Others have been built by those with plenty of money and an idea. For example the Connecticut Golf Club in Easton, Connecticut, was conceived as a place guys could come to bond with other guys while playing a fine golf course. Founded as a sports and equestrian club, The Country Club in Brookline is not only the oldest country club in the U.S. ((1882) it’s one of the largest with about1300 “Blueblood-type” members from upscale neighborhoods like Beacon Hill and Chestnut Hill. TCC’s sprawling creamy yellow and white clubhouse gracefully cobbled together from a number of historic structures along with its brick pro shop, an 18-hole regulation course designed by Willie Campbell, a 9 hole executive course, skeet shooting, tennis, squash, curling and pool, sit on 237 acres of rollingprime real estate just a few miles outside Boston. One of the founding clubs of the USGA, it has hosted several prestigious tournaments over the years including the famous 1913 U.S. Open, won by amateur Francis Ouimet famous for upsetting British legends, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a thrilling playoff. It was also the site of the 1999 Ryder Cup, known as the “Battle at Brookline” which the U.S. team won in an exciting comeback. TCC’s mellow old track is a classic with small rollup greens and subtle challenges like the two-tiered 7th green, the oldest hole and only one remaining from the original 6-hole course. TCC, like many of the fine private clubs, offers caddie services, one of the gracious perks members covet.
Another grand historic track, the Ekwanok Golf Course in the spit and polished small town of Manchester, Vermont, was designed by Walter Travis in 1899. Hilly, with stunning mountain views, it too served as the venue for a Ouimet victory when he won the U.S. Amateur in 1914. Ekwanok is all about golf. Pure golf. With small greens, carries over ravines, streams and elevation changes it is brash at times, subtle others, flying low under the radar as one of the finest courses in the state. Eastward Ho! Country Club in Chatham where the wait to get in can take years, whispers low-key, old money. Designed by W. Herbert Fowler renown for Westward Ho! and Walton Heath in England, the course was deemed to be the first true sea-side links (1921-1924) in New England. With every-
changing winds, grasses dunes and heather, Eastward Ho! is a treasure. The course is built in the shape of an hour glass on a spectacular seaside site overlooking Pleasant Bay with the clubhouse in the middle, the club has a property-wide no cell-phone policy except for one small space on the lower level allocated for emergency use only. The majority of members like it this way. There is also a strict dress code in place banning denim, tank tops, cargo pants, short shorts and bare feet. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to join. And even if you want to, it may not be so easy.. Like TCC and many of the private clubs, especially the older traditional clubs, you can’t just decide you want to join, write a check and you’re in. Getting into TCC or Eastward Ho! is by invitation and typically you’ll need to know some members. If these members are on the Board, even better. The all-male Connecticut Golf Club in Easton, Connecticut, was never meant to be a country club, but a darn good track just for the guys. Private clubs, after all, can pretty much do what they want to do within their bylaws, including barring women from membership.
Designed by Geoffrey Cornish (1966) Cornish said, “When I first looked at the site which was solid rock, I told Larry Wein owner of the Empire State Building and real estate magnate who was financing the project, it would be impossible to build a course there.” ”Wein told me to never mind, that every one was always telling him that. Then he told me he needed the course in two years and to get going. ‘Don’t you even want to know what I charge?’ I asked Wein.” ”No,” he replied. ‘They say you’re honest.” ”It was really a tough one, but I had unlimited funds to work with,” added Cornish. So he proceeded to blast ledges, move streams, create elevated tees and dramatic doglegs – all before stricter environmental restrictions came into play. The track remains today one of the most highly rated places to play in the state.
At the New Seabury golf course, non-members are allowed to play only if they are guests of New Seabury. Strictly speaking therefore, New Seabury straddles the line between private and semi-private. Most pricey resort courses are like this including the Stowe Mountain Golf Club where the Bob Cupp designed course cuts through Vermont’s mountain wilderness of tall pines and hardwoods meandering around Peregrine Lake with Mount Mansfield almost always in view. On the other hand the Woodlands Club in Falmouth, Maine, a newer member owned club caters to families with a range of facilities including a spectacular course designed by George and Tom Fazio.
