Connecticut Golf

[Ari Marcus]

I may be relocating to Connecticut next year. Wanted to get everyone thoughts on their favorite courses in the state, especially courses to play on a regular basis.


Thanks

[mark chalfant]

Keney Park and Wintonbury Hills are excellent courses in/near Hartford. Hotchkiss is a 9 hole charmer in Lakeville, NW CT.




[size=78%]Shenecossett (mostly Ross) is worth a special trip and so is Shuttle Meadow, a superb layout in Berlin.[/size]




When conditions are improved there, Yale will return as one of the very best courses in New England


Round Hill (Travis) and CC of Fairfield are private clubs with outstanding courses

[Cal Seifert]

I’ve never been but heard good things about Fenwick, a nine holer near Shennecosset.

[Tim Martin]

I’ve never been but heard good things about Fenwick, a nine holer near Shennecosset.

Add a lobster roll at Johnny Ad’s and you have a great day on tap. Make sure you have a hot dog as an appetizer!

[Bret Lawrence]

I would agree with the courses listed so far.  Yale and Hotchkiss are two of my favorites. If you are there for the architecture you will love them, but if you are there for optimal conditions you will likely be disappointed.  East Mountain, one of the Waterbury munis designed by Wayne Stiles, also falls into this category. 


Shorehaven Golf Club in Norwalk is another one of my favorites.  Designed by Willie Park and built by Robert White. 


Country Club of Waterbury is a very good Ross course.  The more I play it the more I love it.


Torrington Country Club is a very good Orrin Smith design which is still very much intact.  Torrington is a club that clearly appreciates their history.


Bulls Bridge in South Kent, CT is a fun modern course, if you like Mountain golf. 


Shuttle Meadow, which Mark mentioned is my favorite course in Hartford County.  It’s a very authentic Willie Park design.  Much of the original design still remains from 1916.


Tamarack in Greenwich is another fun course with optimal conditioning.


I always enjoy New Haven CC; Woodway CC and Wee Burn in Darien. Rockrimmon on the border of CT is another solid course with nine by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and nine by Orrin Smith. 


Birchwood (9-holer) and Westport Longshore (public) in Westport are both fun courses too.  Both are good examples of Orrin Smith’s work.  Birchwood is often recognized as one of the best nine-hole courses in the country.


Litchfield County is full of old-school nine hole courses.  Hotchkiss, Green Woods, Lake Waramaug, Norfolk Country Club (which I haven’t played, but heard great things).  The atmosphere at these clubs is quintessential New England.


Many courses in CT are a smorgasbord of architects work.  You might find three or four different styles throughout the 9 or 18 holes.  It’s a negative for people who like one theme throughout the course, but it can be a positive if you are looking to experience the different eras of architecture all in one place.  CC of Fairfield would likely fall into this category.  Beautiful setting along the shore, optimal conditioning, but it’s a mish-mash of Raynor, Tillinghast, Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Cornish. Wee Burn is a great example of Emmets work, but it has been slightly downgraded by adding Fazio bunkers that don’t gel with Emmets greens. I don’t mind Fazio’s bunkers at Bulls Bridge because they fit in with his design, but at Wee Burn they don’t look right to my eye. I just hope they suit the members eye, because they are the ones paying for it.

[Tim Martin]

I would agree with the courses listed so far.  Yale and Hotchkiss are two of my favorites. If you are there for the architecture you will love them, but if you are there for optimal conditions you will likely be disappointed.  East Mountain, one of the Waterbury munis designed by Wayne Stiles, also falls into this category. 


Shorehaven Golf Club in Norwalk is another one of my favorites.  Designed by Willie Park and built by Robert White. 


Country Club of Waterbury is a very good Ross course.  The more I play it the more I love it.


Torrington Country Club is a very good Orrin Smith design which is still very much intact.  Torrington is a club that clearly appreciates their history.


Bulls Bridge in South Kent, CT is a fun modern course, if you like Mountain golf. 


Shuttle Meadow, which Mark mentioned is my favorite course in Hartford County.  It’s a very authentic Willie Park design.  Much of the original design still remains from 1916.


Tamarack in Greenwich is another fun course with optimal conditioning.


I always enjoy New Haven CC; Woodway CC and Wee Burn in Darien. Rockrimmon on the border of CT is another solid course with nine by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and nine by Orrin Smith. 


Birchwood (9-holer) and Westport Longshore (public) in Westport are both fun courses too.  Both are good examples of Orrin Smith’s work.  Birchwood is often recognized as one of the best nine-hole courses in the country.


Litchfield County is full of old-school nine hole courses.  Hotchkiss, Green Woods, Lake Waramaug, Norfolk Country Club (which I haven’t played, but heard great things).  The atmosphere at these clubs is quintessential New England.


Many courses in CT are a smorgasbord of architects work.  You might find three or four different styles throughout the 9 or 18 holes.  It’s a negative for people who like one theme throughout the course, but it can be a positive if you are looking to experience the different eras of architecture all in one place.  CC of Fairfield would likely fall into this category.  Beautiful setting along the shore, optimal conditioning, but it’s a mish-mash of Raynor, Tillinghast, Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Cornish. Wee Burn is a great example of Emmets work, but it has been slightly downgraded by adding Fazio bunkers that don’t gel with Emmets greens. I don’t mind Fazio’s bunkers at Bulls Bridge because they fit in with his design, but at Wee Burn they don’t look right to my eye. I just hope they suit the members eye, because they are the ones paying for it.

Bret-I agree about the bunkers at Wee Burn and was amazed when the caddie said the long range goal is to fell every conifer on the golf course.   That’s a lot of big trees!!

[Eric LeFante]

Richter Park is a good public option with quite a bit of land movement.

[V. Kmetz]

Richter Park is a good public option with quite a bit of land movement.

