Located in the East Providence suburb of Rumford, Agawam Hunt features a 1920 Ross design on rolling terrain near Narragansett Bay. The private course offers traditional New England golf in the Providence metropolitan area.
History
Agawam Hunt is the oldest country club in Rhode Island, formally incorporated by the state on March 30, 1897, with a constitution adopted as early as February 23, 1895. Founded as a fox hunting and outdoor sports organization on 130 wooded, riverside acres in Rumford, just over the river from Providence's East Side, the club has grown from its origins as a drag hunting society into a celebrated multi-sport private club in New England. The founding purpose of Agawam Hunt was explicitly articulated in Article II of its original constitution: the club was organized "to encourage and furnish for its members the means of drag hunting and other out-of-door sports." The founding members — including prominent local figures Henry A.L. Brown, George W. Carpenter, and Charles A. Wilson — envisioned a place where like-minded individuals could gather to enjoy the outdoor sporting pursuits that defined upper-class recreational culture in late nineteenth-century New England. Golf came to Agawam Hunt early and in distinguished company. In 1895 — the same year the club's constitution was adopted — Willie Park Jr. of Musselburgh, Scotland designed and built the club's first golf course, a nine-hole layout that introduced organized golf to this part of Rhode Island. Park was one of the game's great early champions, having won the Open Championship in 1887 and 1889, and his presence as designer gave Agawam's original course an immediate pedigree. In 1920, Agawam expanded to a full 18-hole course designed by Donald James Ross, who had been based in the Boston area since 1899.
The club acquired the former Metacomet Golf Course at that time and engaged Ross to lay out a new championship routing across the 130-acre wooded and riverside property. Ross created a layout that plays to a par of 70 from approximately 6,273 yards, taking full advantage of the natural terrain north of Providence. The course underwent significant restructuring in 1963 when the board approved a 200-yard length increase, expanding three par-5 holes and four par-3 holes and raising the course rating to par 71. In 1964, the City of East Providence requisitioned 27 acres containing the 5th, 12th, and 13th holes, forcing a major reconfiguration. The club purchased six acres from William C.H. Brandt, and architect Geoffrey S. Cornish redesigned several holes and added the 7th and 15th on the newly acquired property. In the early 2000s, Agawam partnered with architect Gil Hanse to develop a revised master plan aimed at restoring the course toward its original Donald Ross design while acknowledging changes in equipment and turf management since 1920. Since 2018, architect Ian Andrew has collaborated with Hanse on continued enhancements. The course regularly serves as a USGA Open qualifier site and hosts Rhode Island Golf Association championships and men's senior tournaments.