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AptlyLinked

Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Lives
Colchester, Connecticut
Handicap
0-4
Age
55-64
Gender
Male
Skill
Advanced
Plays
A few times a week

Review Statistics

Average Rating

4.0
4.0
Total 313 Reviews

Rating Breakdown

313 Reviews
5 Stars
92
4 Stars
158
3 Stars
44
2 Stars
17
1 Stars
2
Recommended Courses
309
Not Recommended Courses
4
Helpful Votes Count
99
Not Helpful Votes Count
22
First Review
07/01/2019
Last Review
12/07/2023

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Agawam Municipal Golf Course

Played On 12/02/2023
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Cold weather
Used cart

A Worthwhile Outing

This course links two different nines–one open, the other tight and woodsy. The open side is the front, and while it isn’t a pushover, several holes allow for good birdie opportunities, even though things do toughen up at the long par-5 eighth and tough uphill ninth, a brutal par-3 for its modest length. The back nine may test the patience of even very proficient golfers, especially on the difficult eleventh and the tricky twelfth–both of them woodlined par-4s with hard approach shots. Then there is the angular par-5 sixteenth, which can prove punishing in the event that you miss the fairway. All in all, it’s a decent test for a short golf course, but also a very good value when conditions are closer to optimal.

Conditions today were typical of early December, ranging from fair to average. The greens, puttable but not nearly as smooth as they are here in-season, seemed more receptive to a firm tap if you expected to hole short putts. Recent rains also made for a very wet course and rendered pitching around the greens difficult. The fairways were essentially playable.

Even though I hardly cruised around playing smoothly today, I managed a few spurts of good golf, so the round still felt worthwhile here at Agawam.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Average
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Commented on 12/19/2023

Hi, AptlyLinked! Thank you so much for leaving us with your feedback. We value our customer experience, so your review is important to us. We will make note and we hope to see you back at Agawam Municipal Golf Course!

Portland Golf Course West

Played On 11/30/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Cold weather
Walked

Entertaining Exec Golf

For late fall, Portland West was in respectably good shape–not the shape you’ll find “in season”--but still comparatively good. Only the traps and some of the greenside areas fell well below the usual standard. The greens were still smooth enough to impart a consistent roll on nearly all putts.

As for the course itself, I played both nines this time, especially enjoying the somewhat better inward half. Although the front has two of the best holes on the course (six and eight), the back delivers one challenging hole after the next. The standouts are twelve and thirteen, sixteen and eighteen. The back side also features both more ground movement and more consistent elevation changes. So club selection, hole for hole, is typically more critical and the margin for error generally smaller when you miss a green. Pitching to the green can be difficult on most of these holes when you miss the putting surface by more than a few yards. Greens themselves on the back nine are mid-sized, with only the fourteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth providing larger targets. The hardest par for most players will be the long par-3 eighteenth: it threatens the tee ball with water to the right, and the slightly elevated green means you’ll have to play a precise approach–not so easy to pull off from over 200 yards. The most complex hole has to be ten, mainly because the fairway climbs up a hill while twisting a bit to the right; moreover, a pond guards its right flank–although the water is mostly obscured from view at the tee by a screen of trees. Both slicing and hooking can prove deadly off the tee at the tenth, but you’ll also have to hit a sharp approach to a perched green.

Sloppy play on any of these holes may well lead to quick double bogeys, the kind of score that better players don’t expect to make on executive tracks.

I’m not sure there are any executive courses in Connecticut that offer this much challenge while retaining a sense of fun. That seems to me an ideal combination when the object is to do some serious work on your game as you play a brisk round.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good

Portland Golf Course

Played On 11/24/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Walked

Aiming at Green Fairways on Black Friday

Overview:
Lined with mature trees and forestland, the fairways of Portland are relatively tight; you’ll be in trouble quickly after venturing five to ten yards off them. The front side, which I played today, gains its strength from the hills: the second hole is a strong five-par that plays uphill from tee to green; both par-3’s play uphill; one of the longest par-4s travels to an green that sits high on a knoll; three par-4s drop downward steeply either from the tees or on the approaches or both. There is enough trouble on any one of these holes to detonate a good score, if they don’t do that in combination. This outward nine, though, challenges you mostly as a test of good driving, with the hills and also some angular movement characterizing several fairways. And from one through eighteen, Portland exerts unabated pressure, especially since the back nine is generally tougher on approach shots to even better-protected greens. Despite its unforgiving nature, the course can still be beaten with careful play; it’s really too short to be a monster.

Conditions:
Relatively speaking, I’d call it “good” for the day after Thanksgiving, as the actual average conditions are what you’d expect for late November. The course still retains a surprisingly ‘green look’ and the fairways, especially, looked lush, as they are, typically. The greens and fairways are both aerated, the fairway and rough grasses in average condition, and the bunkers not all that conditioned–with some containing areas of water. Still, the course was playable.

