Misquamicut’s golfing ground emerged in the 1890s during Watch Hill’s resort era. The club and its first course date to 1895, but the identity of the inaugural architect is not uniformly recorded. Top100GolfCourses reports that the founding members engaged Tom Bendelow to lay out the original course that year; other accounts assert that Willie Park Jr. prepared a nine-hole plan in 1895 with Willie Anderson adding holes in 1896, followed by Bendelow returning in 1901 to revise the layout. These competing narratives reflect the fragmentary nature of early club documentation and the rapid succession of golf professionals working in Watch Hill at the time.
By the early 1910s, the club undertook further reworking. The Walter J. Travis Society and contemporary commentary note that Seth Raynor renovated five holes in 1913, an intervention generally characterized as alterations within the existing routing rather than a wholesale redesign. Surviving secondary sources also mention that Walter Travis proposed changes around 1916, but those plans were not adopted. These claims, while widely repeated in architectural literature, rely on society compilations and press fragments rather than accessible primary club records; verification would require the club’s minute books or original drawings.
The club then turned to Donald Ross. The Rhode Island Golf Association’s directory lists Misquamicut as “remodeled in 1923,” and the National Register nomination for the Watch Hill Historic District states that “the present course was laid out by the late Donald Ross,” confirming his decisive role in establishing the course substantially as it exists today. Additional evidence in enthusiast archives indicates that a Ross plan dated 1921 was prepared, typical of a design-then-build sequence culminating in the 1923 works. Collectively these sources support the conclusion that Ross re-routed and rebuilt major sections—especially in the low meadows across Ocean View Highway—while integrating earlier holes on the hill.
Post-Ross changes have been incremental. Secondary accounts attribute minor renovations in the 1980s to Geoffrey Cornish, followed by restorative work under Ron Forse (master-planning and restoration beginning in the mid-1990s) and bunker restoration projects by Bruce Hepner beginning in 2011. Forse lists Misquamicut among his restoration clients; Hepner’s résumé similarly references Misquamicut bunker work. These later phases focused on sand-hazard forms, teeing ground adjustments, and vegetation management rather than altering Ross’s routing.
The most dramatic recent “change” was environmental rather than architectural. Hurricane Sandy (October 29, 2012) pushed storm surge across the meadows, flooding the lower seven holes and burying portions of the twelfth tee in four feet of sand; a club report printed by the Watch Hill Conservancy described debris on the thirteenth green and a breach at the dike fronting that hole. The club’s remediation—fresh-water flushing and debris removal—restored play without redesigning the holes, underscoring how Ross’s meadows sequence persists despite coastal exposure.
Unique Design Characteristics
What most clearly ties Misquamicut to Ross’s hand is the back-nine meadows sequence (12–17), where the routing choreographs wind, angles, and water margins rather than relying on length. The twelfth plays from an isthmus between Maschaug and Little Maschaug Ponds out toward the beach, the tee shot carrying water to a green with safe room behind—an arrangement that marries terrain and breeze to reward precise trajectory. The thirteenth and fourteenth, widely cited as the round’s sternest two-shotters, use Little Maschaug Pond along the right to set diagonal tee-ball hazards and position-based approaches into elongated greens, with bunkering pulling at the bold line. The fifteenth appears open from the tee, but the approach reveals a subtle false-front effect and encircling sand that require trajectory control, particularly in onshore winds. The sixteenth demands a forced carry over reeds from a tee tucked along Ocean View Highway, then a mid-iron into a deep, defended green. Seventeenth offers the lone back-nine par-5, threaded between reeds and pond margins in a way that tests lay-up placement as much as power.
On the hill, the long par-3 sixth (measured 230 yards from the back tee) accentuates elevation change and prevailing wind, a one-shotter that plays longer or shorter depending on the day and exemplifies Ross’s tendency—on this property—to make terrain and exposure the dominant hazards rather than overt penal features. The course closes with an unconventional uphill par-3 eighteenth of roughly 215 yards, a throwback that concentrates the match in a single, demanding shot back toward the clubhouse. While the finishing hole predates Ross’s tenure in some attributions, its presence today shapes how Ross’s meadows work is perceived: a Ross-forged back-nine narrative that culminates not in a brute par-4 or par-5 but in a testing one-shot ascent.
