History

Founded in 1904, the oldest continuous Men's Golf Society/Philanthropic Organization in the country Original objective - promote a golfing and social experience for the early travelers to Pinehurst, thereby making it pleasant to return year after year.

THE TIN WHISTLES, national golf organization, had its beginning in Pinehurst, North Carolina in 1904. The many and varied accounts of its birth run all the way from one that a tin whistle was blown in the village street to call the players to the links to another that the whistle was blown at the spring, near the present twelfth hole on No. 1 course, advising golfers that a corn concoction was being served. However, the consensus is that a group of New Yorkers were vacationing at the Holly Inn, dividing their time equally between the links and the little brown jug. They organized a tournament, the prizes being “two Scotch golf clubs,” to be opened at the finish and dispensed, forthwith. The winners carried the “clubs” back to the Inn, beneath checkered vests, and with great pomp and ceremony, promptly consumed them. At this time, outsiders called them the Wow Wows. During this Pinehurst visit, a copy of Alfred Henry Lewis’ book, “The Boss,” appeared. It is a story of the Old Tammany and gave considerable space to a hoodlum gang known as the TIN WHISTLES. The name was given them because they were summoned to their duty of breaking up polling places, which were unfriendly to Tammany, by the blowing of a whistle. For some reason, unknown, this appealed sufficiently to have the golfers adopt the name “THE TIN WHISTLES The stated objectives of the organization were: “To promote a golfing fellowship at Pinehurst and to maintain there a neutral zone for a choice and chosen few from outside organizations to which it will be pleasant to return year by year.” “It shall be the duty of each member to suppress the incipient conceit of any fellow member who thinks he is in line for the United North and South Amateur Championship.” In recent years, the Constitution has been rewritten and the more prosaic wording of the club objectives stated, “It is formed for social purposes and to promote the customs, traditions, and the “Rules of Golf” at Pinehurst, North Carolina.”

The first group by year of origin is the Tin Whistles, founded in 1904 for the express purpose of enjoying the camaraderie associated with the game of golf. …The group plays by the Rules of Golf, no exceptions. They never permit Mulligans, nor “gimmees”, nor “favored lies”. Violators are given one warning by the Captain…Then on any repetition, the offender is summarily ousted, his vacancy easily replaced from a long number of eager applicants. You can turn your back on any player and know he will play the game fairly. Thus, the listed handicaps are the most accurate of any club in the country.

Golfing

• Saturday games
• 9 Major Tournaments
• 7-8 away games; (CCNC, Pine Needles, Mid Pines, Duke, Finley, Cheraw State Park,...)

Tin Whistles Scholarship Foundation

The Tin Whistles' Tour Championship