Recent GCI cover course celebrates centennial

Count John P. Larkin Country Club among the golf courses celebrating their centennial this year. 

Situated in the heart of Windsor, Vermont between U.S. Route 5 and the Connecticut River, John P. Larkin — JPL to locals — is a 9-hole public golf course that provides numerous challenges (an 80-foot hill just to reach a green?!) and scenic views (many of them cleared by intrepid retired arborist Jocko, who still climbs trees and wields chainsaws with one arm at age 79). The course has a deep history and has now been a staple in Windsor for 100 years.

JPL’s history dates to 1909 when the original Windsor Farms was organized. It was to be managed as a “farm or country place,” and was sold to local Windsor residents by heirs of the former owner, A.E. Mann. For several years, the land was operated by the Canadian actress Marie Dressler, who won the 1931 Best Actress Oscar, and her agent.  

The property was then sold and developed into a golf course. Originally named Hourglass Country Club, and also used as a training program for agronomy students from the University of Massachusetts, the course opened in 1921.

Windsor Country Club became John P. Larkin Country Club in 1997. JPLCC offers membership options, men’s, women’s and youth leagues and events, and is home to the Windsor High School golf teams.

The course — and many of the people who make it great — was profiled in the March 2021 issue of Golf Course Industry by managing editor Matt LaWell. “The course is so quirky,” superintendent Travis Williams said in that story. “It’s the fine line between ‘you have to do things a certain way’ and ‘that’s the way they’ve always been done.’”

“It’s not the longest course and it doesn’t have the biggest undulations in the green,” said Ryan Hingston, who played the course regularly throughout his childhood and now manages the clubhouse and operations. “But golf is a game where you don’t have to have all those crazy challenges in order for it to be a challenge. There are some small greens at JPL and it’s pretty wide open, but we still have a lot of high-level golfers come here and struggle a little bit. As long as you have a good environment and you’re around people you want to be around and everybody’s respectful, it’s still a great day on the golf course.”