Glance across the vast expanses of green land surrounded by flowering trees and forest-like edges, and you might just think you were in a stunning Connecticut nature preserve.
Then comes the thwack of a ball being hit, and the real reason for this well-tended swathe of land emerges: It is Orange Hills Country Club, a golf course now run by the third and and fourth generations of the same family.
It is a golf course that is part of the fabric of the town, with a tapestry of history dating back 100 years and drawing in a family that had run a New Haven dairy, surviving the Depression and World War II. It was incorporated in 1925 as the 9-hole Rolling Ridge Club, then became Orange Hills in 1930.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
In the 1950s, Walter H. Smith became the owner of the course, and his son, Walter “Bud” Smith then took over, seeing to every detail of running the beloved course, expanding it to 18 holes in 1961, building a clubhouse that still stands and buying and adjacent quaint “farm” parcel, which he and his family made their home. His wife, who grew up a city girl, had always wanted a farm, her family said.
Bud Smith’s daughter Judy Smith, and son Jud Smith eventually took over running the course, though their dad, who lived to be 97, was known to keep his hand in, lovingly continuing to be a supporter of what the family had built, those who knew him said. As Jud Smith has retired from the golf course, it is now run by Judy Smith as general manager, and her two children, Jennifer, on the greens team and Justin Morgan, an assistant manager who decided to join the family business after working at an aerospace company.
It’s a labor of love for the three, who all have held other jobs, and a call to preserve not just a public golf course that offers immense recreational value to the region and state, but also the legacy of the land their father and grandfather recognized was worth saving from development. The site, together, is more than 100 acres.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
“To us it is priceless, all of it,” said Judy Smith. “The love of the land, the love of nature, being good stewards.”
Smith recently showed a visitor the lay of the land at the golf course via a quiet cart that bumps happily along paths that criss-cross the site and can even make it over hill and vale to the nearby “farm” where she now lives.
The course is meticulously maintained, using water that fills up ponds right on the site, and even in early spring has flowers blooming while players clearly delighted to be back on the greens chat, putt, drive balls and zoom around in carts for which the course employs a retired pharmacist to keep them in tip top shape.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Though it is a public course and open to all players, the club imbues a sense of history, decorum and good manners. A full 18 holes, with a golf cart, runs about $80, as compared to other private clubs in town and the area that have membership fees.
Smith notes what the ponds are on course land, but they report to the state each year how much water they use, as is required. While the land has been in her family since before she was born, her tone of voice speaks to continually being amazed at its beauty. She explains how grass on different parts of the course are cut differently, different kinds of seed are used, and about the need “to be green.”
“It’s our home; we have pride,” said Smith, who chats with players who are clearly regulars and even bends to collect tees that litter a green. “We’re very pragmatic old Yankees.”
That, she clarifies, she learned from her forebears, “If you can’t pay cash, you don’t buy it.” Smith keeps an old milk bottle from her family’s New Haven dairy in her office, as if a reminder of the importance of hard work that was passed down through the family.
“It’s not for the faint of heart,” Smith quips, about seeing to the busy details of land, sports, players and more.
Smith, a graduate of University of Connecticut who also earned an MBA at the University of New Haven and has served on town commissions, said she knows the value of the land the course is on, but very much wants to prevent it from being developed. Smith also is a special advisor to the executive committee of the Connecticut Golf Association.
Her daughter, Jennifer Morgan, the assistant to the grounds supervisor, said she feels “blessed” to be born into a family that values protecting the land and their legacy. She mentions her “Poppy,” referring to grandfather Bud Smith, as she explains, “we were taught to be stewards of the land.”
“Every day I want to make Poppy proud,” she said.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
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Orange Hills Country Club, 389 Racebrook Road, Orange, Conn.
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Morgan, who helps her mom with pet donkeys who live on the farm that is part of the land tracts, said “this is an honor” about working at the course and protecting the land. “Why would you sell this,” she says, pointing to rolling meadows adjacent to the course.
“I hope to raise my family here,” she said.
Both mother and daughter spoke of the changing mores in the sport of golf, with Judy Morgan noting the covid pandemic brought people back to it, as it gave players a chance to be outside. The course has tournaments, leagues, a pro shop and a snack bar.
According to the National Golf Foundation, interest in the sport remains high. It notes, “more than one-third of the U.S. population over the age of 5 played golf (on-course or off-course), followed golf on television or online, read about the game, or listened to a golf-related podcast in 2025. This is up 43% since record-keeping began in 2016.”
Further, according to the foundation, there were about 16,000 golf courses at 14,000 golf facilities in the country at the end of 2025, a statistic it compared to McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts locations, saying the number of courses is higher. (A facility is defined as a business location where golf can be played on one or more golf courses).
Golf also “remains broadly accessible, with about three-quarters of U.S. courses and facilities open to the public,” the foundation shares.
Part of his heart and soul
Orange First Selectman James Zeoli said he has known three of four generation that continue to run the golf course.
“Every single generation are outstanding members of the community and very generous to the community,” he said.
The course was started by Judy and Jud Smith’s grandfather, then run by their father, Bud Smith, a World War II veteran who was taken prisoner of war, and was “an amazing individual” and the course “was part of his heart and soul,” Zeoli said.
“The place was his entire vision, and he had a good woman next to him,” Zeoli said, noting a story he had heard of Bud Smith’s wife, Lee, chasing golfers “with a broom” back in the day, telling them, “they had to get home to get to bed” when a certain time of the evening came.
Zeoli said he recalls Judy Smith working at the course as a teen and noted Jud Smith now works for the town. He said Jud Smith’s devotion to land care speaks to his years at the course, as he is known to go to fields on his own time to chase the geese away and to insist on watering where needed. Smith has even bought machinery parts with his own money, Zeoli said.
“Orange Hills is a gem of our community, it is one of the gems in the town if Orange,” Zeoli said.
The Connecticut Golf Association has an annual Walter ‘Bud’ Smith Distinguished Club Award that honors a club that has “continually supported and advanced the game of golf;” has served as a “model of excellence to other Connecticut golf clubs,” has “consistently supported amateur golf through club-sponsored activities,” hosted state competitions, and member participation in CSGA events, and is a club “that has consistently provided extraordinary service to the CSGA encouraging volunteers, providing leadership personnel, and hosting meetings, seminars, and special events.” The Norwich Golf Club won it in 2025.