Couple of Questions - Memberships & Good Weekend Plays

[zild1221]

First off, just want to say hello. I've poked around here for various reasons before, but have not really had a reason to post until now.

 

My first question for you guys is regarding memberships. My brother and I (I am 21, he is 16) have been playing a good amount of golf lately. 9 or 18 holes every day after work and at least an hour on the range. Right now, neither of us have memberships. Playing that much is hurting the wallet at public rates. Until this year, we were both mostly Sunday golfers. As of right now we are looking for a good value membership at least semi near where we live (we are in the Terryville/Plymouth area). It does not have to be full private, we are fine with semi-public or a "season pass". We would like to keep it in the <25 minute drive range.

 

The courses we have played this season are:

 

Hawks Landing

Pequabuck

Fairview Farms

Tunxis Plantation

 

Pequabuck is our home course and it is a joke really. Rude employees, sub-par clubhouse, poor conditions, poor layout, jokingly bad practice facilities, and to top it off the price is insane for the prior mentioned.

 

Hawks Landing is about one notch above Pequabuck. This is only due to the friendlier staff and recently renovated club house.

 

Fairview on the other hand is pretty nice for around here. Very well maintained (I can actually take a divot and not break my wrists...), nice clubhouse, nice layout although short. Out of the nearby courses, I would choose here. However, they do not offer memberships.

 

Tunxis Plantation is nearing the "too far for daily play" boundary at 25 minutes away. They offer a lot of holes (2x 18's and a 9), conditions are hit or miss it seems, layout is fairly straight with a few nice water holes. Staff has been hit or miss as well.

 

Hopefully you guys can point me to some options I am overlooking. I am not very well informed when it comes to private clubs. I drive by Chipannee daily, however, it seems like a "gentleman's" course. Boring straight and flat.

 

 

My next question. On Sundays, my Father, Mother, Brother and myself usually try to play 18. IS there anywhere you guys would recommend to play that isn't too expensive and will offer an all around nice experience for the day? We don't mind driving into Mass, RI, anywhere within a couple of hours. Something scenic maybe?

 

I appreciate your help and look forward to hearing your suggestions.

[Teetogreen86]

I played at Chippanee a few weeks ago and really enjoyed the course. I didn't find it boring at all.

I don't know many courses in your area so I can't a place to join.

If you're looking for places to play on the weekend with the family is suggest Newport National in RI and Crumpin Fox in MA. Both well worth the drive.

[Imp]

Lots of private courses have lowered membership for young members. I would not rule them out.

Good suggestions here, maybe some in your area)
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/784905-2013-golf-digest-rankings-of-new-england-courses-by-state/page__pid__7036922#entry7036922

RI: Newport National, Meadow Brook
CT: Fox Hopyard, CT National.
MA: Blackstone National, Crumpin Fox, Pinehills (Cape)

--kC

[Smithj36]

WIntonbury Hills and Oxford Greens are 2 very good public courses that offer memembership deals. They are under the same ownership so I think if you got membership you could play both courses.

They are both much better than Tunxis and Hawks Landing. Both are rated in top 5 public courses in CT.

[geoangus]

I'd agree about the Wintonbury Hills endorsement.

I'm not sure about memberships, but here are a few courses you might consider for the Sunday round.

Defining expense is always subjective, but Connecticut National is a pretty nice course that often has deals with a restaurant credit. Only drawback is that it is in the middle of nowhere, and from you, not the most direct routes to get there.

If you've played and enjoyed Tunxis, you might also consider Topstone or Rockledge, both in the Hartford area.

The Ranch, in Southwick, MA, is very nice, but is around $80 weekdays with GolfNow - not sure what weekend rates would be, but I'd guess over $100. Similar courses (and prices) would include Fox Hopyard, Great River (in Milford) or Lake of Isles. I've picked up some good deals on both GolfNow, TeeTimeWatch and EZLinks, so scope their websites out.

[zild1221]

Thanks for the suggestions. Doing quite a bit of research now.

[prorobo]

If you want to save a few bucks while still keeping with the daily fee stuff, check out Golfnow or Ezlinks. I played Hawk's Landing this year and if I recall it was $25 for 18 w cart on Ezlinks. Lots of good deals to be had especially mid-week if your schedule allows.

[geoangus]

[quote name='prorobo' timestamp='1370905215' post='7209202']
If you want to save a few bucks while still keeping with the daily fee stuff, check out Golfnow or Ezlinks. I played Hawk's Landing this year and if I recall it was $25 for 18 w cart on Ezlinks. Lots of good deals to be had especially mid-week if your schedule allows.
[/quote]
I think we got out on Great River for $58 last year (w/ cart). Definitely worth the look

[prorobo]

[quote name='geoangus' timestamp='1370906698' post='7209388']
[quote name='prorobo' timestamp='1370905215' post='7209202']
If you want to save a few bucks while still keeping with the daily fee stuff, check out Golfnow or Ezlinks. I played Hawk's Landing this year and if I recall it was $25 for 18 w cart on Ezlinks. Lots of good deals to be had especially mid-week if your schedule allows.
[/quote]
I think we got out on Great River for $58 last year (w/ cart). Definitely worth the look
[/quote]

Whoa was that peak season too? On Ezlinks? I'll definitely have to keep checking for that deal! I only play there in the off-season when it's anywhere from $50-60. Love their practice facilities and the course is fun too.

[geoangus]

EZlinks. I don't remember when it was exactly, I think it was late summer, but conditions were fantastic. IIRC, it was an 8:00am tee time. I think the reason the rate was so low was that they had a good sized outing going off on the front nine around 10:30am, so we had to be making the turn before then.