Because the early decades featured several contributors, identifying which holes remain “pure Ross” requires caution. Multiple secondary sources align in crediting Ross with rebuilding the sixth and the lowland stretch from twelve through seventeen, Raynor with earlier versions of 3–5 and 7–8, and Bendelow (with other early pros) with 1, 9–11 and 18. Even allowing for that mosaic, the clearest surviving examples of Ross’s work are the 12th–14th, whose angles, green shapes and wind-exposed fairways match period Ross plans elsewhere and are repeatedly singled out by modern observers.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s catalog, Misquamicut is important as a coastal re-composition of an already complex, multi-author course. The 1923 remodel consolidated disparate early work into a coherent whole while pushing the strategic core into low, storm-prone meadows—a choice that has required careful husbandry but yields a distinctive seaside identity. Modern rankings consistently keep Misquamicut among Rhode Island’s top courses, and editorial profiles note in particular the strength of 13 and 14 and the rarified par-3 finish, underlining how the course’s individuality rests on specific holes rather than generic traits.
As a competitive venue, Misquamicut has more often hosted state-level events than national championships, consistent with its compact yardage and private-club rhythm. Recent examples include the Rhode Island Mid-Amateur, staged here in 2024, where Westerly native Brendan Lemp won on his home course, illustrating how local knowledge of winds and meadows carries real advantage.
Current Condition / Integrity
The routing most golfers experience today is substantially Ross-era on the meadows side and hybrid early-era on the hill. The bunkering reflects both period forms and sympathetic modern restoration: Forse Design has maintained a long-term advisory presence focused on master planning and restoration, and Bruce Hepner undertook bunker restoration beginning in 2011, refining sand lines and green-side tie-ins without altering hole corridors. Accounts of Geoffrey Cornish work in the 1980s suggest small-scale renovations—likely green perimeters and bunkers rather than rerouting—though those details would benefit from direct review of project files.
The greens retain the brisk speeds and short-grass surrounds that modern observers regularly highlight; conditioning choices and tree/vegetation management have re-opened wind exposure central to the meadows sequence. Hurricane Sandy damage in 2012 temporarily scarred the lower holes (with 12 and 13 most affected), but the club’s remediation emphasized restoration in place rather than redesign, and the dike/pond system installed as part of a “Meadows project” is credited locally with preventing more extensive loss. That episode demonstrates both the vulnerability and resilience of Ross’s back-nine composition in a coastal setting.
Sources & Notes
Rhode Island Golf Association, “Rhode Island’s Donald Ross Clubs” (accessed Sept. 2025), entry for Misquamicut — lists Misquamicut as “Remodeled in 1923.”
National Register of Historic Places, Watch Hill Historic District nomination (RI SHPO), pp. 38–39 — “The present course was laid out by the late Donald Ross” and brief club history.
Top100GolfCourses, “The Misquamicut Club” — course overview noting front-nine uplands, meadows-side back nine, strengths of holes 13–14, and par-3 18th; also references Bendelow at the club’s founding.
Golfadelphia (Dec. 18, 2023), “The Misquamicut Club” — first-person review with hole-specific descriptions (12–17), practice-facility notes, and a synthesis of hole attributions (Ross: 6, 12–17; Raynor: 3–5, 7–8; early era: 1, 9–11, 18); cites conflicts among sources. Secondary source.
Worldgolfer.blog (Feb. 23, 2019), “The Misquamicut Club” — secondary summary of architect attributions and later work by Cornish, Forse, Hepner. Secondary source to be verified against club files.
Watch Hill Conservancy, The Conservator (Nov. 2012), “Hurricane Sandy — Local Reports” — Misquamicut Club president’s report on damage: lower seven holes flooded; 12th tee buried; debris on 13th green; dike performance.
Forse Golf Design, “Client List & Events” — lists Misquamicut Club (RI) — Master Plan/Restoration.
Hartford Golf Club (archived résumé page), “Hepner Golf Design — Work Experience” — “Misquamicut C., RI — Bunker Restoration 2011–.”
GolfNewsRI (May 6, 2024), “Brendan Lemp Wins RIGA Mid-Amateur at Misquamicut Club” — recent state-level championship hosted on site.
Disputed / Uncertain Points (requiring primary-source verification)
• Original architect (1895): Top100 credits Tom Bendelow; other narratives attribute the first nine to Willie Park Jr. with Willie Anderson involved in 1896 and Bendelow revising in 1901.
• Ross plan date: Multiple secondary and forum sources refer to a 1921 Ross plan with construction completed in 1923.
• Hole-by-hole attributions: The commonly cited mapping—Ross (6, 12–17), Raynor (3–5, 7–8), early era (1, 9–11, 18)—is derived from secondary syntheses and enthusiast research.
• 1980s Cornish work: Frequently mentioned in reviews; project scope and dates should be confirmed via Geoffrey Cornish archives or club architectural files.