Blackledge Country Club - Anderson's Glen

Both courses at Blackledge are beautiful. Great variety of holes, beautiful vistas to surrounding hills, lots of stately trees on the course, lots of elevation changes, too. Fairways and greens were in excellent condition, greens were fast but manageable for mid handicap players. Always try to play Blackledge a few times a year, five stars from me, definitely.

We played this course on a bright, sunny, and somewhat windy fall day. The fairways were in great shape for this time of year but hit a drive just off the fairway and you’ll be chasing a ball 50 yards after the bounce on the incredibly dry fringe and rough.
The greens also played extremely uneven and inconsistent from hole to hole. Many were incredibly fast, unable to land an approach. Others extremely forgiving and slow, and hold a ball when you expected it to run. Made the round a bit more difficult and frustrating.
Still had a great day at a beautiful course in the beautiful fall weather of Northeast Connecticut. Give this place a look for your next 18

I’ve heard about Blackledge over the years but I’ve never made the trip. I’m glad I finally did. The Anderson’s Glen course was in good shape from tee to green. Some very nicely shaped holes that make you think about position. Carts didn’t have GPS, but they do offer free yardage books in the pro shop. Staff was friendly and courteous, I was really impressed with all the work being done on the course by the grounds crew who actually paid attention to what was going on and stopped while you were hitting.

Looking forward to coming back to play Gilead Highlands.

Blackledge AG impressed again as a well-conditioned, varied, aesthetic, and balanced track with challenges for players of all levels. Having played it so many times as a former member of the men’s club here, I’ve become a bit too accustomed to its every nook and cranny—any elements of surprise are long since gone—but that doesn’t diminish my appreciation of its excellence. Conditioning was not quite up the usual very high Blackledge standard (it was outstanding earlier this year and last), but chalk that up to recovery from a very dry summer. Current conditions are still ranged from very good to excellent where it counted; the front nine’s playability (I toured only the outward half today) was just fine, affecting my score this afternoon not one iota.
In the nineties, I enjoyed visiting two of architect Geoffrey Cornish’s best and most highly touted layouts in New England, both in Massachusetts: Cranberry Valley and The Captains. I remember thinking that Anderson’s Glen, though older, definitely equals those two standouts. This should be on anyone’s short list if the objective is to try the best courses east of the Connecticut River.

Covid-19 precautions here are excellent. And John Martincheck in the pro shop was, as always, flexible, personable, and helpful—a gentlemanly club professional in all respects.

First time playing the Anderson course and we left there a little disappointed.
Staff in pro shop were very good but the course layout and green did not impress .
Some weird hole design especially the par 5 #9 which is a dog leg where if you don't go over the trees you may as well use a mid iron to lay up and give yourself a good second shot..
A lot of the holes seem to parallel each other and I never heard so many people yell fore in me life.
Greens were in good condition but sure could use the pro shop to remind people to repair their divots.
Did not see a cart girl all day but the bar and restaurant seemed very busy.
Might go back to play this course but hopefully we won't be paired up with the same 2 wallies .They quit after 9 holes because they were arguing so much and neither one was anything better than a boggy golfer..All in all not the best day but as least we enjoyed the back 9 better .

No rangers on the course !!

Foursomes front of us was so slow and nobody in the front 3 holes .

Can't tell them to play little faster because
no Rangers on the course

We have to skip the hole and continue to
Played golf

First time playing this course. Course layout was good. Greens were super slow and fairways were a bit burn out

Exhibit A in support of outstanding Connecticut golf courses from the Post-War era: Blackledge’s Anderson’s Glen. The Canadian architects Geoffrey Cornish and William G. Robinson came out of a tradition that was part Scotland, part Robert Trent Jones. They added something else that was uniquely their own. I still haven’t played a better course east of the Connecticut River than Anderson’s Glen. What distinguishes this layout is its combination of superior overall design with playability for a fairly broad range of golfers. Yet we never venture fully into Robert Trent Jones, Sr. territory here, in which virtually every single hole is designed to play as either a “hard par” or instead an “easy bogey” (many players don’t consider even the making of bogeys on Trent Jones courses all that easy, anyway).

