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Rating Index Rating
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2.8
297 Reviews (297)
5 Stars
19
4 Stars
106
3 Stars
83
2 Stars
53
1 Stars
36
Conditions
2.1
Value
3.4
Layout
3.7
Friendliness
4.5
Pace
4.1
Amenities
3.1
51.4%
Recommend this course
201 out of 297 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
2.3
3 Reviews (3)
5 Stars
0
4 Stars
1
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
1
1 Stars
1
Conditions
1.7
Value
3.3
Layout
4.5
Pace
4.7
Amenities
3.5
StaffFriendliness
4.7
33.3%
Recommend this course
1 out of 3 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
2.6
55 Reviews (55)
5 Stars
4
4 Stars
11
3 Stars
12
2 Stars
13
1 Stars
15
Conditions
1.9
Value
3.2
Layout
3.8
Pace
3.9
Amenities
3.0
StaffFriendliness
4.5
38.2%
Recommend this course
21 out of 55 reviews
Read Reviews

About

Holes 18
Type Public/Resort
Par 72
Length 6158 yards
Slope 118
Rating 68.9
Book a Tee Time at
Black Birch Golf Club
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Course Details

Year Built 1945
Architect Donald Ross

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes
Clubs Yes
Pull-carts Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Metal Spikes Allowed No
Walking Allowed Yes
Dress code Proper attire is required.

Food & Beverage

Snacks, Restaurant

Available Sports

Tennis

Reviews

2.8
297 Reviews (297)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 9
Course Challenges Include:
Bunkers 10
Elevation Changes 10
Forced Carries 9
This course/club is great for:
Locals 10
Wildlife/ Scenic Views 9
9-Hole Rounds 7
This Course's Location is:
In the 'Burbs 14

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Reviewer Photos

Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Getting better all the time!

The course is getting much better. A few years ago it was just about unplayable but since they hired a new greens keeper you can see the improvements. Don’t expect a posh country club but a great value in south eastern ct. Also, very friendly staff!

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 3
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 16
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart
Conditions Poor
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Fairly Easy
Default User Avatar
Commented on 10/16/2023

Hello, Thanks for taking the time to leave us a review. We see you rated the course 2 stars and are interested in learning what we can do to improve for your next visit.

We take customer feedback very seriously at our course. Please reach out to our team in the golf shop and tell us what's on your mind.

Played On
Reviews 313
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

Regression

Sadly, Black Birch has regressed over the summer around both the greens, where the disease incurred has spread over the whole of each putting surface, and in the bunkers, now very weedy and washed out. The fairways are essentially playable, though not good, and the greenside areas spotty to poor. The course is mowed, but inconsistently: some fairways are better than others.

The crushing blow, however, has been dealt to the greens, which are now so inconsistent that my putts bumped more than they rolled: there was almost no way to insure a two-putt, even with a good and well-judged stroke. So keeping a score was essentially impossible.

Black Birch’s ownership has let down this facility by its minimal maintenance budget, which is a shame. The employees deserve better (they always do a good job serving golfers), as do those who pay to play this once-respectable golf course.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 10/17/2023

We are sorry to hear about your negative experience at Black Birch. We apologize for the inconsistencies in the greens and for the minimal maintenance budget that has affected the overall condition of the course. We appreciate your feedback and will take it into consideration to improve our facility. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Fun layout but ...

This course definitely needs some love, I'll not be back until it's been fixed. Which is a shame because its a great layout and the staff is awesome.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/25/2023

We apologize for any inconvenience you experienced during your visit to our course. We appreciate your feedback and will do our best to address any issues to improve your future experience. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

Played On
Reviews 4
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/25/2023

Hello, u000006743513. We appreciate the review. You rated us 3-stars which means there is room to improve on your recent experience at Black Birch Golf Club. Let us know, in the comments, how and where you would like to see changes from the course. Thanks for the feedback!

Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/12/2023

Hi, We appreciate you taking the time to review the course and rate us. We see you rated the course 1 star and are interested in learning what we can do to improve for your next visit. We take single-star feedback very seriously at our course. You are welcome to comment further or reach out to our team in the golf shop. We always appreciate the feedback. Thanks for choosing our course.

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Greens are the worst I've seen

Idk why but I guess I expected alot better conditions on this course. The greens were destroyed! Impossible to putt

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/11/2023

We apologize if the conditions of the course did not meet your expectations and if you found the greens to be in poor condition. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and provide this feedback.

Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
1.0
Previously Played

Worst course in new england

Literally the worst conditioned course I’ve ever played. There are no fairways, just crabgrass and weeds all over. All the same length and so high that if you hit down the middle you will lose your ball. The tee boxes are laughably bad and the greens may be worse than anything I’ve ever seen. Putting is a guessing game of which crater and dead spot will kick your ball out of line. If I lived across the street and they said I could golf for free any time I wanted to I would never golf again. I won a pass for 18 and a cart for 2 people at a tournament and I threw the certificate away because it wasn’t even enjoyable. It takes a lot for me to review something but this made me so mad that a course could have the balls to charge any money to play here.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Average
Pace Poor
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/17/2023

There used to be this hilarious website when it was called banner lodge, and the guy took pictures of every green, every fairway and every Teebox and it was just an indictment of how much of a dump this ridiculously vacation I thought I knew you crummy golf courses

Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/11/2023

We apologize for the negative experience you had at our golf course. We appreciate your feedback and will take your comments into consideration as we work to improve the conditions of our fairways, tee boxes, and greens. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
1.0
Previously Played