A Course Well Worth Playing:
Portland remains one of the strongest tracks available in the central Connecticut / greater Middletown area. What I like most on this layout is that the holes never feel strongly repetitive, nor do they have a ‘mass-produced’ feel that was common to some tracks from the sixties and seventies. Geoffrey Cornish and Bill Robinson varied the sizes and shapes of the typically large and threatening bunkers, placed trees in odd fairway spots (sometimes right in the middle of them), and contoured the greens with big humps and falloffs and slopes of all kinds. All of this adds interest to the course without overdoing anything, meaning that it retains a natural feel and hardly appears artificial. It strikes a nice balance between some relatively minimal holes, like the third, and the fussier but still smartly-designed ninth, which is quite amply bunkered to keep this short par-4 from being a pushover. For me, this course supplies exactly the right level of challenge to keep you strongly focused, yet it’s still a good deal of fun to play.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Good

Vineyard Valley Golf Club

Played On 11/11/2023
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Cold weather
Used cart

Ending with a Flourish

A course that is basically built on one huge hillside, save for final hole of these nine, Vineyard Valley offers some entertaining holes and a few challenging ones. A pleasant setting greets you as you start your round behind the clubhouse. Yet the first hole, which travels straight uphill, provides no gentle start to the round. The hole is short for a par four, but seems to play sixty yards longer than its stated length. To add to the challenge: the first green is set on a tall mound. The cypress trees that line most of these fairways have been clearly deployed by the (unknown?) architect to make your life miserable, very frequently, when hitting into an adjoining fairway. The fairways meander up and down–as well as back and forth–on that giant hill. If you’re not good at hitting from sidehill lies, you may want to brush up a bit before playing here; you’ll find no shortage of them on three through five, with four playing as the #1 index. Vineyard Valley slopes at an above-average 120 from the blues.

Fun Stuff:

Vineyard Valley is outfitted with three entertaining holes. The seventh and eighth both skirt dense woods on the right–so both are mean to slicers. Seven, a tough hole to even par, will have you walking off the green with a swagger if you can card a four or less. Playing eight seems to me the golfing equivalent of eating a chocolate eclair, as a tasty driving challenge awaits, and from the tee you’ll be lured into pounding a drive as far as possible over the pond. But flighting the ball over the pond means a forced carry. Unfortunately, I still can’t drive the green on this 300-yard hole, but it’s still nice to hit a 30-yard pitch as your approach shot. Nine is a medium-length three-par that’s heavily guarded in front and on the sides by water. Almost every tee shot I’ve ever hit from the ninth tee feels somewhat chancy–although the green is not so elusive as it appears.

Conditioning:
Vineyard Valley definitely improved this year, and course conditions have risen a few notches over last year and several before that. While conditions are still about average, and not unexpectedly have fallen off somewhat in the late fall, it’s good to be able to play nearly every fairway stroke here without looking for a preferred lie. Overall, the fairways were about average and the roughs about the same, but the bunkers were pretty good. Still, the greens ran a bit slow for my liking, and the tees fair. But putting surfaces are conditioned far better than before and basically roll truly; now only green seven needs a good deal of work.

Some Conclusions:
While Vineyard Valley is not a course for those golfers who might actually prefer to be hampered by tough bunkers and water and trees everywhere, this layout still poses some firm challenges. I’m not a great fan of an excess of strong side slopes (as at 3, 4, and 5), yet they do offer some scoring resistance. And there’s little doubt that the fourth hole is both challenging and well-designed. Better still, the closing trio of holes ends your nine with a flourish.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average

Indian Springs Golf Club

Played On 11/04/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Cold weather
Walked

More Than Playable in Late Fall

—Nothing all that new to add to my last review of September 3rd. As for course conditions today, they were relatively good for late fall, with very good greens and greenside areas, decent fairways, and good tees. Service was excellent at the front desk–very polite, friendly, and attentive.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good

Hunter Golf Club

Played On 11/02/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Cold weather
Walked

Stout Layout in Meriden

Hunter, a fine Albert Zikorus re-design in Meriden from the middle of the last century, boasts eighteen challenging holes that have made it a choice for tournament golf for many years. It’s also typically in excellent condition in the prime–especially summer–months, and rates an excellent value, always.

Three main lines of defense protect most of these holes, all of which show up clearly on both nines. On the back, the first most prominent seems to be tree-lined holes, as is the stretch from thirteen through sixteen. A secondary feature that relates to driving is tight or narrowing holes in some cases (13, 15, 16). A second key defense–well-protected greens–is most prominent at holes like the par-3s (especially eleven, protected by both ponds and bunkers) but also holes like ten, twelve, fourteen and eighteen. Bunkers, most notably, can be deep and broad. Finally there are the speedy and well-sloped greens. If you can limit yourself to one-three putt during a round here, consider yourself excellent with the flatstick.

On balance, it’s also worth mentioning that several of the Hunter fairways are broad, though not necessarily greatly forgiving because of their roll and pitch. Greens also tend to be large, yet, since Zikorus started his career as a Donald Ross apprentice, this may be a surprise to many.

Having played many Zikorus layouts, both eighteen and nine-holers, I find that Hunter definitely fits the architect’s playbook for fairly rigorous championship designs. Across Connecticut, these include Heritage Village (now Silo Point), Timberlin, Rolling Meadows, Tashua Knolls, Topstone, and Tunxis, both Green and White. But not far afield in character are some of his tougher nine-holers like Stonybrook, Woodhaven, or Hale’s Location (in North Conway, New Hampshire).

Conditions:
Not spectacular, and not in peak (summer) form, but in good condition for autumn. Average to good fairways right now, but very good greens with good greenside roughs. Tees are still very good.

