Conception and siting (1924–1926).
Burlington Country Club (BCC) originated in 1924 when local founders acquired roughly 150 acres from Henry Holt’s Fairholt estate on Burlington’s hill section, above Lake Champlain and beside the University of Vermont. They hired Donald J. Ross to lay out Chittenden County’s first 18-hole course. Contemporary accounts and later club histories place opening for play in 1926. Ross’s organization also involved his trusted associate Walter B. Hatch, who lauded the property as an exceptional site for a country club—an appraisal that helps explain the bold way the routing exploits the upland terrain and the natural water on the western boundary.
Routing character.
BCC’s original routing remains the club’s architectural backbone. Authors and raters have long noted the unusual composition of the two nines: both move counter-clockwise in near-concentric rings, with only a small crossover in the southwest corner. That pattern—rare anywhere and believed to be unique within Ross’s portfolio—delivers steady directional variety while keeping green-to-tee walks tight on a compact hilltop parcel.
Post-opening decades and the first comprehensive modernization (1990s).
For much of the 20th century, the course changed little in plan, though maintenance practices evolved. Superintendent Fred Martell, who began in 1976, modernized irrigation, converted greens to bent grass, and reshaped select holes—work that improved agronomy without disturbing the routing’s skeleton. By the late 1990s, the club commissioned Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry to conduct a full restoration/renovation aimed at preparing BCC for contemporary championship play while honoring Ross. That program culminated with the course reopening in 1998.
Recent restoration phase (2019–2020).
Beginning in late 2019, Robert McNeil (Northeast Golf Company) led an 18-hole bunker recapture using historic imagery and Ross drawings as style guides. The scope included rebuilding all bunkers in a period-appropriate idiom, significant subsurface drainage on historically wet corridors (notably 7, 8, 9, and 18), forward-tee additions, and utility work (a new main sewer line routed through several holes). The project reaffirmed Ross’s strategic intentions while sharpening aesthetics and playability.
Unique design characteristics on the ground
Water-influenced strategy on the west side. Ross threaded multiple holes along natural lakes/ponds that define the western edge of the property, and these remain some of the round’s most exacting tests. The 4th plays with water lurking to the right; the 11th asks players to negotiate water set directly in front of the green; and the 15th culminates on a green poised along the lakeside—three distinct expressions of hazard placement that force angle-conscious decision-making.
Concentric, counter-clockwise nines. The routing’s geometry is not a mere curiosity; it governs how wind and slope are presented. With both loops circling counter-clockwise, fairway cambers often shed balls toward interior rough and bunkers, while approaches repeatedly test the golfer’s ability to control trajectory into perched greens.
Recaptured Ross bunker style. The 2019–20 work reset bunker forms and placements to read as 1920s Ross—shallower, flowing lines and confident, horizon-level cuts that emphasize angles rather than spectacle. Because the routing stayed intact through all eras, these bunkers again frame the intended line-of-charm and restore risk-reward graduations that had softened with time.
Where Ross is clearest today. With the original routing preserved, many holes still broadcast Ross’s hand in their corridors and targets. The water-side 4th, 11th, and 15th are the most vivid because their land–water relationships, green siting, and approach angles are intrinsic to the original plan; recent work focused on style and drainage rather than moving those playing corridors. Elsewhere on the property, compact green-to-tee transitions and the steady, walkable progression of the concentric loops are daily reminders that the course one plays is still Ross’s course.
Historical significance
Ross in Vermont. Burlington is the only 18-hole Ross design in Vermont, making it a keystone for understanding how Ross adapted his strategic preferences to the state’s upland topography and smaller, hill-district parcels. The concentric, counter-clockwise routing pattern appears to be unique within his oeuvre, marking BCC as a routing experiment that succeeded and endured.
Competitive pedigree. BCC staged the inaugural Vermont Open in 1940, drawing prominent PGA figures of the day. The club has also been a frequent host of Vermont Golf Association championships, including multiple Vermont Amateurs across the decades (e.g., 1933, 1937, 1940, 1947, 1950, 1955, 1958, 1962, 1965, among others), reinforcing its role in the state’s competitive calendar.
