Golf at Waterbury began in 1896 on leased “golf lots” laid out by Arthur Fenn, then moved to the present Oronoke Road property, where an 18-hole course opened in 1919. A decade later, the club commissioned Donald Ross to produce an entirely new plan for the same site. The Connecticut State Golf Association’s club history notes that the present course was designed in 1929 by Donald Ross, with Charles Baskin—a trusted Ross associate—supervising construction on site. The club’s own history corroborates that Ross, upon visiting the property, “assigned Charles Baskin to supervise construction,” indicating formal engagement by the Ross office rather than casual advisory input. No surviving minutes or correspondence are publicly posted, but the institutional histories agree on the 1929 design date and Baskin’s supervisory role.
There is no published evidence that Ross returned after 1929 for a second phase; subsequent alterations documented publicly relate to maintenance and later stewardship rather than additional Ross-era construction. Beginning in 2015, the club undertook a master-planning process led by writer-historian Bradley S. Klein in collaboration with architect Matt Dusenberry, an effort described as “Master Plan development and construction” rather than a wholesale redesign, underscoring the club’s intent to conserve the 1929 framework.
Unique Design Characteristics
The present course is defined by a compact par-69 routing that squeezes demanding shot values from rugged topography. The club’s hole-by-hole notes identify No. 2 (443 yards from the back tee) as “possibly Ross’s greatest contribution to the Waterbury layout,” a sweeping dogleg left to an elevated green with a false front, a hole five-time Connecticut Amateur champion Dick Siderowf called “the best par 4 in the state.” That combination of diagonal tee shot, uphill approach, and closely-mown front-slope defines Waterbury’s stress on precise trajectory control.
Ross’s par-3 set at Waterbury is unusually stout. No. 3 (230 yards, downhill to a narrow target pinched by flanking bunkers) encourages a run-up from short of the green; No. 12 (187) is exposed to shifting winds despite modest yardage; and No. 14 at 234 yards is the longest one-shotter, a test where an over-aggressive swing often compounds misses, as the club warns. The short No. 8 (153) sits on a small, undulating green surrounded by four bunkers; Ross’s own notes, preserved in club lore, specified the front bunkers be cut 4–6 feet deep, a rare on-site prescription the club still cites. Together, these holes foreground long-iron/utility play and exacting recoveries.
Among the two-shotters, No. 4 (short, uphill) demands a shaping tee ball to set up an elevated green with a pronounced false front; No. 5 (476) climbs deceptively and accepts a long-iron approach to a relatively flat surface; No. 7 (424) narrows into a green flanked by bunkers; and No. 15 (427) penalizes a leaked fade into right trees before a tight uphill approach with steep fall-offs. Water influences play only sparingly—most notably the one par-5, No. 9 (516), where lay-up zones and the green’s proximity to a pond sharpen risk-reward decisions, and the tee shot across water at No. 13 to a fairway that then rises to a false-fronted green. The finisher, No. 18 (445), ascends to a two-tiered green with a false front, playing every bit its length and underscoring Ross’s preference here for exacting second shots into perched targets.
The clearest surviving expressions of Ross’s hand at Waterbury—the No. 2 dogleg with its perched target; the No. 8 small, well-bunkered green; and the long No. 14—combine topographic interest, deceptive fronts, and tight recovery surrounds that the club’s own notes continue to emphasize, suggesting continuity of intent even as maintenance lines have evolved.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s late-1920s New England work, Waterbury belongs to a subset of par-69, one-par-5 courses that rely on terrain, green sites, and long par-3s rather than sheer yardage. State and regional voices consistently cite Waterbury among Connecticut’s stronger classical tests; the Top 100 Golf Courses survey currently lists Waterbury in its Connecticut rankings, and the club reports hosting more than thirty CSGA championships—a record of competitive use that reinforces the course’s stature. Siderowf’s plaudit for the second hole has endured in regional lore and appears prominently in the club’s own materials.
Current Condition / Integrity
The routing from 1929 remains the organizing armature of play. The club’s official hole descriptions repeatedly reference elevated, false-fronted greens, narrowing fairways near green sites, and purposeful bunkering (including the depth of No. 8’s front hazards) that are hallmarks of the Ross plan on this terrain. Since 2015, the club has pursued master-plan implementation under Matt Dusenberry with consulting by Bradley S. Klein; the public notation is limited to the existence of the plan and active construction, not a play-by-play of individual features. Based on the course pages and photography, the par, hole yardages, and strategic notes align closely with the Ross-era plan’s intent: a single par-5, an exacting par-3 suite, and a closing run that ascends to a severe, two-tiered 18th. Where details such as green-edge expansions, tree management, or bunker line recapture have occurred, they have not been itemized in public documents; further verification would require access to the club’s master-plan drawings, construction reports, and board minutes.
Sources & Notes
The Country Club of Waterbury – Course Overview (official hole-by-hole descriptions & yardages). Accessed September 2025.
The Country Club of Waterbury – Club History (official site). Notes Ross’s 1929 involvement and Charles Baskin’s supervisory role. Accessed September 2025.
Connecticut State Golf Association – Club Directory: Country Club of Waterbury. Confirms 1929 Ross design and Baskin supervision; notes long association with state championships. Accessed September 2025.
Top 100 Golf Courses – Country Club of Waterbury (Connecticut). Provides early chronology (Arthur Fenn 1896; move to Oronoke Road; 1919 18-hole prior to Ross), current state ranking context. Accessed September 2025.
Bradley S. Klein – Design Consulting (project list). Documents master-plan development and construction at Country Club of Waterbury with architect Matt Dusenberry since 2015. Accessed September 2025.