Some Conclusions:
Still among the best tracks I’ve played in Connecticut. Solid holes throughout the eighteen. Even though the back is quite a bit tighter, the outward half seems somewhat more challenging.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good

Player at Lyman Orchards Golf Club

Played On 10/24/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

Autumn Play at the Player

On a fine autumn day this afternoon, I enjoyed playing this challenging track once again. As my previous reviews have detailed, the Player Course puts a premium on good ball-striking. And there are still plenty of trials and tribulations that await you around the greens if you misplay approach shots by too much.

I’ve seen an improvement, overall, in course conditions since playing here last time. The fairways were very good, greens good (they’d been aerated, but some time ago), and greenside areas fine as a rule. Only some of the roughs and some tees were in average condition. Bunkers could also use a little work, but—let’s face it–most courses are not putting the full court press on conditioning in late October.

All in all, a fine day at Lyman. The scenery is a terrific bonus here.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging

Portland Golf Course West

Played On 10/19/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

Executive Golf That’s Never Boring

Today I played the Portland West’s front side, which is usually the case for me as I typically have time for just nine on my way home. But it was still satisfying, especially because in late October this course is in excellent shape. Still, that’s never a surprise, since the greenkeeping staff here tends to this layout as well as any does in the entire state—not bad for an executive layout!

Conditions are excellent on the greens and around them, excellent on the fairways, excellent on the tees. One shortfall, if slight, is the bunkers, which simply do not have their usual smoothness, though the sand is both good and consistent in them.

Portland West invariably looks good, too, and the parkland nature of the course, which allows you to look across the middle of it several times over longer vistas, keeps the small scale from feeling claustrophobic. A hemmed-in feeling can be common on other, more woodsy executive tracks with too many trees. The setting itself is classic Connecticut, and though the outward half is mainly flat (with one hill to ascend at eight, then descend from tee nine), the inward is quite rugged, moving up and down almost rhythmically from the tenth hole to conclusion.

The front opens up with a trio of similar par-3’s, yet the second, a bit shorter than the other two, also ascends a small hill to reach the green, a green protected by a large left-side bunker and tree. Hole four is best played with a drive down the left side–ideally a cut shot–that will leave you with a straightforward pitch into the green.

Hole six presents a firm challenge by any standard, involving a big left-side pond that threatens the drive but also the second shot if it is played sloppily. Your approach into an elevated and bunkered green must be a good one. Eight and nine are both demanding holes, and the former may just be the best par-3 on the entire course among twelve total. Nine is the course’s toughest driving hole among the five. I’ve found the best bet is to draw the ball down the fairway’s left side, where it’s possible to reach beyond the pond.

The clubhouse here, though not large, is pleasant and neat, as is its attached restaurant. Upon check-in, the gentleman I met was friendly and welcoming.

After another positive nine here where I scored pretty well, I felt good as usual. This course is certainly not hard, but it makes up for that by being great fun to play. The par-4s are rigorous enough to demand straight hitting, and a few of the greens have enough pitch to challenge your putter. Portland West remains at the top of my list for short courses across the state.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good

Twin Hills Country Club

Played On 10/17/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

Another Worthwhile Visit

Twin Hills offers a sound test of golf that is played just off a quiet street–named “Bread & Milk”--on the west side of Coventry, a few miles past the end of I-395. My day was pleasant here, and the round reinforced all of the good experiences I had a few months back in mid-August. This is an aesthetically handsome layout with plenty of wood-lined fairways, but equally commonplace are scattered trees on one side of the fairway or both. Scattered water hazards come into play on several holes, yet they’re not of the Pete Dye or Robert Trent Jones variety where you’re constantly challenged to attempt shots that range from the daring to the heroic. But in a few cases they will give you pause, while forcing you to think strategically. If I had to pick two of the holes as best here, these would be the 585-yard third and the 540-yard fifteenth. The former is the tougher and more dangerous; the latter supplies challenge and both tee-to-green accuracy and a steady putting stroke.
Three Good Holes:
FIVE, par-5, 529 yards: The tightest hole on the front, the fifth runs through woodland on both sides, then doglegs left, toward a stream functioning as a cross-hazard, and finally culminates on a raised green flanked on the right by a gaping bunker. Although scenic and serene, the hole punishes almost any shot that is not aimed well or struck flush.

SIX, par-4, 360 yards: This is a drive-and-pitch affair, but the drive is the more demanding shot. The fairway is offset from the tee, meaning–in this case–that a draw is preferable to a fade. A big, wide-limbed tree guards the left side. The pitch into the green is not hard, yet the green’s back-to-front slope could lead to a 3-putt for those who aren’t careful.

NINE: An uphill par-4 listed at 367 yarangled to the fairway, such that the best angle of approach is from the left side. Miss right and yods on the card, this plays closer to 390. The bunkerless green is set upon a knoll, but it’s also u’ll have a tough pitch to the flag if the pin is in front, especially because the tilt is from back to front.

Pace / Conditioning:
Pace of play was excellent, though largely due to a quiet and cooler mid-fall afternoon. The course was in good shape overall, with the greens leading the positive aspects and a few of the fairways losing some luster since the summer, when they were outstanding. The bunkers, tees and greenside roughs ranged from average to good, and it is clear that a lot of re-conditioning is underway as the end of golf season fast approaches.