Instead, the holes vary at AG in degree of difficulty: there are a few routine holes, there are mostly solid ones, and there are several motley brutes sprinkled throughout this eighteen. On top of all that, there are the course’s fundamental design features present throughout: the layout features judiciously applied bunkering, wholly varied green complexes, and some of the best terrain for golf in Connecticut. This last aspect also brings to mind a good British Isles course.

Three holes on this front side, which my son and I thoroughly enjoyed today, are illustrative of these qualities. Take the relatively routine second hole, a downhill par-4 checking in at 385 yards (blues). Yes, it can and should be a simple drive and pitch, but the architects want to test you a bit if you don’t hit the fairway on this woodsy (but still fairly open) dogleg left, especially if you’re not in the proper position. Drift a bit too far right and you’ll find a sprawling fairway bunker; too much left and the mature oak impinging on the green’s left side airspace may cause headaches on the approach. Miss the green and the uneven terrain will make pitching awkward to this small, fairly speedy and pitched green. What may have seemed a straightforward hole from the outset, then, has turned testy. Overlooking just one of these little wrinkles turns ‘routine’ par into ‘aw, shucks’ bogey.

The seventh, a short par four that ascends uphill dramatically on the tee shot, is a solidly challenging hole. First you’ll need what may feel like a fairway-splitting tee shot: two deep and broad bunkers, tightly placed on each side the landing area, will scoop up slight misses. The approach may be a short iron or wedge, if you’ve hit a strong drive, but it is a virtual necessity to stay below the hole unless you happen to enjoy three-putting. Bunkers lie in wait on each side of the green for those given to pushing of pulling iron shots.

Hole four, a 499-yard uphill par 5 is the classic brute (it follows another classic brute, the par-4 third) and the kind of hole that may swallow—in a gulp—all your golfing joy. Where do we start? Hook your tee shot, or even draw it a bit much, and you shall pay a visit to the woods. Cut it somewhat and there could be tree troubles, or perhaps an awkward lie on the hillside stretching the length of this fairway on its right side. Forget about playing the hole aggressively after either. The second shot, which is, strategically, all about angles, may be a conservative lay-up, or, if you want to go for broke, Arnie-style, a bombed fairway wood over what I call the “Alps,” or the peak of the rightward hill-zone. Hit the ball perfectly and, with luck, the green may be found in two shots. Go left and you’ll see neither the name nor number on your golf ball ever again. Maybe, so far, you’ve managed to evade all that is demonic here. The sloping, table-like green will still leave you with a bit of work, and, should you have missed it in the first place, will also test your pitching game.

Fairly routine, brutal and mostly unforgiving, solidly challenging—put them together and you’re playing the ideal, balanced test of golf that is Anderson’s Glen.

Other comments & opinions:
(a) Pro shop staff here is first-class, friendly,
professional. Inside the wearing of masks is essential.

(b) Restaurant is extremely popular—all tables occupied for dining al fresco, when we arrived and left.

(c) Located some five miles or so from Route 66; out in the country, but hardly remote.

(d) Related Speculations: Is this the best eastern Connecticut golf course? I do think it’s a better layout and less flawed than Donald Ross’ Shennecossett in Groton (even though they’re comparable), and it’s definitely a notch above next-door Tallwood, though both of these rivals are excellent golf courses. The one other eastern Connecticut course that I understand from some to be the bees knees is Connecticut National—but I haven’t played it, yet. Then again, A. W. Tillinghast’s Manchester Country Club, although another sure bet, has never been a genuinely tough test of driving for me; AG has more rigor in this department.

(e) Course Distinctions: Site of the CSGA Mid-Amateur Qualifier; cited in national press, 1992, in Pedroli and Tiegreen’s very worthwhile “The American Golfers Guide” (with, by the way, and excellent foreword by Curtis Strange), among top courses nationwide.

Nice course with more open fairways. Some rough grass if your off the fairway. A bit hilly if your walking. Everyone was very friendly.

Great course - my regular spot ;
Blackledge has two eighteens and both have interesting holes, varieties of elevation, varieties of layouts and great conditions.