Richter has a very similar rugged property to Yale, more beautiful parkland vistas, some delightful heroic holes, but it's quite penal, features water in play on 13 of the 18 holes and is a difficult walk.  If you're playing in a prime time, it can be a slow round, but overall it's a diverse parkland course that is worth a couple of visits.  The same architect who created Richter, Ed Ryder, also made Morefar, one of America's most private corporate courses, the littlest sliver of which can be seen across Boggs Pond from Richter's peninsula 12th green.

[Adam G]

I have played a bit on the eastern Connecticut shoreline.

A second for Fenwick in Old Saybrook. It's a short, quirky, and fun 9 hole public course that winds its way through multi-million dollar homes (Katherine Hepburn's beachside mansion is across the pond to the right of #2) in between the beach and a cove off the Connecticut River. The fairways are unirrigated which leads to very bouncy and linksy playing conditions. The course is quite easy and relatively flat but has very small, sloped, and pushed-up greens and a lot of quirk, such as the steep blind drop-off behind the par 3 3rd and the berm that makes the par 3 6th largely blind. The highlight is hole #4, which is a Cape hole playing diagonally across South Cove on the tee shot. Highly recommended if you like old school courses, and it's a very good deal ($27 for 9 on weekdays, $35 on weekends). Plus it's open year-round. I played after Christmas last year and it was wonderful.

Shennecossett in Groton is a Ross muni that was heavily modified in the late 1990s due to a land swap with Pfizer (holes 9 and 15-17 are brand new). The old Ross holes have a lot of character and the course is a great deal. When I was there it played very fast and firm. The highlight is probably the 4th hole, an uphill par 3 volcano hole.

If you can get on, Yale is the most architecturally interesting course I have seen in Connecticut. In fact, it's not even close. The conditioning leaves a lot to be desired and that was before the recent debacle, but it's a truly outstanding golf course. It's hard not to imagine what it could be with a true restoration. The scale of the place has to be seen to be believed. Search for Tom Doak's old post about Yale -- it's a fun read about how nobody would build many of the holes there today.

Finally, Fox Hopyard in East Haddam designed by Roger Rulewich is good but not great. It makes interesting use of very steep, forested terrain on holes 2-5 including a VERY downhill par 3. The rest of the course winds its way around wetlands through forests and fields. The course is in great shape, and if you get a tee time you get unlimited use of the grass range for the day, which is a nice bonus.

[Jon Claydon]

A third vote for Fenwick.


Played this last week on a hot sunny day with my dad, godfather, and my son.  The cooling ocean breezes, the beautiful views, and the pleasantly firm turf made for a wonderful morning walk. 


My ten year old son made a long put for par on the very cool par 3 6th (with a significant berm blocking the view of the green from the tee) and received a nice round of applause from several folks walking past on the road next to the hole.  He loved it.


what a great place. 

[jeffwarne]

I have played a bit on the eastern Connecticut shoreline.

A second for Fenwick in Old Saybrook. It's a short, quirky, and fun 9 hole public course that winds its way through multi-million dollar homes (Katherine Hepburn's beachside mansion is across the pond to the right of #2) in between the beach and a cove off the Connecticut River. The fairways are unirrigated which leads to very bouncy and linksy playing conditions. The course is quite easy and relatively flat but has very small, sloped, and pushed-up greens and a lot of quirk, such as the steep blind drop-off behind the par 3 3rd and the berm that makes the par 3 6th largely blind. The highlight is hole #4, which is a Cape hole playing diagonally across South Cove on the tee shot. Highly recommended if you like old school courses, and it's a very good deal ($27 for 9 on weekdays, $35 on weekends). Plus it's open year-round. I played after Christmas last year and it was wonderful.

Shennecossett in Groton is a Ross muni that was heavily modified in the late 1990s due to a land swap with Pfizer (holes 9 and 15-17 are brand new). The old Ross holes have a lot of character and the course is a great deal. When I was there it played very fast and firm. The highlight is probably the 4th hole, an uphill par 3 volcano hole.

Tell us more about the original Shenny!
15-17 are pretty good holes and travel to a nice part of the property

[Adam G]

Unfortunately never played the original Shenny. But Out and In Golf (guy who does neat routing maps) just posted a routing map of Shenny that has the old and new courses overlaid! Very cool stuff.
https://www.outandingolf.shop/product-page/shennecossett-golf-course

[Rob Marshall]

Played Aspetuck Valley Country Club a few years ago. Nothing to write home about.

[jeffwarne]

Unfortunately never played the original Shenny. But Out and In Golf (guy who does neat routing maps) just posted a routing map of Shenny that has the old and new courses overlaid! Very cool stuff.
https://www.outandingolf.shop/product-page/shennecossett-golf-course

Unless the old 5th, 6th and 7th were pretty special, I'll take the new routing.
15 is a decent par 3, 16 a little quirky, but a good green in a spectacular setting and 17 has a really cool green.
I say well done on the land swap!

[Jim_Kennedy]

Ari,

 It’s about 110 miles from Shennecossett gc In the southeast corner to Norfolk cc in the northwest corner.   That’s roughly a two hour and 20 minute ride, but not if you have to deal with the traffic around Hartford during rush hour. Then it could be anywhere from 3 to a four hour ride.

Rockledge golf course is in the Hartford area and it is a really good muni course. Manchester country club in Manchester Connecticut is also a great place to play.

[mark chalfant]

Ive been told that Wampanoag has a solid routing over some rolling terrain. Two friends have told me there are several nice greens.  This Ross course is in West Hartford.


I think Norfolk and New Haven CC are both quite fun to play

[Cob Carlson]

Ari: What part of the state are you moving to? And are we talking public or private courses? Huge gulf between the two.  Privates can be very tough to access in New England.