Golf Course

In 1897, a farm originally owned by the Rogers family east of the future Harkness estate became a nine-hole course for residents of the Pequot Colony in New London. Called the Quaganapoxet Golf Club, from an Indian word meaning "salt marshes," it thrived for a decade before financial difficulties forced it to close. Shortly afterward, Edward Harkness bought the property, and some of the existing holes may have been worked into his future course design. A putting practice green was located on the south side of the Eolia mansion. Harkness loved to play golf, though he was considered only an average player, and when the neighboring Rumrill property came on the market, he bought it and was finally able to have his own eleven-hole course. The course was designed as a nine-hole course, but two of the holes could be played in reverse, allowing longer play. Although no plans for the course have been discovered, recent research by Anthony Pioppi of Middletown suggested that Wayne Stiles may have been the designer; Stiles was the landscape architect who originally designed the plantings for the West Garden in 1909 and later designed more than forty courses nationwide. Stiles' biographers Bob Labbance and Kevin Mendik also looked for documentation but found none. Two depressions in the lawn south and west of Eolia indicate where two former sand traps were located.

Waterford, Connecticut · United States