One of the great courses in New England
Crumpin- Fox Club, Bernardston, MA.
"Crumpin- Fox will someday be mentioned in the same breath with Pinehurst and Pine Valley."Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
Crumpin- Fox Club was conceived in 1969 as the "field of dreams" of David Berelson who engaged the services of Roger Rulewich of Robert Trent Jones, Inc. to locate a site in the Franklin County area of Massachusetts which would accommodate a Pine Valley type golf course.
The arduous task of accumulating the various parcels of land and getting the necessary permits begun, but the project stalled and did not take shape. Due to financial concerns, Mr. Berelson was not able to complete the back nine and eventually sold the project to Andy St. Hilaire in 1977. A native of Bernardston, Mr. St. Hilaire completed the back nine holes and built the present clubhouse. Although Andy was a golfer of admittedly low persistence and high scores, he recognized the potential excellence of the design and preserved it until 1987 when he sold it to his good friend William A. Sandri, whose house sat perched atop the hill above the fifteenth hole.Mr. Sandri re-enlisted the help of Roger Rulewich and began acquiring parcels of land needed to finish the course.
Under the direction of Mr. Rulewich the front nine holes were built along with extensive renovations to the existing back nine holes, the driving range and the irrigation system. Bent grass fairways were planted, and the course re-opened in June of 1990 as the realization of the dreams of David Berelson, Andy St. Hilaire, Roger Rulewich, and Bill Sandri. Unfortunately, David Berelson passed away in 1989 and was not able to view his masterpiece in completion, and Andy St. Hilaire passed away shortly thereafter, but their memories and devotion to excellence live on.
This course sits in the middle of the Pioneer Valley on the eastern edge of the Berkshires at the foot of Vermont's Green Mountain. The course's interesting name was derived from Bernardston-based Crump Soda Company that was sold in 1853 to Eli Fox; thus becoming the Crumpin-Fox Soda Company.
Each hole on the course has been cut through thick stands of trees and sits in isolation from every other. Streams meander through the grounds, and an old red barn and horse farm adjoin one hole on the front. No two consecutive holes run in the same direction.
There's modestly uphill holes, dramatic downhill par 3's, par 4's both long and short, and a memorable collection of par 5's. The most memorable is #8, a 592, par 5, which starts from an elevated tee nestled deep in the forest.
Dark woods impose themselves on the right, the fairway cants modestly to the left, and a massive lake runs entirely down the left side of the hole. The putting surface, the largest on the course, sits on the other side of the water. "Golf Digest" rated this course as the 9th "Best in State" course for 1995-96.
In addition, "GOLF Magazine" rated it 57th under the 1996 category of "Top 100 Courses You Can Play in the U.S." "GOLFWEEK" rated the course 92nd among "America's 100 Best Modern Courses" for 1998 and 96th for 1999.