Reputational standing. In contemporary state rankings, BCC is consistently regarded among Vermont’s notable courses; for example, Top 100 Golf Courses currently places Burlington Country Club among its top ten in Vermont, citing the preserved Ross routing and the quality of late-1990s restoration.
Current condition & design integrity
Routing and corridors. The 18-hole routing plays today as Ross set it out in the mid-1920s, with the concentric loops intact. The Hurdzan/Fry program of the 1990s and the McNeil bunker restoration in 2019–20 worked within that framework rather than altering it.
Greens and turf. Greens are bent-grass (a conversion spearheaded during Fred Martell’s tenure), and overall agronomic systems have been modernized. There is no public record of a wholesale 1990s green-rebuild; instead, the emphasis appears to have been on irrigation/conditioning, selective shaping, and preparing the course for firmer, faster play within Ross corridors.
Bunkers and drainage. All bunkers were rebuilt in 2019–20 to a historically grounded Ross style, with simultaneous drainage additions on lower-lying fairways and surrounds—particularly 7, 8, 9, and 18—improving year-round playability without changing hole concepts. Forward-tee expansions broadened accessibility while respecting original lines.
Trees and vistas. Selective tree management in recent years has reopened sightlines and restored width/angles into green complexes, a change reflected in contemporary course write-ups and state rankings.
Set-up and scorecard. From the back tees, BCC plays 6,471 yards, par 71, with a course rating/slope reported at 71.6/134. The club’s current scorecard confirms hole-by-hole yardages and tee calibrations used in recent championships.
Sources & Notes
Burlington Country Club — Club History (club website; timeline of key figures and modernization efforts; notes on Superintendent Fred Martell’s irrigation upgrades, bent-grass conversions, and reshaping).
VermontBiz (Apr 14, 2024), “Burlington Country Club celebrates its centennial” — founders’ 1924 purchase of Fairholt land; Ross commission; Walter B. Hatch quotation on the site; statement that BCC is Vermont’s only Ross course; note on counter-clockwise concentric nines.
Top 100 Golf Courses — Burlington Country Club — course profile summarizing Ross authorship, concentric-loop routing (with Daniel Wexler reference), and water-influenced holes (4, 11, 15); confirms late-1990s Hurdzan/Fry program.
Top 100 Golf Courses — Vermont ranking — lists Burlington Country Club among the state’s top ten.
Golf Course News (Feb 1999), industry survey table showing Hurdzan/Fry renovation at Burlington reopening in 1998 (status “O = Opened 1998”).
Golf Course Architecture (Jan 7, 2020): “McNeil plans to recapture Ross bunker style at Burlington CC” — details 2019 construction start; scope (complete bunker rebuild to Ross style), drainage on 7/8/9/18, forward tees, and utility work; confirms that the routing remains Ross’s original 1924 layout.
Vermont Hickory Golf Association — “History of the Vermont Open” (the first Vermont Open in 1940 at Burlington CC; context on field and purse).
Vermont Golf Association — Vermont Amateur champions/hosts compilation showing multiple Amateur championships hosted by BCC across decades.
Burlington Country Club Facebook/Community history posts and local histories referencing the Fairholt estate and 1926 opening (supporting details for purchase/opening chronology).
Golf Digest course listing (VT/Burlington CC) — contemporary note on tree removal widening landing corridors and improving angles into green complexes. (Secondary corroboration of recent presentation changes.)
Disputed/uncertain points to flag
Ross return visits (post-opening): No documentary evidence surfaced in public club histories or trade-press pieces that Ross returned for additional construction phases after the mid-1920s; if archival minutes or plan annotations exist, they have not been published. (See #1, #3, #4, #7.)
Exact 1990s scope on greens: Public sources emphasize irrigation/conditioning and overall “restoration” under Hurdzan/Fry, with the opening year 1998 documented (see #6). Specific, hole-by-hole green rebuilds are not described in accessible records; the safe inference is that the routing and most green sites remained in place while contours may have been adjusted selectively. (See #4, #6, #7.)
“Only Ross course in Vermont” and “unique concentric nines”: Both claims are stated in the club’s centennial coverage and echoed by raters; as with any statewide inventory, this rests on current scholarship and could be revisited if new archival work surfaces. (See #3, #4, #5.)