A memorable celebration
FAIRFIELD — Some of the greatest and most famous golfers in the history of the sport have struck golf balls at Brooklawn Country Club.
Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer. Nancy Lopez and Beth Daniel. Gene Sarazen and Harry Vardon. Gary Player and Chi Chi Rodriguez. Michelle Wie and Inbee Park. Georgianna Bishop and Willie Anderson.
Brooklawn CC has a long and storied history in golf, 125 years worth. What started as a nine-hole course not only turned into a classic A.W. Tillinghast design, but also the course that hosted more United States Golf Association championships than any other state golf facility.
“When you walk to the first tee at Brooklawn, you are walking along the same ground that some of the most famous golfers in all of history have,” longtime Brooklawn CC member Charlie Rhudy said. “Not everyone may appreciate that, but for me, it’s pretty cool to walk out there and know so many great players walked along the same ground.”
Rhudy helped put together a book “Brooklawn Country Club, An Enduring Vision” to help signify Brooklawn’s 125th year. It is a comprehensive look at the club’s history, both on and off the course.
There’s tennis courts on the grounds — Bobby Riggs and Don Budge played an exhibition match at Brooklawn in the 1960s, according to the book — along with platform tennis, swimming and bowling at the club, not to mention all of the social gatherings.
“When I joined 16 years ago, it was a men’s club. It is such a family club now,” said club president Robert Duran.
Brooklawn CC general manager Bll Shaw noted the 125th anniversary gala will be held later in the year and any other celebrations as well due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Head pro Jim Fatsi said the annual member-guest tournament has been moved to August.
“We will do whatever we can do within the parameters of COVID-19 guidelines,” Shaw said.
And while Brooklawn CC is only open for member play for the time being, it is getting plenty of it.
“Our tee sheet is packed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” Duran said.
The members often get a chance to play, as Fatsi noted, one of the finer courses in the Metropolitan Section, which services the New York area as well as Fairfield County.
“It’s not over 7,000 yards (6,744 from the black tees), not overly difficult, a great members course,” Fatsi said. “The fact Tillinghast designed it is a feather in our cap.”
Said Duran: “Our golf course has stood the test of time. I’ve played a lot of good courses all over the country. I love playing our golf course every day.”
EARLY TIMES, FAMOUS NAMES
The book takes you through a chronological history of Brooklawn’s start, officially on May 1, 1895 when it was first known as the Brooklawn Club Corporation. Work soon began on a nine-hole course.
It didn’t take long for the club to gain some fame. Willie Anderson won the only Brooklawn Open in 1903 — the same year he won his second of four U.S.
Open championships, still the only man to have won three straight. The following year, Brooklawn’s own Georgianna Bishop won the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
George Sparling, Brooklawn’s fifth and longesttenured head pro (1908-47), not only was he present for Brooklawn’s expansion to 18 holes early in his tenure, but he also hired an assistant pro named Gene Sarazen — the same Gene Sarazen who went on to become the first golfer to win the modern professional Grand Slam, and holds Brooklawn’s course record, shooting a 63 in 1938 (matched by Kirk Hanefeld in 2005).
Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, the reigning U.S. Open champion, played a pair of exhibition matches at Brooklawn CC in 1920. That’s the same Vardon that the PGA’s Vardon Trophy is named after, given annually to the PGA Tour pro with the lowest scoring average.
Tillinghast began the redesign in 1929 and completed it by 1932.
There have been 14 head pros at Brooklawn CC. In the early years, the pro also held the title of head greenskeeper.
After Tillinghast’s redesign was completed, there have only been three course superintendents: Rufus Knapp, Frank Nichols and Peter Bly, who has been in charge for the past four decades after working for four years under Nichols.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to take care of this Tillinghast gem,” Bly said. “I still enjoy getting up every morning to take care of the golf course.”
It took until 1974 for the first USGA championship to come to 500 Algonquin Road. Then several more soon followed.
“What really separates us from all the great golf courses in Connecticut is no one has that history. For us, we have had it multiple times,” said Rick Ryan, a member for three decades.
USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Brooklawn CC has held four USGA championship events and was supposed to have a fifth to coincide with the 125th anniversary.
“It carries a lot of weight. We’ve been able to develop a relationship with the USGA and it’s a way to give back to the golfing community,” Fatsi said.
The 1974 U.S. Junior Amateur was Brooklawn’s first national event. David Nevatt won the championship. There were a few teenagers who went on to have solid careers on the PGA Tour: Payne Stewart, Joey Sindelar, David Ogrin and Chip Beck, the medalist after the two rounds of stroke play.
The USGA returned in 1979 to host the U.S. Women’s Open. Hollis Stacy was going for the three-peat, and other stars like Nancy Lopez, Joanne Carner, Beth Daniel and Jan Stephenson were in the field.
Jerilyn Britz won the tournament despite shooting an even par total for four rounds.
