Buddies Trip Ideas for Central CT?

[theD1]

Planning our 12th annual Ryder Cup style buddies trip and for a variety of non-golf reasons are looking at Central CT.

 

About Us: 8 mid-30's guys split into two teams, each with 2 pairings, playing a match play scramble. We play 18 on Saturday and 18 on Sunday, with a night of food and drink in between. Most of the players are in the 14-18 hcp range, one only plays a few times a year.

 

What we're looking for: 2 courses within a 30 minute drive of Middletown, West Hartford, or New Haven that are fairly wide open off the tee with minimal blind shots or forced carries. We usually try to find tees between 5900 and 6200 and keep fees to <$80.

 

 

Not looking for the hardest course, or even the best maintained, just looking for places where we can play competitive (to us) rounds without losing a box of balls or driving other people nuts.

 

If you have any ideas they'd be much appreciated.

[The Mad Hacker]

Here's a few suggestions for central Connecticut courses that should fit your criteria -

 

Timberlin, in Berlin, CT. About 15 minutes west of Middletown / 15 minutes south of Hartford. A bit of a hidden gem. Very enjoyable course.

 

Wintonbury Hills, in Bloomfield, just north of Hartford. Excellent links style layout, a real treat to play.

 

Keney Park, Windsor, also just north of Hartford. Historic course that underwent a complete renovation a couple of years ago and is now in incredible shape.

 

Rockledge, West Hartford. Nice parkland style course. Pretty wide open. If you can pound your drive over the hill on the par 5 sixth, you'll have a great look at the green. If not, your second will be a blind shot. But if I recall correctly that's the only one you might encounter here.

 

Grassy Hill, Milford. 15 minutes south of New Haven. Fun, well-maintained course. Some elevation changes, with one blind shot on you approach on 18.

 

There are a couple more courses I'd highly recommend if you don'r mind driving just a bit further and / or spending a a few more bucks - Fox Hopyard in East Haddam, Great River in Milford and Lake of Isles (North Course) in North Stonington (at Foxwoods Casino). Those 3 are some of the best public courses in Connecticut. Foxwoods could be a good base of operations or post round dinner/entertainment option.

 

Hope that helps. Enjoy the trip!

[theD1]

Great suggestions, thanks so much.

 

After some initial internet research (including these threads) I was looking closely at Timberlin for Saturday and Keney Park or Wintonbury Hills for Sunday AM on our way back up to BDL, but wasn't sure about the course difficulty/fairway width/blind shots/etc. Rockledge and Grassy Hill weren't on my radar so will have to check them out. Thanks!

[zild1221]

You might have seen these photos of mine either on Google Reviews or elsewhere (CTCourseReviews), but they're mine. I just grabbed a few I had laying around still, there's no real reasons I chose the ones I did. Obviously can't comment on what conditions will be when you plan to go. However, these are my recommendations.

 

Timberlin in Berlin. Probably the best value course in the state. Usually in immaculate condition. You will find some less than ideal areas where you shouldn't be playing from... But you get yourself into that trouble. They just rebuilt the bunkers fairly recently so those are always in great shape. My favorite aspect of the course is the fact that there is some form of deterrent on every hole. Off the tee, right in driveable distance there will be bunkers, or water, or trees to block line of sight. Something along the lines of that. It makes you think about placement and keeps you from just stepping up and ripping a tee shot as hard as you can. However, the fairways are still on the wider side for the area and accepting of a good tee shot. It is a municipal and can get busy at times. The local schools practice there. The restaurant is leased and just MEH. I would look elsewhere for food and drink.

 

Hole 10 - Reasonable distance par 5. If you can get it passed that first bunker, you MIGHT have a shot to get there in two. The green is guarded and higher than the fairway so you have to fly it on and get it to stop.

 

 

Hole 11- Short par 4. Take an iron and lay up before the first bunker and leave yourself 150-160 in, or rip a driver over the bunkers and have a short wedge shot in. It's all about drive placement on this hole.

 

 

Hole 14 - Average length par 4. A good drive will leave you a short shot in. Anywhere right and you're forced to hit under or over trees. A little left and you have a blind shot over a hill into the green.

