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The History of
Black Hall
The Black Hall Club was incorporated
in 1965 and opened for play in 1967. It was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr, and was the product of much determination and faith from a group of local businessmen who wanted a championship golf course
in Old Lyme.
The club's first governors and main investors were: Victor Morrison (president), Merrill Stubbs (vice-president),
Hewitt Townsend (treasurer), William Webster (secretary), John Griswold and William Griswold.
These men had a vision
for what Black hall should become and worked tirelessly in achieving their goals. From structuring the membership, recruiting
members, handling the financing, to even hiring builders, architects and key staff personnel such as Dick Cook, our first
Course Superintendent.
Two years after construction started, the golf course officially opened for play on July
8th, 1967. The first group to play was President Victor Morrison, Robert Trent Jones, Leo Mallory the club's first Professional
and Bill Griswold. From that day, Black Hall's lean beginnings began to look better and better. Soon, the club's membership
began to fill up and to this day, Black Hall has had a list of people waiting to become members.
Our present clubhouse
was built and the course routing as it was designed (as you know it today) started being played. Our championship layout has
quietly become one of the highest regarded layouts in the state of Connecticut. Host to many U.S. Open Qualifyings, Connecticut
Amateur Championship,many Mid-Amateur Championships, CT PGA Championship and most recently, the Connecticut Open Championship
in 2003.
The members here are proud of the lean beginnings and the flourishing times since then. The people who
are most responsible for this creation will never be forgotten.
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