The inaugural tournament was won by Thomas L. Cheney, a
Yale University student and
Yale Golf Team member. A decade later, the tournament was won in consecutive years by another member of Yale's golf team, Buck Merriman. In 1910, Merriman was the medalist at the event. In modern times, the tournament usually begins with two qualifying rounds of
stroke play. The medalist earns the R.M. Grant Medalist honors. The top 32 players then move on to the
match play format of the tournament. The match play consists of two rounds each of the next two days. On the third and final day of match play, the remaining two players compete in a 36-hole final. Reverend William T. Lee, pastor of the Emanuel Lutheran Church in New Haven, won the Connecticut Amateur three times from 1975 to 1990. == Winners ==