During the week I like to try and sneak out to a local course and squeeze in a round after work. The problem with that is, I don't really have any local courses. The closest to me is Pequabuck, I'm not going to go into details in this post about that place, but lets just say I drive 3 times the distance to play elsewhere. Other than Pequabuck, the next two courses nearest me are North Ridge (formerly Pine Valley) in Southington, and Fairview Farms in Harwinton. If you hit traffic correctly, they are each about 15 minutes from my house. Fairview is pricey, so North Ridge is almost always my go to the past two seasons. Just 5 minutes down the road from ESPN, it is pretty accessible from all surrounding areas.
North Ridge, just prior to last season acquired a new owner. They are making impressive and substantial changes to the course, all of which I see are for the better.
North Ridge, just prior to last season acquired a new owner. They are making impressive and substantial changes to the course, all of which I see are for the better.
Hole #2, Center of the fairway. ~150-160 yards out. Unless you can hit a nice draw, this will be what your second shot looks like. Right side of the fairway is the safest, though if you run through its a punch out from under the trees. This is center and I'm still forced to hit a draw around those branches to the pin position.
CONDITIONS:
Here is where the course really shines; I want to get it out of the way first. The teeboxes are immaculate. They are large enough that they can move them and have fresh tee positions every day. They aren't too hard you can't get a tee in, and they aren't so soft it won't keep the tee upright. I've not once had a complaint about them that I can remember.
The fairways are like carpets. You could have a turf company come out and lay artificial turf that doesn't look this well manicured. The grounds crews do an AMAZING job to make sure all of the divots are replaced or filled. Some days you go and there isn't a divot in sight on the entire fairway! That isn't to say you can't take a divot. The ground is nice and soft and you can take a hefty divot without breaking your wrists. There is good differentiation between the fairways, fringes, and rough.
Hole #3, Tee 125 Yards. With the uphill and usual wind, it plays between 140-150 yards. Anywhere but center of green really is no good. Left, hope you get in the bunker or you will be on hard-pan under trees. Short, false front. Long leaves you with a chip with the green running severely away from you. Right leaves you with a chip with the green running away from you.
The rough is nice and thick now that we've had some decent rain. It's short enough where you can usually find you ball, but definitely still long enough and thick enough to punish you.
Their bunkers are hit or miss. With these heavy rains, they were pretty compacted today. The two bunker shots I had I played kind of like a chunky chip shots. However, they recent;y reshaped them and gave them proper lips and depth. They seem to be a work in progress but are playable.
Those greens... They are by far THE MOST well taken care of greens I've played on in the state this year. Every round I've played in the last two seasons there, they have been just perfect. My only complaint I can think of is that sometimes they leave them a little slow. However, the passed three rounds I've played there they've been quick.
Hole #6, Tee box. Fairly simple tee shot. From the whites 165 to the start of the water on the right. It tapers to the left. Pull your 170 club and aim left center to setup for your next shot in. The next shot is about distance control and stopping the ball. The green is WAY above the fairway. Huge false front, the back of the green is flat. Over in any direction is impossible to get up and down.
Layout:
It is much the typical North East course. Narrow fairways, lots of hills, lots of trees. For the most part you can leave the driver in the car here. The majority of the par 4's are short and all the par 5's are reachable in 2.. That doesn't mean it is easy though. Tee shots have to be carefully placed for your second shot. If you hit the wrong side of the fairway, there's a good chance you have to contend with trees guarding one side of the green. On top of that, there aren't a ton of flat lies, so it helps to try and aim for one. If your drives go astray, plan for lots of punch outs from low hanging trees; THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.
If you manage to be placed perfectly in the fairway, your next shot in though probably short could still be very tricky. There are a few false fronts as well as a lot of holes that are completely dead behind the green. With most greens here sloping back to front, staying just below the hole is a must. If you plan to play here, the greens can be tricky. With the hills and water, although some putts look to break one direction, they will almost always go to the valleys and water. On top of this, I'd advise to play half as much break as you'd expect. I have not a single clue why, but everyone that plays there the first couple times is caught off guard by this.
Hole #7, Tee box. Slight dog leg right. The fairway is well above the tee box. Anything left and you're in the new housing development OB. Straight toward the trees in the center of the picture you can drive through. You'll end up either behind trees, or on another green possibly. Either isn't very good. Too far right and it's a steep hard-pan hill down toward the previous hole's fairway, also not good. Ideal shot is a baby fade. A good drive will leave you with a tight 250 yard shot into a green with plenty of room to run it up.
