West/North at Elmridge Golf Club

Had a good time. Course was a tough play. Would Definitely return and recommend to a friend.

A quartet of par-fours begins what becomes a solid nine at Elmridge: the Blue. The first one, a stunning looking hole, drops steeply from its high-tee to a well guarded fairway (pond right, trees left) then back up to a perched green. The first hole’s look is parkland perfection: a serene pond; trees of various shades scattered along the margins; a bending fairway with three big bunkers flanking it. This happens to be the #3 index, and it plays like it. A moderately difficult 377-yarder follows, by contrast rolling through woodland as the fairway undulates, a bit like a links course, throughout the landing area and beyond. Green number two, small and difficult to hit, has a few pronounced humps that may make chipping tricky around it. A 403-yarder, the third ranks as the toughest hole and may also be the best. Now the fairway ‘waves’ look like large ocean swells, and you’ll appreciate the forward bounce to be had, as long as the drive is flown onto this fairway just right. A roller-coaster hole with a nice green complex to boot (watch out for the big falloff in the back), this is an outstanding par-four. The fourth hole’s fairway undulates with equal boldness, only this time you’ll face a camelback landing zone, its hump situated at the dogleg’s bend. Landing your drive correctly will take some finesse, and the surrounding woods await missed tee shots.

After this terrific four-hole start, things let up, if only slightly. Next comes a reachable 527-yard five-par, but the hole’s brilliance lies in the fairway’s contours at the leftward bend. Play the drive well and you’ll enjoy a forward kick for some 20 extra yards or so down the small hill. And the green is open in front, tempting you to fire away on the approach.

Two of the next three holes are straightforward, uphill three-pars: the sixth features a small green, which is what supplies the challenge for this 200 yarder, while eight has a slightly less tough-to-hit and larger plateau green. The par-five between these two counterpoints the fifth: this time the hole doglegs right, then travels far more steeply downhill to a small, peanut-shaped green--a much tougher target from long range. Over the hole’s second half, a big downslope on the wooded left side might mean that an overdrawn golf ball will disappear permanently.

The Blue closes things out with a fine finisher (par-4, 384) that is the opening hole’s opposite: the tee shot is uphill; the approach drops down a bit to a green flanked by a pair of big, deep traps.

The Red Nine, which I played for the third time today, is a good layout that doesn’t quite match the Blue’s routing or ground movement, although both are visually interesting. What stands out about the Red is a pair of excellent par-4’s, the third and eighth, as well as two tough three-pars. Still, the Blue pushes boundaries a bit more, though in general Elmridge may be called solid old-school design (built and designed by Joe and Charles Rustici, it opened 55 years ago).

Conditions:
BLUE Nine: Excellent on the smoothly rolling greens; good overall around fairways/tees; average for roughs and some greenside areas. RED Nine: About the same, but it’s also notable that the Red keeps improving since it’s drought-blighted conditions last fall; I’d infer that those conditions weren’t sitting well with management. And this time the Red’s putting surfaces and fringes were much smoother than in late May.

Some conclusions: I was impressed today with the Blue’s level of design and craftsmanship, along with its playable yet challenging layout. It gets all the tee-to-green details right, and I like the fact that it doesn’t depend on too many water hazards, as so many modern layouts do, to generate false excitement. This excellent routing seems the best of the three at Elmridge. I hadn’t played it until today. The greenskeepers have done an excellent job of reinvigorating conditions in 2021. The combination of White/Blue is best here, probably, but all of the three options give you a chance to score well, provided you drive the ball in play. Years ago, I remember a friend of mine, a scratch golfer, praising Elmridge as a fine place to play. If the overflowing parking lot has been any indication each time I’ve played here, it continues to please golfers in 2021.

Nice wide fairways. The cart paths and some of the fairways that you drive on are pretty bumpy but not horrible. Staff was very friendly and got us out early. I will play here again.

The Red Nine begins, just as the White does, from the top of a sweeping hill with long vistas. Its fairways descend on holes 2, 4 and 5, where you’ll find the primary scenic views on this attractive third of the Elmridge twenty-seven. The Red has the expansive air of classic parkland: one of its selling points is an unforced and rolling smoothness.

Sloping at a moderate 122, the Red is a playable, fun, and challenging nine-holer that most golfers should like. Judging by its overflowing parking lot at 4 p.m, Elmridge is popular with Pawcatuck (and area) locals.

Opening the Red is a decent but pedestrian four-par. On the other hand, the next three holes each offer something interesting: at the second, a pair of ‘spectacle’ bunkers (a la Carnoustie, hole 14) dead in the middle of the fairway; at the third, a raised green that rejects weak approaches; on four, a small green with a steep falloff behind, the culmination of this longish par-five.

Then things get seriously interesting, as the course gains stronger traction from its midpoint onward.

