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| Date | |
Event Description |
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| 12 April 1779 | |
Rivington (the King's printer in New York) advertised the availability of golf balls and clubs in his Rivington's Royal Gazette (It is believed that British soldiers played golf here while occupying New York City during the Revolutionary War)
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| 1857 | |
Arthur Harris Fenn was born in Waterbury — he would later introduce the game of golf to the greater Waterbury area and achieve recognition as both a golf course designer and the first American-born professional golfer
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| 04 November 1863 | |
First authenticated golf course built in North America — The Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada (followed closely by the Royal Quebec Golf Club in 1874)
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| 1888 | |
St. Andrew's Golf Club (Westchester County, NY) believed to have been established, giving it the legitimate claim as America's oldest enduring golf club
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| 1891 | |
Shinnecock Hills Golf Club established on Long Island, New York
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| 1894 | |
Both St. Andrew's and the Newport Golf Club (RI) staged invitational tournaments and declared its winner to be the national Amateur Champion
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| 22 December 1894 | |
The United States Golf Association was established as a resolution to the dispute raised in 1894 — clubs represented included Newport Golf Club, St. Andrew's, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, The Country Club (Brookline MA), and the Chicago Golf Club. The first USGA president was Theodore A. Havemeyer.
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| October 1895 | |
Charles Blair Macdonald wins the first U.S. Amateur Championship at the Newport Golf Club
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| October 1895 | |
Horace Rawlins won the first U.S. Open Championship, also held at the Newport Golf Club just one day after the U.S. Amateur won by Macdonald
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| 1895 | |
First public golf course in the United States opens at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City
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| Spring 1896 | |
Waterbury's first known golf course opens for play — the West End Golf Links quickly draws enthusiastic participation from both men and women
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| 1898 | |
Shinnecock Hills Golf Club (established in Southampton NY in 1891) becomes the first club in the United States to incorporate
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| April 1899 | |
The Waterbury American newspaper describes the popularity of golf in the city, noting some 200 golfers (men and women) as regular players at the 'West End Golf Lots'
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| 05 May 1899 | |
The Waterbury American newspaper
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| 1899 | |
League of Connecticut Golf Clubs is formed (later to become the CSGA)
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| 1899 | |
Twenty-six year old Scotsman Donald J. Ross leaves his hometown of Dornoch and emigrates to America. Taking up residence outside Boston, he would eventually leave a lasting imprint on the history of American golf.
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| 30 October 1906 | |
Members of the Waterbury Golf Association vote to establish the Country Club of Waterbury, Inc.
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| November 1906 | |
Local businessmen W.B. Merriman and Nathanial Bronson put up $10,000 for purchase of farm land at the western edge of Waterbury for a new course and golf club
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| 18 July 1908 | |
The new clubhouse opened at the Bradleyville Road facility (located on the hill above the present-day pool location)
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| 1927 | |
A mysterious fire consumed the clubhouse which had served as the new home for the Country Club of Waterbury since moving to the western end of Waterbury twenty years earlier
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| 15 September 1928 | |
First round of golf is played on the new Donald Ross-designed Country Club of Waterbury course on Bradleyville Road (now Oronoke Road)
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1953
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Bucky Merriman, longtime member and son of founding member William B. Merriman, dies at age 64 — leaving one-sixth of his estate to the club
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| May 1956 | |
Memorial Day Weekend celebrated the opening of the new swimming pool facilities at the club
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| 1941 | |
Ten year old Floyd Gensler begins his more than 50-year career at the club as a caddie. He would eventually serve as Head Golf Professional for more than three decades
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| 1984 | |
Club member and eventual LPGA tour professional Caroline Keggi squared off against her mother, Julie Keggi, in the Club Championship. Caroline shot a women's course record 66 to win the match on the 14th hole. Julie, a 10-time women's champion, carded a 77 for the round.
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| Spring 1999 | |
A long-awaited practice facility opens on newly acquired land behind the 14th green
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| August 1999 | |
With Honorary club member Gov. John G. Rowland in attendance, the club membership celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Country Club of Waterbury
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Research for this timeline is ongoing. If you have a specific date in club history and/or any original source documents to verify an historic event, please send it via email to dan[at]ccwaterbury.com (replacing [at] with the @ symbol). Sorry, but this is done to prevent automated spam email.
Throughout the development of this website, a great deal of historical research has been conducted in order to properly document and verify aspects of our club history. Since our club dates to the very early years of golf in America, other relevant facts are also included in this historic timeline.
