Bristol Completes $4.75 Million Purchase of Chippanee Golf Club and Opens It to the Public
The City of Bristol, Connecticut, completed its $4.75 million purchase of the 140-acre private Chippanee Golf Club and is offering public tee times this week, with a long-term management plan still being written for an April 1 opening.
The City of Bristol, Connecticut, completed its $4.75 million purchase of Chippanee Golf Club, a 140-acre private club on Marsh Road, and is opening the course to public play this week for the first time. The city announced the completed purchase on Nov. 5.
Following the purchase, the city is offering a special introductory period for November only, with discounted public rates. An 18-hole round costs a $40 green fee plus $20 for a cart, and nine holes cost a $20 green fee plus $10 for a cart. Public tee times started Saturday, Nov. 7, after 11 in the morning, and continue all day Monday, Nov. 9, through Friday, Nov. 13. Tee times are booked through the pro shop, and play depends on the weather and frost delays.
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Veterans will be able to play for free on Wednesday, Nov. 11. "In recognition of Veterans Day, the City of Bristol is proud to announce that Veterans can play for free on Wednesday, November 11," Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu said. Players must book a tee time and show a valid veteran ID at check-in.
The purchase came after a unanimous vote by the Bristol City Council on Sept. 22, following several months of due diligence and two public forums. The $4.75 million price covers all of the acreage, the clubhouse, outbuildings, furniture, fixtures and equipment. Before the price was negotiated, the city approved an appropriation of up to $5.5 million, funded by bonds, in its fiscal 2026-27 budget. The bonded funds cannot be used for day-to-day operations.
The city has said it aims to preserve open green space and convert the property from a private golf course into a municipal course open to the public, with the potential for other public amenities. Zoppo-Sassu called it a "premier piece of green space."
Work on the transition is still under way. According to The Bristol Edition, the city hired the National Golf Foundation through a bid waiver as a transitional consultant. "They do not manage, build, or operate any of the golf courses. They're really there in an advisory capacity," Zoppo-Sassu said. A task force of residents, including some Chippanee members, avid golfers, neighbors and businesspeople, is assisting in shaping the model for a public course. The city is preparing a long-term management plan for the season opening on April 1, 2027, along with a short-term plan to carry the course through the end of March. It is also entering a short-term contract with the existing restaurant and banquet operator, who has many events booked and is weighing the name and menu.
Justin Malley, the city's economic and community development executive director, said the purpose of the purchase is to keep current members on board. "We want to keep all of the existing members," he said. Malley added that the city wants to invite "folks who have been intimidated by golf, the culture of a country club and that sort of thing."
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Other cities and towns have followed different paths with public courses. Warminster Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, owns Five Ponds Golf Club and is constructing a $25 million clubhouse there, while the Village of Endicott, New York, voted to transfer day-to-day operation of En-Joie Golf Club to Indigo Sports, a Troon company. In Bristol, a private club is becoming a city course, and the method the city will use to operate it has not yet been settled.
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