For reasons I may never understand the March 10, 1898 Norwich Bulletin headline New Course of Norwich Golf Club caught my eye. Maybe its because I secretly like the game but play so poorly I no longer even make the attempt. My first Norwich Bulletin blog about golf in Norwich appeared on July 7, 2014. While I could not find the 2018 season opening date for the present course I do present this bit of Norwich Golf Course history from their website –
The first Norwich Golf Course was built adjacent to the ancestral home of Benedict Arnold sometime prior to 1896. The course was later relocated to the current location and enlarged and rerouted until the fourth renovation which was established in 1910 and completed for the grand opening on July 4th, 1924 as the current design. The course includes wide fairways and challenging greens constructed over undulating terrain featuring an 18 hole golf course (over 6,191 yards par 71 (municipal) & practice areas, clubhouse with full locker rooms, a fully stocked Golf Shop, and the CaddyShack Restaurant.
Anyway . . – “To begin at Norwich Club House and to be 2,800 yards stretch – new road to be built. – The Norwich Golf club has completed arrangements for an entirely new course which is to be ready for use the coming season. The course will begin in the rear of the Norwich clubhouse, and, running northeasterly, follow the new Rockwell road in the rear of the Free Academy. From the terminus of this highway a new road is to be built to what is called the Reynolds lot, and from thence the course will cross the land of the Rev. L. W. Bacon a short distance.
The course will have a stretch of 2,800 yards and will have nine holes, the distance between them ranging from 160 to 200 yards. The first hole will be at the clubhouse and the ninth hole will be very near it, so that a person making the course will come back to his starting place. Work on the new road is to be begun at once, and it is expected that the course will be ready for play on April 1.
The new course presents a greater diversity of natural conditions than the present course opposite the hospital grounds. On the old links were two courses, but the new will have but one. The club has made arrangements with the Norwich club whereby the clubhouse is to be used as headquarters for the necessary equipment for the players.
The coming golf season, which opens April 1, promises to be a very prosperous one for the Norwich club, as more than usual interest is manifested in the game, and the members all express desire to take an active part this year and play frequently. Something I hope continues to be true in 2018.
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