OT: Connecticut golf courses

[Doggie Style]

Lived in SD for 4 years (USN). Played city championship there a few times. Tried to play Torrey at least monthly. Back in '70s it was $3.50 for residents. Should add Pebble was $50. Played there on my way home.

You have to be kidding me! That price is unbelievable. I was stationed in Coronado in the early 90's / USMC. I didnt golf then, just drank, worked out and chased ..... well, you know where i'm going. I was able to get the military rate, it was still like $80 w/ a cart I believe. They threw in the club rentals which was fantastic. I was paired up with a local who you could tell was tired of acting like a caddy when us out of towners showed up. He stopped giving help after the 3rd hole, which kind of sucked. Still broke 90 on the South Course which I will take all day long on that track. For a muni course those greens are lightening fast!!

 

[UConn4ever]

Had a great time at Wintonbury hills today and it showed me I really have to work on my putting. Haven't looked through the whole thread but how is Lake of Isles? just made a tee time for there

 

[uconnfan68]

You have to be kidding me! That price is unbelievable. I was stationed in Coronado in the early 90's / USMC. I didnt golf then, just drank, worked out and chased ..... well, you know where i'm going. I was able to get the military rate, it was still like $80 w/ a cart I believe. They threw in the club rentals which was fantastic. I was paired up with a local who you could tell was tired of acting like a caddy when us out of towners showed up. He stopped giving help after the 3rd hole, which kind of sucked. Still broke 90 on the South Course which I will take all day long on that track. For a muni course those greens are lightening fast!!

It's a different course than the one I played. They made a lot of changes for the US Open. I used to have monthly cards for Admiral Baker and Miramar. $20 each. That's where I spent most of my days (worked nights).

 

[uconnfan68]

Had a great time at Wintonbury hills today and it showed me I really have to work on my putting. Haven't looked through the whole thread but how is Lake of Isles? just made a tee time for there

In a word, spectacular (imo). A few daunting forced carries.

 

[mauconnfan]

'68 has it right when he tells you to jump over the line and play The Ranch, best course in the area for sure. It's 70 bucks for a month or so before hiking to 100 in a while so the value is now........I heard Westover in Chicopee is in great shape too and I think the WesMass courses are all still in the 30's-low 40's range for greens fees which is good.......my buddies played Portland 2-3 weeks ago on a Saturday and paid 57 which is outrageous when your course is still in winter shape..........

One everyone forgot about and maybe the best of bunch as far as public, also pricey all the time, is Fairview Farms in Harwinton. A must play track with some great golf holes, some quirky one's too but always in shape.

Deep, when we playing??

 

[JLock819]

Rates are getting out of control, which is why you see a lot of these courses struggling to stay afloat and keep the conditions decent. Western MA courses are easily $15-20 cheaper across the board. If you haven't played The Ledges it's worth the ride. Smaller scale version of The Ranch and only $45 all season to ride on the weekends.

As far as northern CT goes, there's not a lot of great options compared to the middle/southern part of the state. Wintonbury is far and away the best course north of Hartford. Gillette Ridge would be great except the management has milked it for every $ possible and it's already in AWFUL shape this year. Manchester is a fun course if you can get a morning time, otherwise it's been painfully slow in the past.

 

[uconnfan68]

Rates are getting out of control, which is why you see a lot of these courses struggling to stay afloat and keep the conditions decent. Western MA courses are easily $15-20 cheaper across the board. If you haven't played The Ledges it's worth the ride. Smaller scale version of The Ranch and only $45 all season to ride on the weekends.

As far as northern CT goes, there's not a lot of great options compared to the middle/southern part of the state. Wintonbury is far and away the best course north of Hartford. Gillette Ridge would be great except the management has milked it for every $ possible and it's already in AWFUL shape this year. Manchester is a fun course if you can get a morning time, otherwise it's been painfully slow in the past.

If you just over over the border, rates drop. Plenty of courses too.