Amenities- Joining a private club brings not only a sense of prestige and belonging, but usually a lot of other good things as well like getting your shoes cleaned, clubs wiped and stored, cold towels on the course, free water, apples and being addressed by name. When Mike Johnson played as a guest with a member at Silver Spring Golf Course in Ridgefield, Connecticut, what he especially
appreciated was the speed of play. “They spaced us out enough so there was very little waiting. You could just step up to your ball and hit it once we got going. Loved it.” Mike was new to the game, used to playing his local muni where a typical round could take more than five hours on a weekend, so playing in under four hours was an eye-opener. Private clubs give their members more space between starting times so their courses doesn’t get jammed.
Facilities whereas public-accessible popular courses like Olde Barnstable Fairgrounds and the Captains Courses in Cape Cod all
have grill rooms, restrooms, a small pro shop and modest-sized locker rooms. Go across town to the Golf Club at Cape Cod in North Falmouth, a Rees Jones design which opened in 2007 or the Club at New Seabury and you’ll find handsome club houses with restaurants, locker rooms and expanded pro shops. The Golf Club at Cape Cod has an impressive 25,000 sq. ft. natural shingle clubhouse, soaring ceilings, chandeliers, art work and a fine dining restaurant, large patio with cushioned chaises and chairs set the tone while members appreciate large locker rooms with amenities like showers, marble vanities, and a golf shop carrying upscale apparel like Nike, Ashworth and Greg Norman. There are attractive meeting rooms, a Midway Grill overlooking the 11th and 13th tees and an excellent practice and short game facility. The course, playing 7,005 yards from the tips, climbs up and down hills with well-groomed fairways and manicured greens and bunker complexes are extensive. Kinds of memberships Private clubs are typically equity clubs or non-equity. Both kinds of membership restrict access to members and do not permit usage of the club’s amenities by non-members.
Equity membership theoretically means a member is an “owner” of the club, with operations run by a Board of Directors elected by the members. The entire initiation fee, or a portion is refundable upon resignation from the club. With non-equity membership, amenities are not owned by members, but by another entity i.e. the developer or a company that specializes in owning and operating club facilities. The initiation is not refundable. In the case of real estate-driven clubs, members are generally residents as well. Private clubs that are not real estate-driven tend to have the strictest membership and application policies, and can be difficult to access unless the applicant has a direct relationship with an existing member. The “private resort” club permits access by members that own property within the community and permits guests of the resort hotel access to the amenities as well. Typically there are members-only facilities like a members lounge.
Here are some of the top private clubs in New England. Call for membership requirements.
Connecticut:
The Connecticut Golf Club in Easton, Country Club of Fairfield in Fairfield, Silver Spring Country Club in Ridgefield, CC of New Canaan in New Canaan, Greenwich Country Club in Greenwich, The Hartford Golf Club in Hartford, Stanwich Country Club in Greenwich, and the Wee Burn Country Club in Darien
Maine:
Purpoodock Club in Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth Country Club in Falmouth, Portland Country Club in Falmouth, Woodlands Club in Falmouth, Prouts Neck Country Club in Scarborough
Massachusetts:
Cape Cod National in Brewster, Charles River Country Club in Newton, Eastward Ho Country Club in Chatham, Essex Country Club in Manchester, The Country Club in Brookline, Ipswich Country Club in Ipswich, The Kittansett Club in Marion, Myopia Hunt Golf Course in South Hamilton, Oyster Harbors Club in Osterville, Salem Country Club in Peabody, TPC of Boston at Great Woods in Norton, Turner Hill Country Club in Ipswich,
New Hampshire:
Dublin Lake Golf Club in Dublin (9 holes), Lake Winnipesaukee GC in Lake Winnipesaukee, Sky Mountain Country Club in Nashua
Rhode Island:
Carnegie Abbey Club, Newport, Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, Shelter Harbor Golf Club in Charlestown
Vermont:
Ekwanok Country Club in Manchester, Manchester Country Club in Manchester, Stowe Mountain Golf Club in Stowe, Vermont National Country Club in South Burlington
About Katharine Dyson
Katharine Dyson is a regular contributor to the New England Golf Monthly column: The Perfect Life.
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