Some conclusions:
Even though the course wasn’t in the same shape as in the summer, it still impressed me as very playable and–more important–a lot of fun to play. The layout is not quite what I’d call rigorous, but it does offer some nice challenges, even if that amounts to just one tricky shot per hole. I also like this as good and fair test of driving, and it’s not over-designed to be overly fussy with too many narrow holes. Moderation seems to be the watchword at Twin Hills, and most golfers should find this a pleasantly challenging outing. The bridge in front of the third green adds a singular touch to the course that increases memorability. The mature and often striking trees lend an aspect of quiet beauty.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 11/28/2023

Thanks so much for your wonderful review, AptlyLinked. We are thrilled to hear how much you enjoyed your time with us. Please visit again soon. Thanks for choosing Twin Hills Country Club!

Eastwood Country Club

Played On 10/09/2023
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

In Torrington’s Eastern Woods

This is my second time playing at Eastwood Country Club, and I found it an enjoyable experience on a fall afternoon with temps in the low-60s. The greens rolled smoothly and the fairways were much improved over my last visit. This old-school track, its designer unknown but built in 1962, rolls most gently yet sometimes abruptly over the Litchfield Hills. The surrounding views stretch into the distance a few times, but mainly this course is wooded and populated by numerously tree-lined fairways. Not a hard layout, as it slopes at 113 with a course rating of 33.9 against par of 36, it still sports several holes with hazards or trees that are quite likely to grab errant shots. There are ponds at eight and nine and bunkers that occasionally flank one or more parts of the greens, but overall the trees pose the biggest problem when you spray a tee shot. One of the par-5s is short, the other long, and the longest par-4 is the first, measuring 380 yards from the blue tee. The par-4 I like best is still the third (my apologies for misidentifying it as the fourth on my last review) which starts with a blind drive to a sloping fairway, then demands a solid pitch or short-iron down the hill to a large, circular green with a hidden bunker behind its back-left quadrant. Six, as well, seemed an excellent three-par, not for its length but rather its subtlety. You’ll need to hit a solid short-iron to hit the beautifully contoured, bi-level green, especially on its upper, back shelf, which is quite small. A large tree is situated to the right of the sixth’s green, which is also flanked by bunkers set well below the putting surface.

Conditions were good overall today, although the bunkers were somewhat washed out from recent heavy rains and not raked. Tees varied in quality from good to virtually poor. But the smoothly-rolling greens and mostly well-tended fairways made up for the shortfalls. Play was slow, however, as I waited several times for seven or eight minutes at the tees.

I would definitely recommend Eastwood and paired it today with Stonybrook in Litchfield, which is less than 15 miles away (about twenty minutes). In general, the layout is a typical example of what you might expect to see in fifties American golf. Most of the holes are straightforward, notably the first, second, fourth and fifth, but there are also some holes that necessitate some strategy to conquer. The eighth, a fun-to-play par-3, features a slightly elevated green that is fronted by a duck pond inhabited by a flock of mallards. And eighteen, the #1 index and a lengthy hole at 562 yards (blues), finishes the round with a flourish.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Amenities Fair

Black Birch Golf Club

Played On 10/08/2023
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.

Hawk's Landing Country Club

Played On 10/03/2023
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Hot weather
Walked

Fall Golf on a Warm Afternoon

I played here on a beautiful early fall afternoon today, when the weather was actually hot. The course’s fairways and roughs, still saturated from the heavy rains of several days ago, gulped golf balls and left them plugged–and I found a couple of lost balls by virtually stepping on them. Conditions suffered from the wetness, as the roughs, tees, greenside areas, and fairways needed mowing, while the bunkers remained essentially washed out. Only the greens were good, but even they had some modest detritus from the recent streams of water that had been running across them.

The layout proved fun to play, once again. After my last few rounds here, one of my favorite holes has become the sixth, a hole that was easy to dislike–initially. But now I see it, after repeated plays, as a challenging but fair driving hole, with a
forced carry over a pond to a fairway that seems just wide enough for comfort. It’s really what lies outside of the fairway borders that will make for a tricky GIR should you fail to find the short grass.

HL is still on my short list of worthwhile Connecticut courses that are enjoyable each time out. A couple of the holes–seven and eight–may seem a bit quirky, but they’re still quite playable given straight tee shots. If you’re game for it, though, seven will up the ante by its infusion of risk-reward into the mix. Just don’t hook it off the tee.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Amenities Good

Stonybrook Golf Course

Played On 10/02/2023
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

Gem-like Setting in Litchfield’s Hills

Much of Stonybrook Golf Course is set on two large and scenic hillsides, one of them where the clubhouse rests, situated alongside holes one and two, and the other traversed by the grouping of holes five, six, and seven. Yet one look at the rugged terrain, just from the parking lot, and you should realize quickly that the pretty setting hardly masks the difficulty of the upcoming test. As I wrote in review three years ago, Stonybrook is the toughest nine hole track of all twenty or so in Connecticut. Its strongest rival for this distinction is probably Woodhaven GC in Bethany, CT, which is longer but not as severely hilly as Stonybrook. Woodhaven, like this course, was the work of the late architect Albert Zikorus, one of the state’s most prolific designers.

