Courses by Date
Scroll down for a listing of golf courses by date.
The Golden Era of Golf in Connecticut
Golf first arrived in the American colonies in the 1600s, but it was not an immediately popular pursuit. While golf became one of the best-known past times in the United Kingdom in the late 1700s, it was not until the late 1800s that the sport gained a strong foothold in America. The Industrial Revolution changed American perceptions of labor and recreation; as people began to take jobs in mills and factories they began to see a clear division between work time and leisure time. Many Americans turned to sports to occupy their leisure time. This led to the rise of baseball, tennis, and ultimately golf as leisure-time athletic pursuits. As an advertisement for Brooklawn Country Club stated, golf was "fascinating alike to both sexes, to old and young, it furnishes a means of exercise of the most pleasing nature. It involves no sudden and violent exertion, but yet is invigorating and healthful."
Connecticut, with its proximity to major industrial hubs, became home to some of the nation's oldest golf courses. The state features thirteen golf courses that play on the same land as they did in the 1890s. The oldest of those courses, and one of the oldest courses in the country, is Greenwich Country Club, designed by Seth Raynor and opened for play in 1892. The state's second oldest course is Fenwick Golf Course. With the first holes dating to 1894, Fenwick is one of the oldest public golf courses in the United States. Connecticut has a second 19th century course that is open to the public in Roseland Golf Course, which opened as Woodstock Golf Course in 1896. Brooklawn Country Club, which consistently ranks as one of the best courses in the state, opened for play in 1896 as well.
Golf's popularity continued to grow in the 1900s, with the wealth of the roaring twenties leading to an explosion in golf course construction. Some of the state's greatest courses, including The Course at Yale, Country Club of Fairfield, Tamarack Country Club, and Round Hill Club were constructed in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s, steel-shafted golf clubs were replacing hickories and changing the game of golf. But golf was well-established in Connecticut by that time, and many of its earliest courses are still open for play today.
Please note that the years listed below reflect the age of the golf course, rather than the golf club they are associated with. Many golf clubs and country clubs were formed in the 1800s and began playing golf on the land surrounding their original locations, and that land was not always conducive to good golf. As golf became more popular, some of these clubs changed locations to find grounds that were more suited for playing golf. A golf club that was founded in the 1890s and moved in the 1920s, for example, would have the 1920s date listed below, as that is when the golf course was constructed.
The 1890s
1892
Greenwich Country Club - Greenwich - Private
1894
Fenwick Golf Course - Old Saybrook - Public
1895
Sharon Country Club - Sharon - Private
1896
Brooklawn Country Club - Fairfield - Private
Litchfield Country Club - Litchfield - Private
Roseland Golf Club - Woodstock - Public
1897
Country Club of New Canaan - New Canaan - Private
Hotchkiss School Golf Course - Lakeville - Semi-Private
1898
Lake Waramaug Country Club - Washington - Private
New Haven Country Club - Hamden - Private
Shennecossett Golf Course - Groton - Public
1899
Country Club of Waterbury - Waterbury - Private
Indian Hill Country Club - Newington - Private
The Aughts
1900
Highland Golf Club - Shelton - Private
Pine Orchard Country Club - Branford - Private
1901
Quinnatisset Golf Club - Thompson - Private
1902
Pequabuck Golf Club - Bristol - Semi-Private
Wee Burn Country Club - Darien - Private
1903
Green Woods Country Club - Winsted - Semi-Private
Washington Golf Club - Washington - Private
1906
Goodwin Park Golf Course - Hartford - Public
1908
Innis Arden Golf Club - Greenwich - Private
1909
Madison Country Club - Madison - Private
The 1910s
1910
Hop Brook Golf Course - Naugatuck - Public
1912
Birchwood Country Club - Westport - Private
Norfolk Country Club - Norfolk - Private
Race Brook Country Club - Orange - Private
1914
Hartford Golf Club - West Hartford - Private
1915
Newtown Country Club - Newtown - Private
Watertown Golf Club - Watertown - Private
1916
Old Lyme Country Club - Old Lyme - Private
Wethersfield Country Club - Wethersfield - Private
Woodway Country Club - Darien - Private
1917
Manchester Country Club - Manchester - Semi-Private
Shuttle Meadow Country Club - Berlin - Private
The 1920s
1921
Country Club of Fairfield - Fairfield - Private
1922
E. Gaynor Brennan Golf Course - Stamford - Public
Southington Country Club - Southington - Private
Tumble Brook Country Club - Bloomfield - Private
Windham Golf Club - Windham - Semi-Private
1923
Chippanee Golf Club - Bristol - Private
Millbrook Golf Club - Greenwich - Private
Mill River Country Club - Stratford - Private
1924
Country Club of Farmington - Farmington - Private
Round Hill Club - Greenwich - Private
Shorehaven Golf Club - Norwalk - Private
Sleeping Giant Golf Course - Hamden - Public
Wampanoag Country Club - West Hartford - Private
1925
Buena Vista Golf Course - West Hartford - Public
Golf Club of Avon - Avon - Private
Longshore Golf Course - Westport - Public
The Course at Yale - New Haven - Private
1926
Great Neck Golf Club - Waterford - Private
Norwich Golf Course - Norwich - Public
Rockledge Country Club - West Hartford - Public
1927
Grassy Hill Country Club - Orange - Public
Harrisville Golf Course - Woodstock - Public
Keney Park Golf Course - Hartford - Public
Orange Hills Country Club - Orange - Public
Ridgewood Country Club - Danbury - Private
Suffield Country Club - Suffield - Private
1928
Guilford Lakes Golf Course - Guilford - Public
TPC River Highlands Golf Course - Cromwell - Private
1929
Hunter Golf Club - Meriden - Public
Tamarack Country Club - Greenwich - Private
Torrington Country Club - Goshen - Private
The 1930s
(through 1934)
1930
East Hartford Golf Course - East Hartford - Public
Farmingbury Hills Golf Club - Wolcott - Public
1931
Canaan Country Club - Canaan - Semi-Private
Stanley Golf Course - New Britain - Public
1932
Alling Memorial Golf Course - New Haven - Public
East Mountain Golf Course - Waterbury - Public
Fairchild Wheeler Golf Course - Fairfield - Public
Silver Spring Country Club - Ridgefield - Private
Unknown
Goose Run Golf Course - Groton - Military - ca. 1919-1924