About the Author
George Henninger
Historian, author, and lifelong student of the game — dedicated to preserving the stories of one of America's most remarkable country clubs.
4
Books Published
129
Years of History
One Club. Four Books. One Member's Story.
George Henninger is not a hired historian — he is a proud member of Huntingdon Valley Country Club for over 40 years, with a deep personal connection to the club and its history. It started simply enough: George set out to write a standard history of the club. But when he came across the original 1897 membership list, everything changed. The members themselves — industrialists, entrepreneurs, financiers, and philanthropists — were far more interesting than the club's institutional history. That discovery sent him down a research path spanning online archives, books, newspapers, family timelines, and genealogical records — a bibliography that alone runs 24 pages.
More Than Golf was the result — nearly 500 pages revealing that the original 1897 membership was extraordinary not just as golfers, but as individuals who shaped Philadelphia and the nation at the turn of the twentieth century.
Three more books followed: a comprehensive record of the club's champions across 129 years of local, state, and national competition; the stories of the Scottish, English, and Australian professionals who shaped the game at Huntingdon Valley; and the history of the Berthellyn Cup — a nationally recognised, premier invitational that drew the elite women amateurs of the era to Huntingdon Valley each year from 1911 to 1941.
The stories are by no means restricted to men. The original membership included many remarkable women — founders, philanthropists, civic leaders, and accomplished golfers in their own right — whose contributions to Philadelphia society and to the game of golf are woven throughout every book.
Key Milestones
The Story So Far
1897
Huntingdon Valley CC Founded
The club opens its doors in the Philadelphia suburbs — and its founding membership proves to be anything but ordinary. Among the original members are industrialists who built the American streetcar network, department store pioneers who reinvented retail, architects who defined the Gilded Age skyline, and financiers whose fortunes rivalled those of the Rockefellers. They would go on to shape the game of golf itself — helping create the PGA and the PGA Championship, founding Pine Valley, and commissioning the course designs that define the Philadelphia School of Golf Architecture. They would change their city, and they would change the nation.
1911
The Berthellyn Cup Begins
A prestigious invitational tournament for America's top amateur women golfers gets underway at Huntingdon Valley. Considered by many to be second only in national importance to the US Women's Amateur Championship, the Cup ran for thirty years and is the subject of George's fourth book, The Berthellyn Cup, 1911 to 1941.
1928
The William Flynn Course Opens
The current William Flynn-designed 27-hole golf complex and clubhouse opens, cementing Huntingdon Valley's place among the great courses of the Philadelphia School.
2023
More Than Golf Published
George's first book tells the stories of the men and women of the original 1897 membership — industrialists, entrepreneurs, financiers, and philanthropists who helped shape Philadelphia and the nation at the turn of the twentieth century.
2024
Champions, 1897 to 2024 Published
The definitive record of every champion at Huntingdon Valley, from 1897 through 2024.
2026
Twelve Scots, an Englishman, and an Aussie & The Berthellyn Cup, 1911 to 1941 Published
George publishes Twelve Scots, an Englishman, and an Aussie and The Berthellyn Cup, 1911 to 1941 — continuing the remarkable story of Huntingdon Valley Country Club. The first of the two books profiles the fourteen golf professionals who served Huntingdon Valley from its founding through the mid-twentieth century. Not one of them was American-born. Twelve came from Scotland, one from England, and one from Australia — each carrying the traditions of the old world game to one of Philadelphia's most storied clubs.
Get in Touch
Interested in ordering a book, booking George for a presentation, or just want to talk golf history? George would love to hear from you.