Tee-to-green rigor:
Hole after hole, Stonybrook’s main defenses against par are its numerous slopes. Every hole has some form of greeside elevation or slope (especially deep falloffs), or ground movement in its fairways, or hills to climb or descend. The fairways themselves tilt, sometimes distinctly. The greens often have significant back-to-front or side-to-side movement. Embedded into the greenside slopes are large bunkers, the second main line of defense; these bunkers are often wide and frequently deep, a deepness preferred, in general, by Architect Zikorus. The third key defense is dense trees, although Zikorus was preferential to holes that had woods on only one side of the fairway, not both. Accordingly, this is true of the fourth, fifth, six, seventh, and eighth fairways. The final line of defense, but the least prevalent, is the water in play on holes five, seven, eight and nine. A pair of ponds and a rushing brook, then, may well swallow up your errant shot(s), especially on the closing holes. It’s easy to conclude that such a course–with a slope rating topping out at 125 and course ratings very close to actual par–will have some serious rigor. And Stonybrook does. In case these problems aren’t enough, three holes have out-of-bounds stakes on one side.

Putting:
The greens themselves are quite fast, and their slopes put pressure on you to two-putt as often as possible. They are also quite smooth and about as pure as it comes for public tracks. But beware of getting above the hole and of putts that hit the top of the ridge with a bit too much speed or momentum. Chipping or pitching to a downslope often takes a very fine touch here.

Three tough holes:
The fourth, fifth, and seventh holes are indexed on the card as Stonybrook’s toughest, and rightly so. Four demands a laser straight drive (or one that is drawn from the leftward, white tee) to a narrow fairway that slopes left-to-right. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that the safer side to land a drive is on the right. What follows is a tricky approach to a green set upon a knoll. The drive is a bit less demanding on the fifth (favor the right side), but the approach is the hardest on the course. Even with a nine or wedge in your hand, the challenge is to hold a perched, hilltop green with a shallow front-to-back dimension. Virtual perfection is necessary. The seventh tee shot demands almost the same level of precision to the most well-guarded fairway here: the brook is left, woods right. Then you have to smack a mid to short iron straight uphill to a relatively small, bunkered green. Hole seven, of course, is the number 1 index. Need I mention that it also measures 384 yards from the deep tee?

Beyond all of this, it’s worth mentioning that even some of the lower-rated holes are still challenging. These include the two openers, a long, uphill par-5 first, and the long, well-bunkered par-4 second. And the par-3 ninth is stingy on pars, most notably by a green that is quite small for the hole’s length.

Conditioning:
Outstanding conditions. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find even a few public tracks in Connecticut that are demonstrably superior to Stonybrook in this regard. Courses such as Wintonbury Hills may have roughs that are more finely groomed, for example, yet they are rarities. It’s nice to see a somewhat more mainstream facility and setting taking pride in its appearance and in the higher level of conditioning it achieves. Does this make Stonybrook a “hidden gem?” This, along with everything else.

Service:
Ideal. All three of the people I met here, when checking in and before leaving, represented the course in a friendly, helpful, and professional manner. What more can you expect?

Some Conclusions:
This is a rugged course on which most golfers ride carts, and for walkers the slog up the fifth and sixth holes is certainly brutal. There are a couple of minor flaws, I think, such as the combination of very fast greens with some of their severe slopes, or the way the trees intrude on the right side of the eighth tee, where it would be ideal to hit a draw. Yet despite the rigors of this layout, I still did not find playing it frustrating, as par on most holes is far from impossible. It’s also a must to hit accurate approaches and drives, pitches and putts all the way around the nine if you hope to make your score. The layout demands strategy, mainly in the form of careful play–whereby you must plot your way around, shot by shot and putt by putt.

The views around the course itself, as well as hills beyond, are often astonishing, especially when you reach both the fifth, sixth and seventh greens.

I’m hesitant to use the term “hidden gem” for any course because it’s so frequently slapped onto venues that are far too marginal to deserve the implied praise. But in Stonybrook’s case, the term is a fitting one. And this case, in short, is open-and-shut.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good

Farmingbury Hills Golf Club

Played On 10/02/2023
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Hot weather
Walked

A Good Nine-Hole Test

Having played Farmingbury Hills now around a dozen times, I can say that the course holds up well. All of these nine holes are good ones, and the unusual feature of alternate greens or teeing areas on five, seven, eight and nine–which create what seem like quite different holes—is a nice bonus. Because this is an old course, it’s somewhat short, but there are still two longish four-pars at two and seven; the same goes for the pair of par-threes. But my farorite hole on the course is probably nine, when played as a par-five, largely due to a second shot that requires careful placement, then the approach into a well-elevated, nicely countoured green. The whole is not a formidable test, to be sure, but still a good one.

Conditioning did not live up to the quality of this layout today, as the bunkers are washed out and the tees in need of more grass. The roughs are very dense after the rains and need mowing. Fairways are average overall as a few are patchy. The greens are good if a little long.

Pace was also slow today.

