WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT | Pressed cloth napkins and polished silverware were neatly set in place on the tables at Wampanoag Country Club. Prom decorative committee members from the Watkinson School in Hartford planned to display balloons the next morning.
That never happened. Firefighters were summoned to confront a fire in the Wampanoag clubhouse early on Saturday, April 20. They had to return early again the next morning to extinguish a second blaze.
The clubhouse, which opened in January 1955, outdoor patio and about 90 percent of the club’s golf trophies were notable losses. “I saw all the soot and damage when I walked in there,” Wampanoag director of events Beth Georger said. “I looked up and there was no roof. I had a good cry. All I could see was sky.”
Everything was not lost, however. Found in the basement were all of the original Donald Ross hole diagrams and course maps, and 12 of the club’s 14 champions and hole-in-one commemorative boards were saved. The remaining two were singed, but it is believed they can be restored.
The spirit of Wampanoag would be tested in the following hours, days and weeks. It has refused to be crushed.
“Let’s figure this out,” club president Glenn Cunningham said after the first fire. “We can do this.”
The membership’s perseverance and determination have emerged from the ashes in this the 100th anniversary year since the club’s founding.
“The clubhouse is the building, but that’s not what the club is,” Wampanoag head golf professional Donny Kirkpatrick said.
Cunningham concurred: “It’s the people; the members, the staff. Everyone here. It’s all about the people.”
Walking past the charred remains of the clubhouse and toward the first tee on a recent afternoon, club member Chuck Culliton said of the fire: “It was so sad. But I focus on not looking behind, but looking ahead out there at the course.”
The par-72, 7,011-yard course – which Ross designed in 1924 and opened for play several years later – is the gem of Wamponoag Country Club. It features distinctive Ross greens – domed and demanding. Because the course was not damaged by the fires, the club remained resolute and the Connecticut State Golf Association committed to retaining Wampanoag – which has been the site of seven Connecticut Amateurs and six Connecticut Opens – as the 2024 host of the Connecticut Mid-Amateur on Aug. 26-27.
How has this happened?
Cunningham said, most importantly, that no one was injured from the fires. In addition, he said West Hartford fire officials determined the blazes were not intentionally set and the investigation of the causes is ongoing. Officials said they believed the second fire was likely a continuation of the original.
Kirkpatrick, the head professional, said his darkest moment was right after the second fire. “Will members leave?” he said. “Can we make this [rebound and revival] happen?”
The response from the membership and from some other clubs in and beyond Connecticut was: “How can we help?”
The Watkinson School prom was held on schedule the night of April 20 at Hop Meadow Country Club about eight miles away in Simsbury, Connecticut. Georger praised and thanked Hop Meadow general manager Rod Clement for his immediate offer of the use of its ballroom.
Georger said some events scheduled for Wampanoag were moved to Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford and Town & County Club in Hartford. Other events, however, had to be canceled.
“So many people who had parties canceled have told me, ‘We’ll be back when you come back; don’t worry,’ ” Georger said. “That means so much.”
Soon after the fires, Wampanoag officials got an unexpected but helpful phone call. General manager Kevin Vitale of Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, which had a clubhouse fire in 2019, wanted to set up a video call.
“They were great,” Cunningham said. “They had the same insurance company as we have. They said, ‘This is how we handled it, and this is what you need to be aware of.’”
Following Baltusrol’s advice, Wampanoag set up a chalet for gatherings in its parking lot. Cunningham smiled and said, “We don’t use the ‘T word’ [tent] here.”
To accommodate the chalet, the practice range was temporarily shortened a bit.
In early June, large shipping containers were lowered by cranes to the parking lot. A beverage unit and a food unit, named the “Wamper Cafe,” – directed by Wampanoag chef Kyle Beausoleil – were set up along with refrigeration and freezer units.
At the end of June, two 40x10-foot shipping containers were put together to build a pro shop.
Cunningham said countless “thank yous” to Wampanoag’s staff, members and others outside the club are required for their dedication and work in the club’s restoration.
A larger chalet replaced the original one in mid-July. Parties and events have been held there in the year-round facility, which has air conditioning and heat.
The vitality of Wampanoag has been apparent throughout. About 600 members and others gathered May 13 for its annual meeting. Northwest Catholic High School, located across Wampanoag Drive from the club, hosted the meeting. Cunningham said the typical attendance is 125-150 people.
Two telling numbers are the club’s 325 golf members and 425 overall members. Cunningham said those numbers are an increase of 10 (seven golf and three overall) since the fires.
As for the future, the foundation for a new clubhouse in the same footprint is scheduled to be laid in October or November. It will overlook once again the pedigree course, which last year completed a $4 million restoration, adhering to the original Ross design plans.
Golf equipment manufacturer Titleist knew all about that.
“Our creative team first visited the course in early April and felt the revived Ross architecture would yield timeless golf visuals that would make the audience want to get out and play,” Titleist creative director Joseph Hafera said.
A “Titleist Production” – in which footage typically is used for commercials, social content and videos to promote Titleist’s brand and players – was scheduled before the fires at Wampanoag for June 17.
Titleist contacted Kirkpatrick.
“We wanted to make sure everybody was all right and there were no injuries to his staff or membership,” Hafera said. “We were fully expecting him to advise us that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate us, but instead, he assured us that the shoot could go on and they were looking forward to hosting us.”
So, on June 17 – the Monday before the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut – Titleist Pro VI or ProV1x tour players Justin Thomas, Tom Kim, Gordon Sargent, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa, Wyndham Clark, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Åberg and Sahith Theegala were at Wampanoag. Multiple film crews worked on a variety of holes, with players rotating from station to station.
“Wampanoag is a great partner, and we sincerely appreciate everything they did for Titleist and our production team,” Hafera said. “Hopefully we will be able to showcase the course when the commercials and social content are released in 2025.”
That would coincide fittingly with the planned opening of the new Wampanoag clubhouse. As Cunningham reiterated: “We can do this.”
E-MAIL TOM
Top: Aerial view of Wampanoag Country Club , a Donald Ross gem in West Hartford, Connecticut.
courtesy wampanoag cc