Newly Renovated Connecticut Golf Club Welcomes Met Members to Nine & Dine
Posted on May. 29, 2024 / Subscribe 0
by Jim Pavonetti, CGCS
On Monday, June 3, Director of Grounds Vincent Taylor will host the MetGCSA’s popular Nine & Dine event at the newly renovated Connecticut Golf Club in Easton, CT. With the Nine & Dine designed as a half-day afternoon event, there’s no excuse for even the busiest of supers to miss playing this superb venue.
Not-to-Be-Missed Golf Course
The brainchild of Lawrence A. Wein, a lawyer and real estate investor, the course was designed by renowned golf course architect Geoffrey Cornish and built in 1966 with the sole mission of providing “a golf retreat in the middle of a stunning New England landscape, far removed from the busyness of daily life.”
The course boasts multiple doglegs, elevation changes, and water hazards in a serene country setting. Three of the club’s four par threes can be set up to exceed 200 yards, and all four will require golfers to play their tee shots over water. Another unique feature is the course’s first hole: It’s their longest, at a 575-yard par five. How’s that for a greeting!
In addition to the rugged New England terrain accented with rock outcroppings, the real “teeth” of the course lies within The Connecticut Golf Club’s greens. Throughout your round, you’ll find the club’s greens offer a variety of contours, shapes, sizes, and multiple tiers. A notable example of this is on the sixteenth hole, a par four that boasts a green with a depth of 68 yards and four tiers, offering a heck of a journey for a player putting from the front portion of the green to a back-hole location!
Vinny entered the club at the tail end of their major renovation project working with Golf Course Architect Joel Weiman to finish up the several-year-long construction project. “The outcome is great,” says Vinny, explaining: “All the bunkers have been done using the Better Billy construction method and the installation of new bunker sand.
“Lots of new tees have been constructed along with approach and fairway expansions on many holes,” Vinny continues. “Many trees have been taken out to give greater views of the course and to make the rock outcroppings, which are a staple of the landscape at the club, more visible.
Having played this course before the renovations and finding it one of the most challenging anywhere, I can only imagine how the newly renovated course will challenge even the savviest golfer.
Born to Be a Turfgrass Manager
Vinny is in his rookie year at The Connecticut Golf Club, but is hardly a newcomer to the business. He grew up in Bloomington, IN, working at his parents’ nine-hole, par three golf course. “This was truly a family affair,” says Vinny. “My parents and I would get the golf course ready in the morning, and then they would retreat to the back of the clubhouse where they ran their law practice.
“It was here that I fell in love with playing golf and became fascinated with turf management.” Growing up on the golf course, Vinny not only helped manage the agronomics of growing grass, he was also the mechanic and chemical applicator. “On weekends,” he says, “I would run the clubhouse in the afternoons by checking in customers.”
After 15 years at his parents’ facility, Vinny knew he wanted to continue his turf career. He earned a science degree from his local community college and then enrolled in the Rutgers Two-Year Turf Management Program. Vinny interned at Eagle Point for one season in Wilmington, NC, and after graduating from the Rutgers program in 2015, he secured a second assistant’s position with Stephen Rabideau at Winged Foot Golf Club.
“I worked at Winged Foot for eight seasons, working with Gil Hanse on the restoration of the West course,” explains Vinny. “We hosted the 2020 U.S. Open during the pandemic. It was a challenge.” But his hard work apparently paid off: Vincent was promoted to superintendent of golf courses for the past three seasons before landing his current position at The Connecticut Golf Club.
In the midst of his transition to Connecticut, Vinny married his wife of three years, Kim, and they now live happily-ever-after in Stamford, CT with their one-year-old son, Jackson.
Now and Into the Future
When asked how his first season is going, Vincent had high praise for the club and his working relationships: “My experience so far at The Connecticut Golf Club has been amazing,” says Vincent. “The membership is filled with very down-to-earth, good people. The Pro, John DiPilato Jr., and I have a great working relationship, and he is one of my biggest supporters. Also, the grounds crew has stepped up and really transitioned well to the new maintenance program we are establishing.”
Vinny’s maintenance plans now and down the road will include, first, producing firmer and faster conditions by managing thatch through intensive core aerification and cultural practices. “We will also be implementing a more complete fescue management program to control weeds in the natives,” says Vinny.
During the renovation, strategic groups of trees were removed, and some areas were converted to native fescue areas. This, according to Vinny, has become one focal point for the membership. “Now that the renovation process is complete,” adds Vinny, “the club and I would like to host more minor tournaments in the next few years with the MetPGA, MGA, and our own association, the MetGCSA.”
Be sure to sign up for what will surely be a great event and a time to kick back, if only for a half-day.
Jim Pavonetti, a member of the Tee to Green Editorial Committee, is golf course superintendent at Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, CT.
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