“We did a lot of renovating and fixing things to meet the USGA standards,” Bly recalled. “It was a hot summer. There was a lot of setup work, putting ropes and stakes up for the (foot) traffic. To take care of the golf course, we were extremely busy. We didn’t have a big staff. We worked a lot of hours.”
The USGA was back at Brooklawn eight years later for the 1987 U.S. Senior Open. The Champions Tour debuted in 1980, so the top players were only a few years removed from the PGA Tour.
Arnold Palmer had his Army, Chi Chi Rodriguez did his saber dance and Billy Casper wore his knickers.
“That helped me fall in love further with the game. I played high school golf matches there,” said Fatsi, who once caddied at Brooklawn CC. “The whole experience, being from Fairfield, then seeing Gary Player and Arnold Palmer play that golf course, I fell in love with the game even more.”
Said Rhudy: “My boyhood hero was Arnold Palmer. I worshipped the ground Arnold Palmer walked on. For Gary Player to win and Chi Chi Rodriguez to be there at the end (in contention) was pretty exciting.”
Player won the first of two straight U.S. Senior Opens, shooting all four rounds in the 60s, winning by six shots over Doug Sanders.
The 2003 U.S. Girls Junior was the fourth national championship Brooklawn hosted. Michelle Wie was the huge draw in the field, even though she was only 13.
Future LPGA stalwarts Paula Creamer, Inbee Park and Morgan Pressel all advanced to match play. But it was Sukjin-Lee Wuesthoff who took the title, defeating Park in the final.
Bly said the course was in the process of a renovation at that time, cutting down a lot of trees. That project had to stop for a period of six months prior to the Girls Junior being held.
Brooklawn CC was supposed to host a fifth USGA championship this year: the third U.S. Senior Women’s Open July 9-12. But the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of that event, in addition to several other USGA championships.
TIGER ... AND MORE
Tiger Woods never played an actual hole at Brooklawn Country Club, but he put on a show during a clinic held during the club’s centennial year.
Woods was still an amateur when he came to Brooklawn in 1995. He was in between his first and second wins in consecutive years at the U.S. Amateur. He played in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills GC in Southampton, New York, but injured his wrist and had to withdraw.
Despite the injury, Tiger and Earl Woods, his father, came down to Brooklawn CC for the clinic. Children and members watched, Ryan recalled, as Earl talked about his son Eldrick, then gave instructions for him to hit his sand wedge at a tree some 115 yards away.
“‘Tiger, take your sand wedge and hit it at that tree,’” Ryan recalled Earl saying. “After his perfect execution, Earl issued the same directive at the same tree but progressing up to 8-iron, then 4-iron and finally 3-wood, all with near perfect outcome. It was simply incredible distance control from sand wedge to 3-wood.”
A question-and-answer session followed for kids and adults alike. Ryan said Earl answered every question directed at Tiger.
“Finally, and to the amusement of the gathered adults, one young boy pointed to Tiger and asked Earl, ‘Does he talk?’” Ryan said.
Two more U.S. Amateurs titles, 15 major championships and 82 PGA Tour victories later, Woods has become arguably the greatest golfer of all time.
Brooklawn has hosted plenty of golf events for both the Metropolitan and Connecticut Sections, Last year alone, it hosted the Connecticut Women’s Open and the 50th Jay and Jim Borck Tournament — the Borcks were longtime Brooklawn CC members and the club hosted the first championship in 1970 and many in between.
The club was also in the running to host the 2021 Solheim Cup.
THE FUTURE
More than three decades after watching Palmer and Player stride the fairways, Fatsi is thankful he landed his first head pro job in the state at Brooklawn CC
“I love what I do. I have a smile every time I drive up Algonquin Road,” Fatsi said.
In addition to many trees being taken down over the course of time, Bly said the bunker sand has been replaced, all of the tees have been redone and the cartpaths were all moved. But the greens have remained the same
“It’s been quite a journey. I’m very fortunate to be here for as long as I have,” Bly said.
When he was the head pro at New Haven CC, Shaw used to play in the Interclub matches at Brooklawn CC along with Hartford GC and CC of Waterbury. All four clubs having been around since before 1900.
Shaw has been the general manager since November.
“When you hear about a place, then you finally get there, places like that stand up to everything you have heard about it. Brooklawn is like that,” Shaw said.
Shaw noted that there are some clubhouse projects that will be done, including a redesign of the entire first floor, the patio and the grill room. Due to the pandemic, those projects won’t begin until September. The scheduled completion is April of 2022.
And just because this year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open was canceled doesn’t mean the club doesn’t have a shot at a future bid.
“I’ve never stopped being in contact with the USGA about this tournament in the future,” said Ryan, the general chair for the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. “It’s been too long since our last USGA championship.”
The future looks bright at Brooklawn CC, but it’s quite a history to live up to.
“Brookalwn has played such a major role in the development of golf,” Rhudy said.