In 1914, a Native American grave was discovered on the Hewlett estate of John N. Auerbach. Among the findings were skeletal remains, arrow and spear heads, and a large quantity of copper beads known by the Native Americans as “sewan.” Auerbach angelized the name for the beads to Seawane, chose it for his estate, and in 1927 it was used for the founding of the Seawane Club.

The club engaged Devereux Emmet to lay out an 18 hole golf course, which he carved out in true links style, with 200 bunkers but seldom a tree in sight, much of it on land reclaimed from the marshes. For the clubhouse, the membership modernized the Auerbach’s three-story Victorian estate, located at the edge of Lake Kathellen.

In 1960, the club had fallen on hard times and eventually a group of Hewlett Harbor residences formed the Seawane Harbor Corporation to purchase the club’s land and buildings.  Residents were asked to pledge $1,000 to join the new group as charter members.  As part of the transformation, the new club tore down the old clubhouse and built a modern structure that was state of the art at the time. 

To upgrade their facilities, the new club tore down the old clubhouse and built a modern new structure. The golf course was also revitalized, and the club hired Robert Trent Jones whose work focused on bunkering and trees. Some 350 trees were planted, changing the course’s linksland flavor forever.  In 2019, The Seawane Club was recapitalized by private ownership with the singular mission of providing exceptional services and experiences to its membership.

More recently, Seawane engaged with golf course architect and shaper Jeff Stein. Jeff's worked closely with superintendent Ryan Bell to create a golfing experience that conveys the feeling of being close to the sea by incorporating views of sand and fescue from tee to green.  The native sandy landscape merges seamlessly into the formal greenside bunkers, which draw inspiration from the work of Emmet at Garden City, St. Georges, Congressional, and the National Golf Links of America and help position The Seawane Club as one of the finest seaside links layouts in the country.