The early days of the course go back to 1898. Thomas Avery, descendent of one of Groton's first settlers, established a four hole course on his property with "fairways extending on both sides on his barn and farmhouse." Over the next few years five more holes were added to create a nine-hole course. During this era, a summer resort, the Griswold Hotel, was built adjacent to the course. During the early 20th century, the owner of the hotel, Morton Plant, was buying much local property, including property from Thomas Avery. Plant ultimately bought his golf course and, over the course of the years 1913 and 1914, added several more holes to create a full 18-hole course. Scottish-born pro
Alex Smith was the club professional at the time. Smith broke the course record with a 69 during this era. In 1926, the well-known golf course architect
Donald Ross re-designed the course. It also hosted the
Connecticut Amateur several times in the 1920s. Club pro Smith was also able to attract some of the world's leading professionals to play exhibition matches at Shennecossett, including
J.H. Taylor,
Joe Kirkwood Sr., and
Walter Hagen. In 1945, the course was sold to Morton Mencher along with the adjacent Griswold Hotel. The name of the course was re-titled the Griswold Hotel and Country Club. Despite this, it was often informally known as "the Shennecossett" during this era. The legendary
Harry Cooper served as club pro during this era. During this era, the town also applied for financial aid from the federal government to buy the course. The town requested for 50% of the funds to purchase the course. The application was rejected. The town's Recreation Commission still supported the project and supported the town's next application, this one to the state government. The town intended to apply for 50% aid as they had earlier to the federal government that would be worth $507,000. In early 1967, the
State of Connecticut's Attorney General Office looked at the application. Despite initial reservations, they ultimately approved the application. The club created three new holes with the new territory along the
Thames River and
Long Island Sound.
Golf Magazine praised the addition of these new seaside holes, stating that they helped transform the "perennially solid muni into one of the deals of the century." In 2004, it was included in
Golf Magazine's Thrifty 50, one of the top American courses recreational golfers could play for less than $50. == Scorecard ==