Crystal Springs Resort

Will not play again if this is the norm .tee time 1145 all good we were only on #16 at 5 o'clock could not take it .when we drove back to clubhouse a group on 17 fairway just teed off no one on green and not a sole anywhere to be found on 18 this 4 some backed up course for hours . Group ahead of us tried playing thru to no avail

Great Course, country club service and amenities on a public course.

Nice layout and certainly flatter fairways than Crystal Springs. Probably the truest greens I have played in a while snd fast too. Overall great experience except for some slow play ahead. Going to be awfully pretty as the leaves turn as well

The bunkers are disgraceful for a good course like Black Bear. It has been in this condition for several years. Some bunkers are filled in with new sand, but there are too many bunkers with dirt and rocks.

Love this place, but haven't played it in years. I was surprised how much it's changed over the years, a lot of housing has been built around it.

Same, spectacular holes though, same maddening mounds, tight holes and tricky greens. Quarry par 3 is still breathtaking and fun. The course plays a lot longer than it seems, many uphill greens require a forced carry..

The course is in great shape, but the cart paths are really beat up.

Pace of play was good, a lot of travel between holes keep groups spaced.

Not much for food after the round though, the one restaurant was booked and bar was full..

Couldn’t get 12 holes in, in four and a half hours just sad. ☹️

Awesome course with amazing views! The course is difficult, the course layout lends itself to more layup plays rather than going for distance. For sure recommend to anyone.

Black Bear is one of my favorite courses. It is well maintained and provides both a challenging and friendly mix of difficulty. I recommend it to everyone.

The advertising during televised golf events in the NY area, makes this place look incredible. Congrats on the production company who put it together. You hooked us. But the let down, when reality hit, was painful.

Keep in mind we arrived an hour before our start time, which was before 9am. Everything should have been ready to go, and in good shape. It was not, and chaos seemed to be everywhere, including golfers coming off the course complaining that there were no flags on some greens.

Good:

-The course itself has some interesting moments in design, particularly holes 5-9, and 12-17
-The starter was kind and professional

Bad:

-$120 green fees, when it's worth maybe $60
-Bag Drop staff in the early morning were polite, but not very friendly/welcoming clear about procedure for new customers. Afternoon staff were more customer service oriented, but the damage had been done already, and there was nothing they could do to salvage our opinion
-Bag Drop filthy, disorganized
-Golf Cart filthy, covered in old grass, and seats wet with morning dew
-Pro Shop staff disinterested and clearly OVER IT
-Driving range short on baskets for balls
-Driving range mats in decent shape, but the slots for tees were shredded, so no opportunity to put tees in proper slots for driver warmup
-Balls included with green fee, but you only get about 25/30
-Grass clippings left all over rough and fairways, so greens COVERED in clippings
-Greens not cut or rolled
-Bunkers rock hard (5 days after heavy rain)
-Most rakes for bunkers are broken, bent, or missing teeth, and they're the small rakes, so it takes twice as long to rake any bunkers
-Didn't see the marshal until the 18th green, after a 5hr15min round that started BEFORE 9am, because the group ahead of us, WITH three carts for 4 players, was brutally slow, and was at least two holes behind the group in front of them
-Maintenance staff not paying attention to golfers on the course trying to hit into greens
-Maintenance staff forgot to put tee markers back on at least 6 of 18 holes, after cutting, and with elevated tees relative to the cart paths, we had lots of trouble figuring out where our tees were

This is a public resort with a semi-private membership base, that allows public play. Members think they own the place, and rip up fairways with their custom golf carts with studded tires. Management needs to require certification of privately owned golf carts for use on this course. Members also refuse to abide by the facilities' rules regarding first tee times, to the point where members tee themselves off and end up running into the back of maintenance teams trying to maintain upkeep.

The staff is exhausted from an extremely busy season, and likely being abused by an entitled membership base that barely pays $7K for 5 golf courses. The greedy ownership/management is solely responsible the poor morale, likely due to staff being overworked, unappreciated, unrewarded, unrecognized, and disrespected. They hammer in too many golfers, too many weddings, too many corporate events, and they even have a music festival scheduled this Saturday, in addition to two weddings and 500+ golfers. Good luck finding parking, so prepare yourself for a shuttle bus.

Starter raved about Ballyowen as the gem of the place, so we will be back for that golf course, not the resort, the amenities, or the service. And we'll try to get the first time, so we can play a reasonably paced round.

Extremely challenging course which was very scenic and some of the holes were incredible views over water. Plenty of blind shots and hard to score on this course but so much fun. Never played a place like this even though I ve played the other courses at the resort. Got out at 7am on a beautiful sunny, chilly morning. Hitting down into the quarry was incredible experience.
I ll be back soon. Staff was knowledgeable and extremely professional. Greens were quick and well maintained. Great day of golf

Nice course in good conditions. We enjoyed our round. Will likely to go play again.

The Wild Turkey, one of the female golf courses at Crystal Springs an amazing challenge for all skills levels along carries for the boys playing from the tips. Manageable from the other tees greens. Fabulous undulating fairways undulating greens lotta character wonderful sisters absolutely fabulous conditions the staff of foreign nine wonderful, fabulous reception. Look forward to enjoying any of Crystal Springs courses again thanks very much ciao