 

[uconnfan68]

'68 has it right when he tells you to jump over the line and play The Ranch, best course in the area for sure. It's 70 bucks for a month or so before hiking to 100 in a while so the value is now........I heard Westover in Chicopee is in great shape too and I think the WesMass courses are all still in the 30's-low 40's range for greens fees which is good.......my buddies played Portland 2-3 weeks ago on a Saturday and paid 57 which is outrageous when your course is still in winter shape..........

One everyone forgot about and maybe the best of bunch as far as public, also pricey all the time, is Fairview Farms in Harwinton. A must play track with some great golf holes, some quirky one's too but always in shape.

Deep, when we playing??

Played Fairview since day 1. I like it, but it's not worth the extra money to me at this point. Can play other places 2-3x for the same $$. It's especially bad when you can play Pinehills (Plymouth MA 5-star courses) for less money in early and late year. Same for The Ranch.

 

[mauconnfan]

Played Fairview since day 1. I like it, but it's not worth the extra money to me at this point. Can play other places 2-3x for the same . It's especially bad when you can play Pinehills (Plymouth MA 5-star courses) for less money in early and late year. Same for The Ranch.

Agreed here......this guy never gives discounts.......talked to a men's club member and they do not discount their rates either when they play their tourney's.........it's high but a very fun course.

Pine Hills is the tits......both courses are super although Nicklaus a bit better.......Waverly also nice out there........Eastern MA has Blackstone, Red Tail, Kettlebrook and many others.........

RI has Richmond, Newport National, Fenner Hill, Meadowbrook and even Winnapaug can be fun!!

 

[JLock819]

Anyone play CT National? Course looks pretty good, decent rates...

 

[ddminct]

RI has Richmond, Newport National, Fenner Hill, Meadowbrook and even Winnapaug can be fun!!

I used to play Winnapaug all the time. It really is in crappy condition. It was being sold and now there are lawsuits by the owner and the buyer. I know some long time members who have moved on. Sad because I did enjoy the course. And the new Meadowbrook is fantastic. Played Richmond over the weekend. The course was in good shape except some of the tees were bad. Looking forward to playing Fenner over the weekend.

 

[cohenzone]

I mentioned Fairview earlier. Might be playing there next week. Played Southington CC. The good, the bad and the ugly.
The good- fairways are immaculate.
The bad - greens are actually in good shape, but damn, just as fast as Gary McCord's wax paper and small. Very hard to control the short game there. But the real bad. We had to start on the back and by the time we turned 9, they were starting groups at 1 and it totally changed the pace. I hate when courses do that.
The ugly - my game. Way too many god awful shots ruining a pretty good day off the tee.

 

[Bryan Lord]

Farmingbury in Wolcott might be the best in CT if you suck and like having the course to yourself. I exclusively play there.

 

[mauconnfan]

Anyone play CT National? Course looks pretty good, decent rates...

CT National Putnam right......played it last year, nice course in pretty solid shape for a public no doubt......a little out of the way but nice with some nice deals out there too......

 

[Deepster]

Mau....got new irons. Been out twice already. Lets get a few dates out there and get some sambucas.....errr, I mean rounds in.

 

[mauconnfan]

Mau....got new irons. Been out twice already. Lets get a few dates out there and get some sambucas.....errr, I mean rounds in.

Or both........yeah I have time.......give me some that work for you as being on the road gives me some independence!!

What irons did you pick up? Cote?

 

[RMoore1999]

In terms of course design, conditioning and overall aesthetics only (i.e., cost, pace of pay & cart girl quality all excluded), the Top-10 publically accessible courses within an hour or so drive from Hartford are as follows:

1. Lake of Isles - North
2. Great River
3. The Ranch
4. Wintonbury Hills
5. Fox Hopyard
6. Oxford Greens
7. Shennecosset
8. Richter Park
9. Gillette Ridge
10. Fairview Farm

 

[IMind]

In CT I've only played Lyman's and Indian Springs in Middlefield... I like the old Jone's course at Lyman's haven't played the new 9 holes they just added. Indian Springs is a funky little 9 hole on top of a hill in Middlefield... views are great. There are a couple of hills though that are a little insane to drive a cart down... and are even more insane to walk up. One running left to right across a fairway. Only golf course I've almost lost my life on... golf cart starts sliding backwards towards a 100 ft drop on the left side of the fairway... heh. It was a great place to go sledding as a kid though.

