Keney Park Golf Course ‘s first nine holes were designed by Devereux Emmet and built in 1927. Emmet was a pioneering American Golf Course Architect who designed more than 150 courses. Locally his designs include the Hartford Golf Club and the Country Club of Farmington, and he also designed Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD and Riddell’s Bay Golf and Country Club in Bermuda.
The second nine was added in 1931 and was designed by City of Hartford engineer Robert ”Jack” Ross. Ross designed or remodeled a number of courses in Connecticut, including the City of Hartford’s Goodwin Park Golf Course and Indian Hill Golf Club in Newington, CT.
In the fall of 2013, after nearly twenty-five years of leasing the City of Hartford golf courses to private, for-profit management firms, the City of Hartford decided to move the operational ownership back to City Hall and under the supervision and direction of the Department of Public Works.
An ad hoc committee was formed of city residents and officials to research various business models and potential partnerships with local non-profits. After extensive review, the City decided to partner with both the Connecticut Section PGA and KNOX Inc.
The PGA and the City signed a consulting agreement, through which the PGA would help the City set up its new business model. The PGA hired a dedicated employee to serve the City, and used the expertise of additional PGA Professionals to serve as subject matter experts.
KNOX Inc., which has a horticultural based job training program for City residents, was invited to provide its program graduates as members of the golf course maintenance crews. This way, the courses are a source of employment to city residents as well as improved amenities in the City’s park system.
Keney Park Golf Course had to be closed for a complete restoration and the City has invested close to six million dollars in this project. The restoration project, overseen by Dusenberry Design, has now been completed and the course has reopened as of May 1st, 2016.
Since reopening, Keney Park has played host to the Connecticut PGA Championship, Hartford Women's Open, and the National Boy's and Girl's Junior PGA Championships.
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