Foster Country Club

Foster is a pretty course out in the country. The fall foliage was beautiful. The course was a little wet from a rain storm from the night before, however the leaves were beautiful and well managed on the course.

Some holes were tough to play because of casual water in the fairways, however from playing the course before, I was aware this happens to this course in low lying areas.

I have played this course off & on since I was a kid, I am now 63. The layout at Foster makes you think. On a number of holes, put away the driver and think! My title says it all.

Course was in excellent condition from the last time I had played it. Greens were in excellent shape as well as fairways. Tee box’s were okay but hey I mean it is fall golf! Overall great course.

Nice course with reasonable obstacles and challenges. Enjoyable round of golf. Back 9 is a little daunting with doglegs through narrow openings through the woods. The 15th hole requires a precise and long tee shot over water, between trees, to reach the dogleg and have a shot at the green. These few holes are a challenge.

The greens were in fantastic shape. Fairways were pretty decent. Some holes require local knowledge or at least a drive up to see everything.

Staff is friendly, greens were in good shape, fairways were firm. Nice layout, got a really good price on Golfnow.

Would recommend playing this course.

I came as a single ,and the other golfer were late.

This caused us to start much later, and the golf course was having a member tournament .the first 9 holes took

3 1/2 hours to complete,I was unable to finish due to time constraights.

Foster Country Club is a fascinating and excellent hybrid, giving us the look of a parkland course, but also a terrain that integrates Scottish links characteristics. Geoffrey Cornish, who designed this course in in 1959, created a layout that may seem quaint to some today, but most will find that it has stood well the test of time. Cornish fashioned 18 holes that still engender more than enough playability and challenge to satisfy good golfers and even experts—the course rating is 70.7 against par of 72.

Evident on twelve of these eighteen holes are sizeable elevation changes, and they, along with the ground movements here, brought to mind a hilly Scottish seaside course I played last summer. This is not to say that you’ll take one look and feel transported to Scotland, because it doesn’t ‘look’ largely like a links: there are scattered woods on the front, and the inward nine is a pleasant trek through them.

Yet I don’t think this links-similarity is at all an accident, because Cornish fully believed that “the original natural links of Scotland, especially St. Andrews, form the foundation for the practice of golf course architecture today” (from his book “The Golf Course,” 1988).

What sets Foster CC apart, then, are its many links-like course elements. Scrubby, wasteland areas resemble gorse and supply the same bitter outcomes for wayward shots. Natural land contours are highlighted and the terrain heaves and rolls on many holes. Meandering streams resemble British burns, and the greens—carefully sited—often meld into the terrain rather than looking like artificial entities. Still, Foster retains several features characteristic of ideal parkland layouts: there is an abundance of trees and sizeable hills; you’ll find pretty vistas in a rural setting, along with a quartet of ponds. The water, however, is more ornamental than problematic; there are no big, forced carries.

It’s hard not to like this set-up, particularly because the course also sports a bevy of exciting—though sometimes destructive—holes. One example is the tenth. It was my favorite here and is among the best I’ve played over the past year. Its links vibe is clear: the fairway, playing fast but fairly wide, climbs slightly uphill until it sweeps even more dramatically upwards prior to the green—it’s as if you’re playing over a monstrous but truncated dune. Then it plunges steeply and directly down to the green, dropping steeply yet again behind it. It may perhaps leave you will a mind-bogglingly tough recovery shot from its rear grass-bunker (had your iron shot into this green been long). From the fairway, the approach is utterly blind to the tenth, a feature that should please those who just can’t have enough rigor in their golf courses.

Foster has two exacting front-side holes: one is the third, a 237-yard uphill par-3, demanding a vigorous, laser-like approach if you hope to even sniff a par; the other is the sixth, an uphill, 396-yard monster of a par-four, demanding a precise approach if you hope to hit its tri-lobed, plateau green (avoid, at all costs, the massive left-side falloff). A third toughie, the somewhat slender dogleg at number two, serves up a fairway with trouble on both sides, including OB left on at the bottom of a big downslope. A fourth, the tight 535-yard par-five eighth, doglegs left and, with its ever-narrowing line of trees, tightens considerably on the second shot. These four holes are the equalizers—all potential card-wreckers. They are offset by the rest, which are more kindly, supplying more room to maneuver.

In places, the back nine is no less punishing, but each of the holes has character. After the aforementioned 10th, the eleventh, though short, will hammer long approaches with its fiendish rear-side downslope, and the sloping green here is a tough two-putt. Twelve is a strategic dogleg-left par-five that tempts you to bite off as much as you can chew, though its in-play tree on the left side can strangle overly aggressive tee shots. The hole is exceptionally tight, as well, on layup shots. Thirteen is of mid-length but still beastly: heavily wood-lined, it runs slightly uphill from the tee, then more drastically on the approach to its tilted green. Driver off the tee is likely not the best choice here for most, as a sizeable waste area that crosses this fairway will gulp down misjudged shots. Fifteen a slightly awkward dogleg-left that will again tempt you to cut its corner, but it may be more prudent to play for the fairway’s middle, then hit a safe wedge from 100 yards. Why? You’ll need a predictable, go-to shot to hit an insanely pitched green set upon a small but robust hill. Another short par-4, sixteen features a high plateau green that summarily rejects all rightward hit approaches. The two closing holes have been critiqued by some as a bit dull, but I found them inspiring enough: both long and with slightly elevated greens, and the 18th a two-tier complex. Surely, these are excellent par-threes. One fairly stunning feature of this back nine that seems a bit overlooked is its total lack of bunkers. Yet it doesn’t seem to need a single one; the challenge is perfectly sufficient, and the greenside slopes and falloffs, hills, swales, ridges, humps are what carry the day.

The one weakness I can find here is the firm-packed nature of some of the greens. One example: On the 13th I hit a high six iron onto the front-third of the putting surface, only to find that the ball did not hold a green that moves uphill (!) from front to back. The green surfaces themselves, though, are beautifully smooth, true-rolling, and fast, among the best I’ve seen all year. The rest of the course maintains above-average conditions. Both clubhouse and pro shop environments were pleasant, and here all personnel were more than gracious, friendly and polite. Pace of play, though, was slow: 4 and ½ hours for eighteen.

All in all, Foster presents a solid test of golf, and it is no easy matter to score well on this back nine. Add to this an air of real hospitality and the relaxing aura of the Rhode Island countryside, and you should be in for an enjoyable day of golf.

Had fun, great course. Harder then its rating for sure.

The only complaint on this course is the always slow pace of play. Good course otherwise. Fairly open landing spots. Good greens that roll true. Always kept in a good shape. Food in Tavern 19 is exceptional. Played here numerous times and will continue to go back

For the second time, I was told by the course that they did not have me on a tee time and I had to produce my confirmation. They told me another person had the time from golf now. They told me they have a problem with your co overbooking times and that I was the third person whose time was for another person from golf now. This happened to me last year when I played this course.

Front 11 typical New England farmland style course, but from 12-15 a wild ride through the hills and woods of western Rhode Island. Great for all skill levels, and will be back a few more times this season. 1 hour drive from Worcester, easy to find and well worth the trip.

We played 18 holes. The front 9 was a bit slow playing. The greens and next tee boxes were rather close for my liking. I don’t think I’ve ever played on a course where I heard “four” being yelled that often. The back nine was a bit more spread out and challenging. The staff was super friendly. We had lunch at the clubhouse after our round and the food & beer was excellent.

Slow play initially...tough course if you don't know the layout. Sometimes hitting over hills and around bends unable to see what you're shooting for. Greens and aprons well maintained.