Established in 1965,Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, Connecticut will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2015. As part of the celebration, Black Hall will play host to the 113th Connecticut Amateur Championship on June 15th – 19th. In 2014, Black Hall Club was the qualifying site for the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship and the United States Amateur Championship.
Black Hall Club has quite an interesting history that dates back to the early 1960's, when Robert Trent Jones, Sr. was commissioned to design the course. In the early 1960s, the lower Connecticut Valley was becoming more populated with the existence of Route I-95 and the advent of Route 9 running from Hartford down the Connecticut River to Old Saybrook, and the number of people playing Golf was on the rise. A group of prominent Old Lyme residents felt the “existing area golf courses were inadequate to meet the demands of a new-found interest in golf generally.”
The founders were steadfast to create a new golf club in Old Lyme that will be devoted exclusively to the ownership, operation and maintenance of a superior golf course of championship caliber. To that end in 1962, Robert Trent Jones was retained to design and supervise the construction of the course. Jones is one of the most famous golf course architects in history, having designed over 500 courses in his career. Some of his most famous course designs include Hazeltine National, Spyglass Hill, Port Royal Golf Club and the Dunes Club.
Black Hall Club, named after a historically important section of Old Lyme, was incorporated in March of 1965. Opening Day, July 8th of 1967 represented the many victories of so many obstacles along the way that on several occasions nearly stalled the project. Some of these challenges included; acquiring land, securing funds, course construction and recruitment of the necessary members. The present clubhouse was built in 1980 and the championship layout has quietly become one of the highest regarded layouts in the state of Connecticut.
Although 2015 will mark the first Connecticut Amateur Championship, the club is no stranger to hosting the state's best amateur and professional golfers. Black Hall Club has hosted the Connecticut Mid-Amateur seven times in the twenty-eight year history of the event, and also hosted the 2003 Connecticut Open Championship. In addition, the club annually hosts the CSGA Two-Man Team Championship, conducted in honor of Bill Hermanson, longtime member and storied champion. In 2014, Black Hall Club was the qualifying site for the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship and the United States Amateur Championship.
