Golf was first played on Martha’s Vineyard in 1893, when six holes were laid out near the West Chop lighthouse. The first golf course in Edgartown was laid out in a cow pasture in 1897, cows being numbered among the hazards. Oak Bluffs was not far behind, early courses being put in play at East Chop and also where the present Martha’s Vineyard Country Club has its eighteen hole course. In general the rise of golf was coincident with the decline of agriculture, and as cows lost their pastures, golfer gained a course.