Nonetheless, this layout has become a go-to nine for me, and I plan to play it several times more every summer in the future. Definitely recommended, as it’s usually in better condition.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate

Timberlin Golf Club

Played On 09/17/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Hot weather
Walked

Civic Pride

Having played Timberlin for some thirty years now, I remember it as a well-managed muni that seemed a source of civic pride for the town of Berlin. Last year course conditioning was a bit iffy in places, but today conditions were fully restored to their former glory, and then some. In fact, it’s one of the best conditioned courses I’ve played this year, with smooth and fast putting surfaces, fairways that resemble those of country clubs, and well-tended tees, roughs, and greenside areas. Only a few of the bunkers needed some work as a result, it would seem, of recent rains. The one downside to today’s round, however, was slow play on the first nine we played, which happened to be the back side, although things picked up to a normal pace on our second nine. It was clear, anyway, that the course was overbooked in conjunction with their efforts to run some sort of club event. Yet all in all, the experience was still a pleasant one on a hot but beautiful September afternoon, and my long-time golfing buddy and I enjoyed the challenges of this moderately tough track, a layout that slopes at 129 from the blues.

My recent reviews cover many of the features that make this a very solid golf course. In short, be prepared for a fairly rigorous front side but an even tougher back, especially because you’ll encounter back-to-back-to-back long and tough holes–13, 14, and 14–that may quickly derail your good round. The front side’s chief strength is a pair of demanding five-pars at one and seven, which happen to be the number 1 and 3 handicap indexes. Eight is a short but cleverly designed Al Zikorus par-4; nine is among the best par-4s on the golf course. One of this layout’s greatest strengths is its relative moderation: it's hard to call any of the eighteen holes overly punishing, yet it’s also true that none can rightly be labeled a pushover.

Timberlin’s greens often slope more than moderately, so anyone who can putt well should enjoy a decided advantage over those who are less adept with the flatstick. Thick greenside rough can at times induce headaches, and bunkers are sprinkled around liberally enough that you’ll likely end up in at least one before your round is concluded.

Service here was friendly and helpful today, and I was especially impressed with the starter’s attention to detail in all respects.

Some conclusions:
Rates close to excellent overall, although some slow play was a genuine annoyance. My friend and I are both longtime fans of this golf course, yet today we were still wowed by the first-rate conditioning. Kudos to the maintenance staff. We also enjoyed a drink at the bar after our round. Timberlin has long been on our rota, and today’s experience served to cement that position just a bit more.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Good

Miner Hills Golf Course

Played On 09/09/2023
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Wet weather
Walked

Solid Exec Track

This is solid executive layout–as I’ve written in every previous review—that benefits from scenic views, good use of hilly and fairly rugged terrain. and a mix of decent par-3s. The best of these is probably the fifth, but the toughest has to be the long sixth. The short but rigorous fourth seems the standout hole among a trio of par-4s, largely because the ideal shot is a draw off the tee. A large embankment on the right side of the landing zone will kick your ball back into the fourth fairway if you miss a bit right. Green four runs narrow but long–a good target to test your wedge game.

Course conditions were average overall today. The good greens were the strong point, running smooth and true, but most of the tees were fair at best, having too little grass. They were even a bit slippery after it rained today. Bunkers were washed out, and fairways were about average–a bit too long.
Pace of play today turned out to be slower than it should be on an executive course.

So, all in all today’s experience was average, though the layout still engaged my interest throughout the round.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Average

Indian Springs Golf Club

Played On 09/03/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

A Course to Bank On

I find myself returning regularly to Indian Springs, as not only is this a very well-conditioned nine-hole layout, but also offered is just about all you might expect for challenge. And that despite the fact that this isn’t a long track. What creates the better part of that challenge, simply, are two major factors: the often large elevation changes from tee to green along with the slick and highly contoured greens themselves. The putting surfaces themselves may be the fastest on any nine-holer among the twenty or so that exist in Connecticut.

Course conditions were good today, although they fell short of the usual excellent standard I’ve seen here most times. The fringes needed cutting–which was the only thing that I found to truly affect scoring–and both the fairways and greens seemed slightly worn, mostly likely due to heavy summer play. This, of course, happens to many public tracks during June through August, so it’s not terribly surprising. Service was slow at the front desk, although friendly. It is Labor Day weekend.

Still, I would call it another very good day of golf at this enjoyable course, whose value is pretty much unbeatable.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Good

East Mountain Golf Course

Played On 08/22/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Hot weather
Walked

Back to the Future

As I’ve mentioned in the two previous reviews, East Mountain strikes me as a fine, playable, and nicely traditional test of golf. Rolling moderately and having plenty of variety and challenge, it is laid out through woodlands. The greens, ranging from midsize to large, are beautifully contoured with lots of variety– especially by subtle and clever pitches and undulations that leave many other course designs in the dust.

Today I finally played the entire eighteen holes, and found the back side to be even a shade better than the front.