I'm spoiled here in PA. There are more courses in 20 miles radius around my house than there are in all of CT. Now I'm itching to go golfing... maybe I'll take the afternoon off.

 

[mauconnfan]

In terms of course design, conditioning and overall aesthetics only (i.e., cost, pace of pay & cart girl quality all excluded), the Top-10 publically accessible courses within an hour or so drive from Hartford are as follows:

1. Lake of Isles - North
2. Great River
3. The Ranch
4. Wintonbury Hills
5. Fox Hopyard
6. Oxford Greens
7. Shennecosset
8. Richter Park
9. Gillette Ridge
10. Fairview Farm

That's a solid list........Not at all a Gillette fan but only for principle reasons I will not get into.......Shenney is on the list I'm guessing purely because of the design and legacy but I wouldn't throw it near my Top 20......Since you jumped out of state for the The Ranch I would replace Shenney with Newport National........now if we go real far #1 and #2 would be Pine Hills Nicklaus and Jones!! And Waverly would sneak in as well as red Tail and Balckstone!! LOL.............and a sleeper in Kettlebrook.......

 

[mauconnfan]

In CT I've only played Lyman's and Indian Springs in Middlefield... I like the old Jone's course at Lyman's haven't played the new 9 holes they just added. Indian Springs is a funky little 9 hole on top of a hill in Middlefield... views are great. There are a couple of hills though that are a little insane to drive a cart down... and are even more insane to walk up. One running left to right across a fairway. Only golf course I've almost lost my life on... golf cart starts sliding backwards towards a 100 ft drop on the left side of the fairway... heh. It was a great place to go sledding as a kid though.

I'm spoiled here in PA. There are more courses in 20 miles radius around my house than there are in all of CT. Now I'm itching to go golfing... maybe I'll take the afternoon off.

Where in PA? I play down there with a vendor, nice private upscale track called Rolling Greens......outside of Philly.......also an outing every year at a place called Golden ? or other??

 

[Rico444]

Playing Laurel View on Sunday...anyone play there before? Are they gonna give us a hard time if we bring beer?

 

[mauconnfan]

Playing Laurel View on Sunday...anyone play there before? Are they gonna give us a hard time if we bring beer?

Rico, they all give you a hard time unless you are a pro at hiding your 12 pack.......there's ways!!

Laurel View was okay back in the day when I played down there.......you'll have fun....bring nippers too they never get mad at soda!! LOL

 

[Rico444]

Nips...that's a good idea, maybe I'll just bring some of those.

Played Oak Lane a few weeks back and had no issues drinking. Of course, we teed off at 3:30 on a Saturday when it was still kind of chilly, so there was nobody on the course. The last few holes were an adventure...we accidentally skipped 3 holes when we thought we were hitting uphill towards the green, and we ended up at a tee box nowhere near the green. That's what 4 or 5 sea hags will do to you!

 

[mauconnfan]

Nips...that's a good idea, maybe I'll just bring some of those.

Played Oak Lane a few weeks back and had no issues drinking. Of course, we teed off at 3:30 on a Saturday when it was still kind of chilly, so there was nobody on the course. The last few holes were an adventure...we accidentally skipped 3 holes when we thought we were hitting uphill towards the green, and we ended up at a tee box nowhere near the green. That's what 4 or 5 sea hags will do to you!

That's funny Rico........how is Oak Lane? Always see it off the Merritt and haven't played it since it became public........

 

[IMind]

Where in PA? I play down there with a vendor, nice private upscale track called Rolling Greens......outside of Philly.......also an outing every year at a place called Golden ? or other??

Lehigh Valley. I'm about 40 minutes north of Philly I haven't played anything down near Philly. There's a Golden Oaks golf club pretty close to me. I haven't played it. I mainly play a course called Wedgewood 27 holes for next for $37 weekdays... $39 after noon on weekends.

One course near me, Butter Valley Golf Port, has small airport right in the middle of it. Which is pretty cool.