The Country Club of Darien is a case study in how a fun-to-play members club can be dressed to hold New England’s most prestigious tournaments, to include the PGA Met Match Play, Westchester Open, IKE MGA Stroke play, and the Connecticut Open, and produce a mean score (with a field limited to those with a handicap index of four or less) nearly four shots over par.  This coexistence of pleasure and challenge comes not from the rhetorical suspects of absurd length, barbaric rough, saturated bunkering, or other antiseptic elements, but rather an unwavering emphasis on a strategic, functional design of green complexes into which the aesthetics, while still striking, are subordinate.  As a result, the Country Club of Darien rivals any course in the region for its ability to fairly challenge and satisfy all golfers, regardless of age, gender or skill level.