Longmeadow Country Club

Longmeadow Club History

In 1636, for "4 fathoms of wampum, 4 coates, 4 hatchets, 4 howes, and 4 knives", Massachusetts Bay Colony Treasurer William Pynchon purchased the Native American Agawam Plantation on the east bank of the Connecticut River.

Soon renamed Springfield for Pynchon's home in England, an important part of the arrangement included communal grazing grounds known by the Agawams as Masacksic or "ye long meddowe". Nearly three hundred years later, it was a renowned Scot, Donald Ross of Dornoch who would transform a special corner of that purchase into the classic woodland golf course, Longmeadow Country Club.

The Club was organized in 1922 when it assembled several parcels of land and engaged Ross. Traversing subtle and, at times, dramatic terrain, the architect's routing calls for the judicious use of both power and finesse. His knowledge of the game combined with unique horse drawn shapers produced the complex aprons and putting surfaces that were the crowning glory of a Ross creation. The course was completed in 1924 followed by the clubhouse in 1926 when Architecture magazine featured Longmeadow including the landscape architecture of Frederick Law Olmsted. Racquet sports and aquatics have since rounded out the Club's sporting facilities.

From the outset, Longmeadow has hosted many local, regional and national competitions. While today's course has been lengthened and now has watered fairways in bows to modernity, the fundamental Ross sequence of shot making and problem solving remain as do its fairness and beauty, all enduring testaments to a unique landscape and architectural genius that promise to intrigue players this year and beyond.