The Agawam Hunt

The Agawam Hunt occupies a distinctive place in Rhode Island golf history as one of Willie Park Jr.'s American designs from the early twentieth century. Park, the two-time Open Championship winner who became a prolific golf course architect, brought his Scottish design sensibilities to this property in Rumford, a village within the town of East Providence. The course reflects the era's design principles, when architects worked with natural terrain to create strategic golf holes without the earth-moving capabilities of later decades. The club itself predates the golf course, having origins as a traditional hunt club before golf became its primary focus. This heritage influences the club's character and its integration into the surrounding landscape. The routing takes advantage of the rolling New England topography characteristic of the region, with mature tree growth now framing many holes after more than a century of play. Agawam Hunt represents an example of early American golf architecture in the Northeast corridor, part of the wave of course construction that followed golf's rapid growth in the United States during the 1890s and early 1900s. The course serves a membership drawn from the Providence area and maintains the traditions of a private club with deep roots in its community. While it does not host professional tournaments or appear on national rankings, it preserves the design philosophy of its era and offers a connection to golf's developmental period in New England.