acreage was purchased by Frischkorn Company,  a wealthy and successful real estate developer from Detroit who announced that he had selected Dunedin as the site for a $10 million development of 747 home sites. Two weeks later he came back with an announcement that it was going to be a $50 million project with 6,200 home sites, two golf courses, a casino, riding trails and more.

The Detroit developer, Ephraim S. Frischkorn, was a man of his word. He hired famed golf course architect Donald Ross to design what became the Dunedin Isles Country Club, formally open to play on January 1,1927.

But, almost simultaneously, the great Florida land boom went bust and then in 1929 the nation’s whole economy nose-dived. Frischkorn retreated to Detroit and his development, including the golf course, went into receivership.

Dunedin Country Club

Eventually, the course in 1938 was deeded to the City with the stipulation that it be held in perpetuity as a recreational facility. However, by then the course had gone through a period during which it lay untended to the point that it was estimated it would cost $13,500 to restore it to playability. With WPA funding approved by President Roosevelt, an ingenious scheme for selling lots in the Dunedin Isles subdivision, and local subscriptions, the necessary funds were raised and play on the course was resumed August 1,1938.

Keeping the golf course operational was a continuing struggle, amplified by the restrictions experienced during WW II. Small wonder, then, that when the PGA indicated in 1944 an interest in leasing the course for its National Golf Club, the City welcomed the idea.

On April 24,1945 the City authorized a 99-year lease under which the PGA would assume operational responsibility for the course at $1 a year. Now it was the PGA National Golf Club and the Dunedin Isles Golf Club was no more.

The PGA leadership envisioned a larger role for itself in the world of golf then could be accommodated at Dunedin where there was no room for expansion. So, in 1962 the PGA surrendered its lease and moved to Florida’s East Coast.

Now the City faced the question of what to do with its golf course. One faction within the City wanted it turned into a municipal course. Others promoted the idea of a country club which could provide amenities beyond just a golf course. After much debate the City agreed to lease the course to a group to be known as The Dunedin Country Club. The Club agreed to build a clubhouse which would be open for use by civic groups and to operate and improve the golf course, while keeping some tee times open for non-members. And so DCC was "born" in 1962.

Fairway Estates

When the Course was built in 1926, several subdivisions were platted and Palm Blvd was built from Alt 19 to  Lake Saundra. When  Frischkorn went bankrupt in 1929, the land went to Contract and Investment Co. Marvin Knight bought and sold it in 1953 to H&M Groves for $1,000 an acre.

Most streets in this period were named for golfers who played the PGA course here.  Tommy Armour, Jackie Burke, Jimmy Demaret, Doug Ford, Walter Hagen, Dutch Harrison, Bobby Jones, Lloyd Mangrum, Cary Middlecoff, Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, and Al Watrous were those golfers.  Taylor was named for Bruce Taylor, realtor. Jim Davies, salesman who named the streets, named that one after himself, and Webb Ave after a friend of his.