The club's origins spring from a late 19th century summer resident and golf enthusiast named John Reid who created a handful of holes against Nantucket Sound.

Over subsequent decades, the club purchased more land and eventually expanded into a full 18-hole course.

Hyannisport remains one of the most notable clubs in the state, having been voted one of the top courses in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe and Golf Digest.

[1] Later in the decade, Lucius Frederick Paine, one of the original members of the club, made a number of revisions too.

[1] The course is known for its naturalistic design and its "defense remains rooted in the Cape Cod elements," in particular "swirling wind and dense fog.

Kennedy, who had connections with the members at Hyannisport, decided to join the club in spite of it being another "Yankee stronghold.

[8][11][12] The administration, however, did not significantly publicize his golf outings, circumspect about how it would affect support among his working-class constituents.

[18] In the late 20th century, a greens superintendent at the club discovered some designs by Donald Ross that had been unused.