Today we played Anderson Glen’s front side, and while enjoying amazing weather for January (bright sunshine; 61 degrees) excepting the gusty winds, we found the course fairly playable. As expected, though, the rough was muddy in places and the greens slow and bumpy. Fairway lies were respectable—surprisingly. It is the first-rate layout, however, that always commands attention here, especially in light of a pair of terrific holes: three and four.

Blackledge’s front nine is notable for its variety, as each hole boasts a unique character. Every par-4, for example, possesses a different set of challenges. The 2nd doglegs left downhill to a small, relatively tame green; conversely, the 7th ascends rapidly uphill, gently doglegging to a large but strongly canted surface. The third features a pair of forced carries. At hole five, where you’ll be hoping your game is in full flow, the fairway simply drops downhill—then up—but your approach will likely be blind to a green protected on both sides by big bunkers. It will be this fifth, along with the straightforward first hole, that should present the most realistic birdie opportunities among these par-4s.

Also of great importance at Anderson’s Glen are some standout holes, the first of which is hole three, the no. 1 index. This is not a strategic affair; it is more psychological than anything. The tee shot on this long par-4 presents a forced carry that most golfers can easily make, presuming the right set of tees is chosen for one’s skills. Fronting the landing zone, however, is the hole’s first of two ponds, which happens to be a large and daunting looking one. If that is not unsettling enough, then there is the fairway itself, hemmed in by the pond in the foreground, woods on both sides, and—just to make us ponder a little more—the second pond at the far end of the landing zone. What we are aiming at, then, is essentially a square piece of fairway. In actuality, this fairway is generous enough, but its proportions—along with the tall trees surrounding it—have the effect of making it look smaller than it is. It’s right out of the Dye or Trent Jones playbook: pure visual intimidation. And if you have a nagging slice or hook in your bag, fairway three may look even smaller. The hole stays true to form on the approach: another menacing view follows—this time of the green sitting on the other side of pond number two. A seven-iron or so away is a visibly pitched green that is well-protected by large mounds and gaping traps.

The clever fourth hole, an elegant but tough (no. 3 index) par five of 518 yards, best reflects the design virtues of architects Geoffrey Cornish and William G. Robinson. All the way to the green and around it, the rising and tumbling terrain looks, if anything, Scottish (minus, of course, the gorse). But the hole’s real brilliance lies in its strategic value. The left side of the fairway’s landing zone is entirely tree-lined and marked a hazard. Careful players will most often hit, then, down the right hand side, populated by only a few trees and entirely sided by a less-threatening but large series of hills, its long ridgeline running all the way to the green. On the second shot especially, these hills may be used judiciously as a sideboard that may often funnel slightly rightward misses back onto the fairway. The option of going straight at the green poses big risks, considering the rapid fall-off into the woods that looms on the left side.

The fourth may be played as a two-shotter, but the approach must be almost laser-straight for those who dare fly the ball directly onto the green, or perhaps run it on—very carefully. On the green itself, you will do well to two-putt when outside of thirty feet.

There is still another wrinkle in the masterfully-designed fourth that betrays its architects’ serious concern for detail. The safe route rightward still poses challenges: miss on this side excessively, especially up on top the ridgeline, and things become dicey on any third shot into the green. Even from 100 yards and in, the steep pitch down the hill is complicated by an awkward angle of approach (and may be further compromised by plentiful fairway bunkers embedded devilishly into the hilltops). The end result is that from here it is all too easy to miss or overshoot the green—where what follows in the way of recovery may likely be unpleasant.
There may be a better par-5 in Connecticut than the fourth at Blackledge, but nothing comes to mind readily.

We enjoyed our nine-hole tour, despite the conditions, for which management should be blameless with little time to do reconditioning after what now may become a brief re-opening. Even on a winter day in Connecticut, Blackledge remains a great test of ball-striking (at least) and of strategy. Small wonder it was a destination today for golf addicts experiencing cabin fever. The parking lot was virtually overflowing, clear testament to this course’s drawing power. While Blackledge does not merit an unqualified ‘play’ recommendation now, it will when spring rolls back in—for real.

Recently played the course with the Safari Club and enjoyed the experience. Several holes were challenging which made the experience better. Course was in great condition Tee to Green with a helpful and friendly staff.