Six plays as a hard dogleg-left, on which I found the best approach play to be a knock-down nine (to roll it on) given today’s wind. Five and seven are top-notch, mid-range par threes. Five is the signature hole (see photo), but I think seven is even better, mostly because it’s more exposed, and club selection in the wind will force you to think. Both holes are, as well, eye-pleasing.

Eight is an artful par-4 that plays straightaway and uphill, climbing on the drive to an elevated landing zone flanked by bunkers. Just as good is the approach, where you’ll hit a mid-iron to a slightly perched green guarded by three bunkers, two of them hidden.

Conditions: Recovering since I played here in mid-October. Tees: Much improved, mostly good. Fairways: average, yet improved, as now all are filled in consistently with grass. Rough: grassy but has patches here and there. Greenside/fringes: the one real issue with consistency, e.g., on one hole, my wedge shot was thrown far off line when landing. Greens: No patchiness but bumpy in general, which compromised a few shorter putts.

Some conclusions: Room for error exists on the Red because the wide fairways and scattered trees mean that veering off course does not always put you in jail. Still, the Red has a few limitations (like virtually any track). Two, six and nine have strong angular movement, though they lack strategic interest: they’re in essence target holes. The fifth is a long but straight five-par where the hazards are mainly trees. Still, there are enough strong holes on this Red to make it a worthwhile tour. I’ve enjoyed both this layout and the White (haven’t yet played the Blue), and plan to pay a return visit to Elmridge before long.

Having played Elmridge many times over the years I was Extremely surprised at the poor conditions that the course was in when I played earlier today.The greens were bumpy and required mowing the course with patchy and The course needed mowing throughout. There was garbage overflowing from may of the trash receptacles on the course. It seemed that no one was maintaining the course while I was there And I question whether there was any maintenance done over the last few days. I would not recommend the course to other nor do I plan returning there myself.

On the White course at Elmridge, the first hole drops down a long hillside with a panoramic view of the countryside. Down and around a bend is the first green, set among the trees. It’s a hole of both character and beauty. It’s playability also typifies these nine, and I enjoyed trying it for the first time. Elmridge offers old-school, traditional golf, but several holes have a strategic bent that adds interest.

The opening trio of holes shows clear variation: a downhill, dogleg-left opener; an uphill, dogleg-right second; then the downhill, straightaway third, set from a high tee and having its lower reaches framed by two ponds, the smaller one directly in front of the green. These three holes comprise the moderate four-par that starts the game, then a five-par that plays long, followed by the drive and pitch affair with threatening water.

So far, your efforts have not been taxed greatly. Over the last six holes, things change: the course nearly lurches into high gear at the fourth, a tough par-three playing straight uphill, then it ebbs and flows in difficulty the rest of the way. Things never really go pedal to the metal because that’s not the style of this natural design. Typical of Connecticut, this is part parkland, part woodland, yet it benefits from both settings.

KEY HOLES: Over the course of the last six, three of the holes are solid tests but still act as supporting players. The par-4 sixth presents a hard-bending dogleg to negotiate, then a tough approach to a green perched on a small hill. The seventh, another 4-par, offers one of the best driving challenges, dropping down to a semi-blind fairway offset from the tee. Eight is a long but still tame par-three that’s fairly flat.

The most notable holes on this stretch, however, all have something special:
--The FOURTH: 165, uphill yards culminating in a table green set on a big knoll. It’s no small task to hit the putting surface (which is also guarded by a big, left-side bunker), and perhaps a feat to two-putt this small green when you end up above the hole. It is pitched back to front.
--the FIFTH: A primeval hole built on a huge scale of 591 yards. It lumbers bunkerless over rolling terrain. Only a small pond in the midsection presents an obstacle, and the wide fairway tempts you to smash a big tee shot. Off the tee, you can play a fade or draw, given the wide airspace. Still, thick woods line both right and left roughs, so neither slicing nor hooking is an option. The sizeable green slopes back to front.
--the NINTH: This fine closer, a par-4, demands both a strong, straight tee shot and accurate approach, probably requiring a mid-iron. It’s not unduly hard because the green is large, receptive, and open, though it does play uphill.

SOME BRASS TACKS: Pace was slow today because golfers in front, whom I caught up with by the fifth, were taking several (many, sometimes) shots to reach the greens. Oh, well. Mercifully, I was joined by another player, with whom I enjoyed lively conversation over the last three holes. Unfortunately, conditioning on the White, though basically acceptable, doesn’t quite live up to this layout. Several fairways are good, but the stretch from five through seven falters badly. Greenside areas and rough were fair, and the putting surfaces today were aerated and therefore bumpy. A toll was taken by last summer’s dryness and the course is still recovering.

All in all, the Elmridge layout is the element that comes across strongly here, making the course worth playing. Also more visible were some noticeably improved conditions over last fall: I noticed, by a few quick looks at the Red Nine, a significant recovery of the fairways. I’d like to get back here this summer.