Back Nine Summary:
Terrific hole design characterizes the tenth through fifteenth, which seem to me East Mountain’s best stretch of holes. Starting with a beautiful tee shot to an offset fairway amid big and grassy mounds, the tenth has a Scottish look. For a second as I teed off, I had the faint illusion, at least, that I was playing on Lundin Links or North Berwick in East Lothian, even though there was no sea in sight. The green at ten is surrounded by wraparound mounding. Hole eleventh, on the other hand, reverts back to classic American parkland, although it rolls and bumps around over its dogleg-right fairway. It’s a fine driving test to hit this fairway as nearly as possible to the bend–or around it. As if two strong par-4s in a row are not enough, the course delivers the wood-lined twelfth, which seems, after the seventh, the toughest hole at East Mountain. Twelve is a long and rigorous test. While rippling and rolling and pitching constantly, the fairway here heads straight to a well-guarded green, set slightly above grade. Hitting it in regulation is an accomplishment. Thirteen is merely one of the best par-3s in the state of Connecticut, and the only one I can think of with an enormous, abyss-like, brushy pit that must be traversed to reach the green (A couple of other Connecticut tracks have something loosely similar, but without the deep abyss that actually has a playable area at the bottom). The green itself is well proportioned for the hole’s length. If you end up down in the pit, this can be a spectacularly malicious golf hole, but it’s pure exhilaration when you’re on in regulation. A bit tame by contrast to the previous four holes, the fourteenth is best attacked with a well-placed draw off the tee. After that, you may find yourself wedging in close to the hole for a potential birdie. All in all, though, this stretch of holes will test you from start to finish.

The course’s final four holes are playable and good, though not quite as imaginative as the opening stretch on the back. The hardest of these comes right away at fifteen, a straight, uphill par-5, but a brutal hole (#2 index.) Here, you’ll likely not see your ball again if your specialty is a hook, but plenty of trees occupy the fairway’s right side as further annoyances. Sixteen is a long par-three, seventeen a short one. The latter is one of possibly three “birdie holes” on the back side. Another birdie possibility comes at the fine closing hole, an uncomplicated but still interesting par-4 of 393.

Conditioning:
Were it not for some ongoing work that is being done–or needs to be done–on the bunkers–this might rate excellent overall. In general, it’s mostly good to very good. But it’s also superb on the greens and greenside areas, which are mowed and kept almost perfectly. The greens roll purely and on the fast side. The fairways are very good overall, but a few lag in quality. Tees are fine. Conditioning, then, is pretty strong for a municipal course, and EM has seemed to have improved each time I’ve played it.

General Comments on the Eighteen:
This is not a flashy or fancy layout, as it has no big water or other cross hazards, only one forced carry, and light fairway bunkering. What I’ve found here has turned out to be a classical and traditional design, where hazards come in the form of some rigorous slopes, falloffs behind greens, plentiful woods, and mostly large greenside bunkers. East Mountain Golf Course is not hard, but neither is it easy from tee to green.

East Mountain has been remodeled (and added to a bit) by several architects who have respected, not contradicted, the ideas of its original designer, Wayne Stiles. In other words, it does not fool around with some of the tendencies for earth-working, outsized hazards, and mounding–the latter of which, on modern courses (from the 80s and 90s), often shows up everywhere. Nor is the course tricked-up; the difficulties it presents are fair ones.

Some Conclusions:
So why play East Mountain? The main reason is that this layout is more about fun and entertainment than about harshness and penalties, though you’ll still have to keep your tee shots under control and to think your way around these holes to score well. Moreover, the course is not a long slog across fairways that are overly narrow or are hemmed in tightly everywhere by trees. Instead, you’re given the airspace to strategically work the ball right or left–on most holes, anyway.

These characteristics squarely align EMGC with the prevailing trend for course designers across the U.S. over the last five to ten years. This, then, is a course that feels frozen in time, yet playing it takes you “back to the future.” While that may be a paradox for a course built back in 1932, it should encourage serious golfers who like strategic layouts that are both well and fairly laid out.

For my money, East Mountain is one of the best values available among public-access courses across New Haven county or west-Central Connecticut. Most notable is the great string of golf holes you’ll play that begins with the sixth yet continues all the way through fifteen. Play this stretch well and you may well make your score.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average

Rolling Greens Golf Course

Played On 08/21/2023
I Recommend This Course
2.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
Previously Played
Hot weather
Walked

Hilltop Golf in Rocky Hill

Rolling Greens, which is set in a large hilltop area among a housing complex, is mostly low rolling terrain itself. But there’s a large hill to climb to reach the sixth tee, if you’re walking, along with a huge descent to green six. Most players take carts.

This was my fifth or sixth play of this Cornish-designed nine-hole course, and again I enjoyed the challenges it lays out. Perhaps the course’s most interesting hole is the par-3 eighth, a mid-length but somewhat uphill affair with a big, undulating, two-tiered green. Trees may block a tee shot coming in from the right, but I found I could hit over them with a hybrid from the back tee. Other than that–as I’ve detailed earlier–the course is marked by good design: well-sited greens (mostly protected by elevation) that roll and pitch in varied ways, holes that favor different shot shapes off the tees, tees that are frequently elevated above fairways, a few water hazards, trees that pinch the fairways in certain spots. This last effect is sometimes overdone to a fault, as at the ultra-narrow approach to green five. It was good to see, however, that the trees have been pruned recently around five’s tee box.

The fair conditions today meant a downturn from what I experienced this spring, as greens were dried out and pockmarked occasionally, with their surrounds (fringes and roughs) damaged somewhat by summer heat or perhaps something else. The greens were still playable although dicey on a few putts. Some of the fairways were well mowed, some not, and they all exhibited too much clover. Fairways were very green, though, from all of the recent rains.

