(October 21, 2025) – It is the first day of October. The sun is shining brightly, but for the first time all year, there is a real chill in the air. However, as you pull into the parking lot at Norwich Golf Course on an early fall Wednesday, there is a buzz about the course. Despite the morning chill, numerous players are well into their rounds. Meanwhile, around the putting green, the final stage of set up for the Chestnut Street Playhouse outing is underway.
That is life at Norwich Golf Course, the winner of the 2025 Walter ‘Bud’ Smith Distinguished Club Award. From the start of the season to the end the course is a constant buzz of activity. Whether it is outside tournaments, its nearly 100-year-old Norwich Invitational, one of the five high school teams it hosts, or, of course regular play the activity never stops.
“I think winning the Walter ‘Bud’ Smith Distinguished Club Award is great for everybody,” 15-year head professional Mike Svab said. “I think it’s an accomplishment for everyone. From the Norwich Golf Course Authority, which oversees the golf course operations, to our members’ club, to our numerous CSGA representatives, and countless others.”
Golf in Norwich began in the late 1800s when the first course, a six-hole layout, was built in part in the backyard of Benedict Arnold’s old home. Two courses succeeded the original layout before settling on the land that is used today. First, a nine-hole layout was built in 1910 before the 18-hole design that is still largely the same today was opened in 1925.
Initially, a private course, the club was bought by the City of Norwich in 1978 and has operated as a municipal course ever since. The course is a constant in the community to the tune of 50,000 rounds per year.
“We have people who have been playing here forever,” Svab said while looking across the table at two not only longtime members of the Norwich GC community but also two longtime volunteers of the CSGA in Jim Homiski and John Marion.
Two people who have had as much to do with the continued success at Norwich GC as anyone. Both have been involved in nearly every aspect of the club, including the Norwich Invitational, which besides the Connecticut Amateur, is the oldest amateur match play event in the state.
Set to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026, the three-day event is held each year in mid-July and typically sells out in days.
The Norwich Invitational might be the most notable event the club hosts each year but it only scratches the surface of what the club provides to the community. Each year Svab runs a junior golf program, introducing the next generation of golfers to the sport. Additionally, for the last 20 years, they have given out a scholarship to up to three high school seniors who have parents or grandparents who are members of the club.
“We are an old membership right now and I think the last five years or so we’re getting a younger group of people that are coming in and getting involved for various reasons,” Jim Homiski said. “I think that is really important.”
The more you talk to people at Norwich GC, the more one constant shines through. Pride. There is pride about what Norwich GC has been, is, and will be. From Mike Svab to Jim Homiski and John Marion, to Norwich Golf Course Authority chairman Bob Malouf, and countless others, there is a never-ending desire to make the course a better place than it was for the next generation.
“That stems from before the city purchased the course in 1978,” John Marion said. “The members actually ran the golf course and this dates back to prior to 1910. That’s where the atmosphere of the membership comes from. This is our golf course.”
About the Connecticut State Golf Association
The Connecticut State Golf Association functions as an extension of the USGA and provides stewardship for amateur golf in Connecticut. Founded in 1899, it is the country’s oldest state golf association and conducts over 60 Championships, Qualifiers, and One Day Tournaments throughout the year.