 

 

Hole 17 - Usually one of the favorites. Par 4. This picture is from down in the fairway. Layup off the tee before the creek and watch your buddies try to carry it. The massive elevation change really prevents you from easily carrying it and there isn't a benefit in doing so. On your shot in just avoid the deep bunker on the right side of the green.

 

 

 

Other than Timberlin, I would recommend Wintonbury Hills. It's a fun layout and not too tough if you're friends are willing to play from the whites. It's fun and a wide course. Lots of hills, the ball likes to end up nowhere near where it landed, and it can get WINDY. Here's a bunch of pictures from April of last year to give you an idea of the conditions for this time of year. They're in no particular order and I didn't keep notes. My playing partner in one of the pictures was KILLING it and shooting for an under par round from the tips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lyman Orchards can also be a good choice. They have awesome practice facilities and 2.5 courses. You could easily warm up on the Apple 9 (fun executive course) and then jump over to one of their 18's.

 

[theD1]

Thanks so much for great photos and insight, much appreciated.

[tnrts345]

As a long time player at Timberlin it may be the best bang for your buck. The course is in wonderful condition and has great staff. The pro would most definitely help you out on planning your groups. Other than that I can suggest Gillette ridge in Bloomfield (on the West Hartford line), gets pricey but is a fun but tough track. I would also look into Lyman, great courses but your'e getting close to that $80 mark for 18 if I remember correctly. Enjoy!

[theD1]

Thanks for weighing in, much appreciated. Any thoughts on Timberlin's width/accessibility off the tee?

[floycota]

Timberland, Wintonbury, and Lyman (Jones Course) are good choices. If you want to avoid blind shots avoid the Player course at Lyman, even the members don't like playing the Player course. The Jones Course was the site for the qualifier for the GHO/Buick/Travelers for many years. It is by far the better of the two 18-hole courses at Lyman.

 

I think a lot of people would agree that Fox Hopyard, Great River, and Lake of Isle are a little overpriced for what they are. I think Lake of Isles is the best of that bunch though.

[vaca22]

Thanks for weighing in, much appreciated. Any thoughts on Timberlin's width/accessibility off the tee?

 

Timberlin has been my home course since I first started playing, back in '93! It was nice to see zild1221 post so many great pictures.

 

I'm trying to think of all the sprayed tee shots I've had there. Most fairways at Timberlin are wide either on one side or the other (I'll exclude the par 3's):

 

#1 - lots of space on the right, a little less so on the left because of the treeline

#2 - this is the hardest tee shot on the course, there is no room for error here...clump of trees along the left side and trees all long the entire right side

#3 - Lots of room left, however anything severely right will end up on Southington Rd

#5 - Lots of room to the left, but if you hit it far enough to the right you'll be up against the trees that line the right side of #6

#6 - Lots of room to the right (adjacent to #5 fairway) but you'll be in a tough position if you go left

#8 - Wide open left and right

#9 - Lots of room left, and good room right. Super right will leave you against Don Bates Dr, which is the main road to the clubhouse/parking lot

 

#10 - Plenty of room left, but you can get into tree trouble on the right

#11 - Lots of room right. Left is relatively open as well

#13 - Plenty of room to the right. Left can be tree trouble especially as you approach the top of the mounds before the brook that crosses the fairway

#14 - Going right will likely land you in water, as will going left.

#15 - Plenty of room either side

#17 - Highly elevated tee. Going left you'll deal with trees and/or water. Going right you might get to trees

#18 - Pretty open on both sides, however the bottom of the range is to the left and you might have a tough time finding you ball if it's mixed in with all the practice balls

 

Enjoy! Removing all possible bias, Timberlin truly is a great track.

[rblmp32]

Ahh those pics really take me back to CT... moved away last August to Charleston SC and it's just not the same. I was going to recommend Fox Hopyard, as from the shorter tees it's an enjoyable course. But it's more expensive that you guys want to pay. :)

[Fairwindsgolfer]

I'm amazed at the lack of Love That Manchester Country Club gets. It has played host to many qualifiers for state tournaments and is also host to a professional tournament every August called the Manchester open. It usually attracts some of the best golfers in New England