They have been building houses along some of the holes that skirt the course. There are quite a few backyards that come into play now and severely choke off your tee shot. This is temporary though. There are plans to remove the back 9 completely and reconfigure the course with a brand new 9.
In all, I like the layout. You don't need to be a long hitter, just accurate and know your iron yardages perfectly. It's fairly walkable. The holes are close together, there are just a lot of hills. I prefer to walk it over ride it.
Hole #13, Tee Box. Interesting dog leg right par 4. I find it to be one of the more difficult holes here. From the whites you have a choice. Hit a straight/small fade about 200 yards just short of the creek on the right, or crank a really hard fade around the corner and over the creek. If it doesn't fade, there's water long as well that you will be in. The 200 yard shot will leave you another 200 yard shot to the center of the green. You have water left and OB right down that part of the fairway.
Clubhouse/Facilities/Amenities/Experience
The club house is basic. Two level, bar and restaurant up top with the tiny pro shop and snack bar below. It suits the purpose really. The new owner isn't sinking money into it right now as it will be torn down in the near future. With the new 9 or more holes being built, the clubhouse is being relocated and rebuilt. From my understanding it will be more of a country club feel with more amenities like a pool and halls.
The snack bar is alright. They have coupons available that make the prices reasonable. I've definitely had better food on the course but that's fine. I usually only eat on the course on weekends..
This course does NOT have a connected driving range unfortunately. 1 minute drive up the road there is Highland driving range which they manage as well now. They do however have a REALLY nice short game practice area,. There is one large putting green next to the 18th green and 1st tee as well as a chipping and putting green behind the parking lots. The chipping/pitching area offers multiple targets, plenty of rough and tight fairway lies all the way out to 40 yards. There is a practice bunker back there too. You have to bring your own balls though as they don't have any out.
Hole #14, Tee to corner. Another dog leg right. Just passed those trees left is water the length of the fairway. This is another layup hole as there's water out at 220 yards down the fairway. In the trees right is swampy so anything over there, there's a good chance it's unplayable. I like a 210 yard tee shot and leave a solid wedge in. It's all about placement again though.
Hole #14, Center fairway to green. It's a crappy picture, I know... My tee shot was fat, so I didn't quite make it as far down the corner as I wanted. I believe this was 160 yards out from the center of the green. The pin is directly centered in front of that bunker on the hill in the back. The green slopes toward the water in the front with a massive slope on the backside of the green. Depending where they cut the hole that day, you have to control your spin. If you land on the back slope, there's a good chance you'll spin right off the front of the green. Note: Those trees right are in play for my preferred draw. From here I was forced to hit a small fade.
There is a beer cart that goes around all the time. I've never not seen it out. She usually stops to ask me about 4 times per 18 holes.
Although I don't normally take a cart, they are just older model carts. They have an old Garmin golf GPS unit strapped to them. It isn't fancy but definitely gets the job done. It is dead on to their markers on the course and my Swing by Swing GPS app.
Hole #16, Teebox. It's a short Par 5, only 460 yards from the whites when I played this day. There are all new houses down the right which make this hole much more narrow. You can see a new fence on the right that juts out almost into the fairway. This is just temporary as this hole and many others are going away after October... A perfect drive will leave you an uphill, blind, narrow second shot into the green. You have overhanging trees to the left leading up to the green, and houses and bunker right of the green. I'm usually just short of that bunker far down in the picture. That leaves an impossible shot into the green, forcing me to layup about 60-80 yards short of the green. There's some pretty decent undulation, so you must be close to make birdie.
The staff is all friendly. They hook me up with a great rate for students which allows me to play a lot. They can almost always get you out last minute if you're trying to squeeze a round in. You have to be careful as they have leagues almost every night of the week, so the earlier you can get there the better. I've walked rounds in 2 hours flat and the other extreme of 5 hours... I'd say more often than not you're sub 4 hours for a round.
If you're in the area, definitely stop by and give it a play. You can find good prices on GolfNow, and their rates aren't bad anyway. They are very friendly to juniors and students unlike some courses, so I wouldn't hesitate to tell you to bring your kids/wife or whoever. Like I mentioned, they are going to be undergoing major renovations, so as of the end of October they're closed. They will be closed all of next season from what I hear so far.