Tea and Tee

The U.S. Golf Association (Far Hills, N.J.) has bought New York's landmark restaurant, the Russian Tea Room, and will covert it into a golf museum and history center.

The USGA bid $16 million for the building, on W. 57th Street next door to Carnegie Hall, and signed documents Monday (Nov. 18, 2002) for the official transfer of property.

“The New York City museum is not going to be simply a collection of artifacts in the traditional sense, but a multimedia, interactive presentation of golf history and future of the game,” said Rand Jerris, director of museum and library for the USGA.

The USGA plans to maintain the restaurant's reception space and some of the kitchen facilities so the space can be used for USGA functions as well as rented for evening and weekend receptions.

The Tea Room was opened in 1926 by former members of the Russian Imperial Ballet. Over the years, it became a restaurant where musicians, performers and celebrities gathered. Despite $20 million in renovations, the restaurant closed in July.

The USGA will keep its primary museum at its Far Hills headquarters site. It wants to open the New York museum in time for the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in suburban Southampton, N.Y., on Long Island's eastern edge.