Best golf courses near Stamford, CT

Well-known as a venue that hosted a PGA Tour event for decades, Westchester C.C. (West) was originally designed by Walter Travis, who was known for tiny greens and ferocious bunkering. The roster of architects who have tweaked Travis’ design include Perry Maxwell in 1939, Rees Jones in 1982, Ken Dye (no relation to Pete Dye) in 2000 and, most recently, Tom Fazio, who prepared a long-range master plan that, over a three-year period, was implemented by Fazio’s longtime associate, and restoration specialist, Tom Marzolf, a former president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. It’s a shame this polished Westchester gem in no longer visited by the tour.

Quaker Ridge returned to America’s 100 Greatest in 2013 thanks to a revision by Gil Hanse that included removal of many trees and the rebuilding of bunkers. Hanse also expanded several greens back to Tillinghast dimensions but reduced the size of the par-4 17th green, chopping off a left-hand lobe added by Frank Duane in 1964. Quaker’s strong suit has long been its powerful par 4s and Hanse strengthened them all, including the par-4 sixth, squeezed between a creek and hillside, and the drive-and-pitch 11th, where the green is girdled by a stream.

Gone are all the Norway Spruce that once squeezed every fairway of Winged Foot West. It’s now gloriously open and playable, at least until one reaches the putting surfaces, perhaps the finest set of green contours the versatile architect A.W. Tillinghast ever did, now restored to original parameters by architect Gil Hanse. The greens look like giant mushrooms, curled and slumped around the edges, proving that as a course architect, Tillinghast was not a fun guy. Winged Foot West was tamed by Bryson DeChambeau in winning the 2020 U.S. Open in September, but he was only competitor to finish under-par in his six-shot victory.

Found on an incredibly undulating and varied piece of land, Whippoorwill Club is one of the finest courses in Westchester County. Originally a nine-hole Donald Ross design that sat on the clubhouse side of Whippoorwill Road, Charles Banks was given a piece of land on the other side where holes 4-9 and 12-14 currently reside. The modern course is chock full of interesting design features—from deep bunkers to green complexes that rival many of the other great courses in the area.

Winged Foot’s two-course complex is the product of A.W. Tillinghast’s fertile imagination. Every characteristic of the more famous West Course also exists on the Winged Foot East (which, incredibly, was used as a parking lot during recent U.S. Opens). A few years back, architect Gil Hanse re-established Tillinghast’s bunkering and reclaimed the original sizes and shapes of the greens, bringing “corner-pocket” hole locations back into play.

C.B. Macdonald designed Piping Rock right after he completed No. 7-ranked National Golf Links, and just as he did there, Macdonald peppered Piping Rock with versions of his favorite design concepts, including a canted Redan green and a Road Hole based on the 17th at St. Andrews. But it was at Piping Rock, not National, where Macdonald first introduced what has become his most imitated hole, the Biarritz. It’s the ninth hole at Piping Rock, with a green 60 yards deep, bisected two-thirds of the way back by a six-foot-deep trench. Designer Bruce Hepner recently enhanced the course by removing trees, reinstating old cross-bunkers, recapturing green sizes and adding tightly mown areas green surrounds to some holes. But he didn’t change the design. Piping Rock had great bones to begin with.

A mainstay of Connecticut golf since the 1960s, Stanwich has undergone modifications over several years by Tom Fazio and his team, all based on the club's masterplan that addresses the course’s tees, bunkers, greens and mowing lines. The latest project was the rebuilding of five green complexes and the creation of a completely new first hole. “The first hole saw a complete re-imagining,” explained Fazio design associate Tom Marzolf. “The old hole was a quick dogleg-left that had many trees blocking the path around the corner. We looked to improve the options off the tee and allow alternate ways to play the hole. Earthwork to cut the inside corner and open up views to the green have completely changed the feel of the tee shot.” More changes to Stanwich, both big and small, are still to come.

Steeped in history dating back to 1898 and two other previous sites, Century Country Club is another great course in a crowded neighborhood of Westchester Country Club (with five other great private clubs in Purchase, N.Y. alone). Walter Travis consulted the club to acquire its current 175 acres, moving from nearby Greenburgh, N.Y., which was sold to Metropolis Country Club—and Harry Colt and C.H. Alison were hired to design the new course. Century is a co-host of U.S. Open sectional qualifying along with neighboring Old Oaks on alternate years with New Jersey's Canoe Brook Country Club.

Country Club of Fairfield has a topsy-turvy design history. Seth Raynor did the original design, but the clubhouse was never built where Raynor intended it, nor was an island par 4 shown on his original plan. In the mid-1920s, A.W. Tillinghast visited the course and sketched out a new fourth through sixth holes around a lagoon, which were subsequently built. Robert Trent Jones was hired in 1960 to install a practice range. To accommodate it, Trent sacrificed the old par-4 18th. He also rearranged several other holes, all of which were built under the supervision of Trent’s friend, architect Geoffrey Cornish. Cornish made further alterations in the 1980s. In the early 2000s, Tom Doak was hired to re-establish Raynor greens and bunkering style, turning most of the work over to his restoration expert, Bruce Hepner. Now on his own, Hepner is the club’s current consulting architect, and he has done a noble job instilling the Raynor look and feel to a routing that’s hardly Raynor anymore.

When it was conceived in the early 1920s, The Creek was considered “The Million Dollar Club” because of the wealth of its exclusive membership. The line that writer Royal Cortissoz wrote upon its 1923 opening remains true today: “The distinctive character of this course lies in its range.” It opens with holes framed by trees, mainly lindens that line the entry drive, then moves onto a bluff that overlooks Long Island Sound. At the turn, holes play adjacent to the shore, offering fresh takes on two of C.B. Macdonald’s most exciting template holes. The 10th, a dogleg along the sea, is his version of the Leven (of Lundin Links in Scotland), while the 11th is not just a Biarritz green, but an island Biarritz green. Other Macdonald favorites are also at The Creek, including the Eden, Redan and Short.

Fenway is a fine A.W Tillinghast design that often gets overlooked because of its famous neighbors, Winged Foot and Quaker Ridge. That being said, Fenway’s unique features with fantastic green complexes and interesting topography allow it to stand out to those who get to experience it. From the massive Sahara bunker on the third hole to the Principal's Nose bunkers on the 10th, Fenway’s thoughtful bunkering stands out. After Gil Hanse was hired to restore the course to Tillinghast’s original handiwork the course has been rejuvenated and will co-host the stroke-play qualifying for the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2023.