Brooklawn Country Club

Brooklawn Country Club occupies rolling terrain in Fairfield, Connecticut, where A.W. Tillinghast designed the original eighteen holes in 1895, marking one of his earliest works as a golf course architect. The course predates Tillinghast's golden age masterpieces by more than two decades, representing his formative period before he created Winged Foot, Baltusrol, and other celebrated designs. The layout reflects the natural contours of southwestern Connecticut's coastal plain, with moderate elevation changes and mature tree-lined corridors that have evolved over more than a century of play. The routing takes advantage of the property's native topography, incorporating strategic bunkering and green complexes that hint at principles Tillinghast would refine throughout his career. The course has undergone various modifications over the decades, as most century-old designs have, adapting to changes in equipment and maintenance practices while preserving the essential character of the original layout. The setting provides a traditional country club environment typical of established Connecticut golf clubs from this era. Brooklawn has served as a competitive venue for regional amateur events and qualifiers, contributing to Connecticut's rich golf history. The club maintains the traditions of early American country club golf, where the course functions as the centerpiece of a broader social and recreational institution. For students of golf architecture, Brooklawn offers insight into Tillinghast's early design thinking before he became one of the most prolific and influential architects of the 1920s.