LITERALLY the worst conditioned course I’ve ever played

Literally the worst conditioned course I’ve ever played. There are no fairways, just crabgrass and weeds all over. All the same length and so high that if you hit down the middle you will lose your ball. The tee boxes are laughably bad and the greens may be worse than anything I’ve ever seen. Putting is a guessing game of which crater and dead spot will kick your ball out of line. If I lived across the street and they said I could golf for free any time I wanted to I would never golf again. I won a pass for 18 and a cart for 2 people at a tournament and I threw the certificate away because it wasn’t even enjoyable. It takes a lot for me to review something but this made me so mad that a course could have the balls to charge any money to play here.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/11/2023

We apologize for your negative experience playing our course. We appreciate your feedback and will take your comments into consideration as we work to improve the conditions. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

Played On
Reviews 46
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Wait a couple years

This course is not in a condition to play now. There’s pretty much no point to playing the course with its current condition. I realize they are rebuilding but thought I’d write this to say the course has a lot of potential but currently is not even worth playing until the greens are at least fixed. I wish them a lot of luck in getting the course back into shape.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/07/2023

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on our golf course. We apologize for the current condition and any inconvenience it may have caused. We appreciate your understanding and good wishes as we work on rebuilding and improving the course.

Played On
Reviews 4
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Great

Greta but the course need job on the bunkers, and greens.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Fair
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Previously Played

Obviously the owners don’t care about the course

Friendly staff — and they are pretty up front about the course conditions— The greens are the WORST in the state — you can not putt without hitting a hole or fungus areas — they are really bad and very small greens now compared to last year. The rough was 6 -8 inches deep and impossible to find balls which produced slow play!! Sand traps have more crap grass than sand and are unplayable!!! People driving carts all over the place as the ropes are all down or don’t exist. No rangers on the course to stop this from happening. No drinking water on the course.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Poor
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/06/2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any negative experience you may have had with the course conditions. We will look into the issues you mentioned regarding the greens, rough, sand traps, rope placement, and the absence of drinking water on the course. Thank you again for your feedback.

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Same Grass Different Cuts

It’s literally a field with the grass at different lengths. Loose balls in fairway. Bumps all over the greens.

Conditions Poor
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/04/2023

We apologize for the condition of the field and the inconsistencies in the grass length. We appreciate your feedback and will work on improving these issues. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

very affordable

There was way to crab grass and the greens were absolutely terrible. Would rather putted on the fairways.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Fairly Easy
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/28/2023

We apologize for the crab grass and the poor condition of the greens. Thank you for bringing this to our attention and leaving a review.

Played On
Reviews 20
Skill Beginner
Plays Once a week
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Staff and price was great

But the tee box were beat up and the greens were the worst I’ve ever seen on a course. But $31 for 18 with a cart. I’d do it again

Conditions Poor
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 29
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Poor

This isn't even a golf course. Just some holes cut in a field of rough and crab grass. The layout could be nice but needs major renovation. Don't even bring you putter greens are damaged shaggy and un-puttable. Save your money.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/21/2023

We apologize for the negative experience you had at our golf course. We appreciate your feedback and will take it into consideration for future improvements. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great Value

My kids love playing here. Great for beginners and staff is very accommodating. Played here at least ten times this summer.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
First Time Playing

Not Worth it Even With Hot Deal

This course is in the worst shape I have ever seen a course in. Even with paying the hot deal price of only $21.99 I still don’t think it was worth it to play here. The fairways are as long as typical roughy and full of crabgrass. The tee boxes are non-existent, just markers placed in the middle of way too tall grass. The greens are the slowest I’ve ever seen, and probably the bumpiest as well, making it next to impossible to hit a putt over 5 feet. Sand traps full of crabgrass and no rakes to be found. The layout wasn’t bad, but it seems like the owners just are putting money into the course. Not a single worker was out on the course, and there was a lot of work to do. Do not even consider paying the full price of $57 to play here, that is actual insanity that they think they can charge that.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/08/2023

We apologize for the poor condition of the course and your unsatisfactory experience. We appreciate your feedback and will work towards resolving the issues mentioned. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

Played On
Reviews 10
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great layout for thevprice

Black Birch is a good value for someone to get in a round of golf. Unfortunately the greens are in horrible condition extremely slow with bumps that will redirect your putt. The fairway grass is long so you will need to play your shots up. Sometimes you cannot tell the difference between fairway or rough. Good course to practice. Price for 18 with a cart is very low compared to other courses. If it were not for the low cost i would have only given 1 star as my overall rating. Staff is very friendly. I have not eaten at the restaurant so i gave 3 star rating to amenities

Conditions Poor
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/09/2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review of Black Birch. We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you experienced with the greens and fairways. We're glad to hear that you found our staff to be friendly and we hope you have the opportunity to try out our restaurant in the future.

Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

A disgrace

I grew up on this course. Learned to play here and it was my first job. I worked here all through college. I now run the weekend golf league there as well. No one is as tied to this place as I am and it disgusts me to see it in the condition it is in. The owners are non-existent and don't even want to improve it. This is a classic course with a great layout and solid bones but the owners have let it fall into this disgraceful state. The groundskeeper continues to shrink the greens every week and seems to do nothing to try and improve things. This course needs new ownership and someone who actually knows what they are doing to maintain the course. To even type this saddens me. I love this place but it kills me to see it like this.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Poor
Difficulty Moderate
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/08/2023

Your empty words mean nothing. If you actually are serious about improving the course, than show it. Leaving comments like this do nothing than try to show that you actually care when your actions prove the opposite.

Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/08/2023

Thank you for sharing your deep connection and love for our golf course. We sincerely apologize for any disappointment or frustration caused by the current condition of the course. We appreciate your feedback and will certainly take it into consideration as we strive to improve.

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