While conditions may disappoint a bit here, Rolling Greens is still a solid Cornish layout that’s worth a try as a full test of your game. I expect the situation will improve this fall with more temperate weather.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging

Twin Hills Country Club

Played On 08/14/2023
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart

Green Hills of Coventry

Tucked a bit off Route 44 in Coventry, Twin Hills is worth the trip for anyone who is partial to eighteen solid holes of golf in a fine countryside setting. It’s a well-manicured parkland course, on which most of the holes are straightforward and typical of tracks designed in the 1960’s and 70’s. Over most of the layout, the landscape rises or tumbles gently, although you’ll encounter a couple of rugged hills. Greenside bunkers are common, but fairway traps appear on but two holes. The greens themselves are large, affording multiple pin positions, and often tilted or well-contoured, with several set upon hillocks, a few on larger hills. These putting surfaces ran today on the quick side. Also of importance are some pronounced doglegs, along with six ponds that come into play, and they’re large enough to gulp down–frequently enough–Titleists and Taylor Mades.

Twin Hills isn’t the sort of course where nearly every hole is filled with problems; instead, the shot values are balanced quite well from tee to green on the par-4s and 5s. Sloping at an average (by today’s revised standards) 121 from the back tees, this still is hardly a course that treats you with kid gloves. And a balance is struck here: there are enough holes that may be birdied–mainly through accurate ball-striking–and so provide you the reasonable opportunity to make your score. All of this translates to what is basically a good, but also fun, course that seems ideal for mid-handicappers, though I think single-digit players should appreciate it as well.

Some Key Holes at THCC:

Fortunately, at the first and second, you are given a couple of moderate holes as warm-up. Then comes the third, the best hole at Twin Hills. A long and picturesque five-par, it plays straightaway and downhill off the tee to a blind landing zone, from where most players will lay up prior to the sizable and serene pond that fronts the green. This leaves a pitch to an expansive putting surface that tilts back to front. Crossing the pond, well to the left side of the fairway, is a handsome, double-arched stone bridge. Having a kind of Swilcan Bridge look, this bridge appears quite a bit larger than the one on St. Andrews’ final hole. The third hole oozes with character, yet it also happens to be the #3 handicap index.

The par-4, 456-yard seventh is a giant hole that doglegs severely; it can be a card-crusher and ranks as the course’s number 1 index, mainly because the huge and dense trees on the inside elbow of the dogleg will thwart virtually any attempt to cut it. Bust a drive down the middle–and not too far left–and the approach will play far shorter into the green. Eight is a fine par-3 that plays slightly uphill over its 185 yards. When the pin is on the right side, a huge, lipped bunker guards it.

A driving challenge, the 11th doglegs left and begs you to cut the corner for a thrilling risk-reward element. This is entirely possible with a well-struck tee shot. The approach, though, is simpler, traversing a large dip in the fairway that precedes a green. But don’t go long. Thirteen, a straightforward, downhill par-3 of over 200 yards, will allow for a run-on into the green.

A switchback hole that favors a draw off the tee, then a fade on the second, the par-5 fifteenth threads through the woods, stretching to 540 yards from the deep tee. Its sprawling green is imaginatively contoured and tricky just to two-putt. Seventeen is a harsh test of accuracy, doglegging right at a near 90 degree angle. For a relatively narrow hole, the tree protruding into the left side of the fairway on the approach seems like overkill–at least, on this first day I played the course. Place your drive to the center or right side of the fairway if you want a clear shot at the green, which is raised, bunkered on the right, and set among the trees.

The short par-4 eighteenth, rated the course’s easiest hole, offers a closing birdie opportunity. Still, the fairway is tight, and a hidden pond juts into its right side a bit. The final green is both elevated and huge–so a properly placed approach matters much.

Course Designer:
The course was designed in 1971, according to at least one reliable source I have, by George McDermott–the original owner. I was under the impression when playing it today, for the first time, that Albert Zikrous was the designer. Thinking about this later, though, I realized that it departs from Zikorus’ strong tendencies to favor deep greenside traps and frequent fairway bunkering. No real matter. Zikorus did design a course by the name of Twin Hills, but that one is in Longmeadow, Mass. But this THCC does have the overall feel of a Zikorus layout, which is a good thing.

Playing Experience:
Pace of play was good, and the course was well-managed by staffers who were very organized, polite, and accommodating. I hooked up with a good threesome, including Jack and Bob, and played both front and back sides with Tim, a good golfer who appears in a couple of the photos. He helped me considerably with tips for playing the layout, and I greatly enjoyed his company along with the other two amiable gentlemen.

Conditioning:
Outstanding. The greens and their lush surrounds are first-rate and the fairways ranged from good to excellent. Tees and roughs were very good overall. Bunkers were outstanding. Simply put, the conditioning approaches that of private courses I’ve played in Connecticut.

Some conclusions:
While there are some narrow and moderately hilly holes at THCC where you have to find the fairways–or to mainly stay out of trouble–for the most part this is a solidly conventional course that may be played with some ‘quiet’ aggression. The superb conditions are a nice bonus. I enjoyed these eighteen on my first visit here.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
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Commented on 09/12/2023

Hello, AptlyLinked. Thank you for visiting us at Twin Hills Country Club. We appreciate your 4-star rating and review. We hope you join us for another round soon.

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