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Gillette Ridge
Rating Snapshot
About
Gillette Ridge Golf Club in Bloomfield, just outside of Hartford, is an Arnold Palmer Signature course. It is one of the toughest rounds in all of New England. The course sprawls across a beautiful landscape covered with natural wetlands and forests of towering maples, oaks, and elm trees. There are strategically placed bunkers in addition to the natural challenges but they are not excessive. The wetlands come into play on almost half of the holes at Gillette Ridge Golf Club. The approaches to the greens are seemingly intimidating but as long as you don't hit short there is always bailout area on one side. Since each hole presents a unique challenge, there is not just one signature hole, but one of the most memorable holes is the par-5 second, a true risk-reward test that requires both length and accuracy.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 72 | 7191 yards | 74.5 | 140 |
| Blue | 72 | 6569 yards | 72.1 | 135 |
| White | 72 | 5695 yards | 69.3 | 128 |
| Green | 72 | 4847 yards | 73.7 | 138 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 74.5/140 | 426 | 505 | 431 | 182 | 364 | 387 | 612 | 187 | 447 | 3541 | 430 | 214 | 609 | 294 | 430 | 187 | 431 | 577 | 478 | 3650 | 7191 |
| Blue M: 71.3/133 | 379 | 500 | 380 | 168 | 325 | 359 | 556 | 159 | 424 | 3250 | 407 | 186 | 567 | 273 | 397 | 173 | 409 | 502 | 405 | 3319 | 6569 |
| Blue/White M: 68.9/128 | 311 | 500 | 299 | 148 | 325 | 359 | 481 | 146 | 389 | 2958 | 407 | 136 | 567 | 273 | 326 | 147 | 383 | 502 | 348 | 3089 | 6047 |
| White M: 67.3/123 W: 74.6/138 | 311 | 480 | 299 | 148 | 283 | 316 | 481 | 146 | 389 | 2853 | 306 | 136 | 474 | 242 | 326 | 147 | 383 | 480 | 348 | 2842 | 5695 |
| Green M: 63.5/113 W: 69.8/130 | 298 | 404 | 241 | 117 | 254 | 253 | 426 | 123 | 338 | 2454 | 234 | 119 | 394 | 215 | 225 | 124 | 345 | 436 | 301 | 2393 | 4847 |
| Handicap | 16 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Grill, RestaurantAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Banquet Facilities, Locker Rooms
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
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I just want to play Photo submitted by Jamesbrianlow on 10/27/2025
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Golf is life Photo submitted by Jamesbrianlow on 10/27/2025
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Photo submitted by u000005787699 on 08/23/2023
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Photo submitted by u000005787699 on 08/23/2023
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Photo submitted by u1732467322 on 05/12/2023
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The sixth, 173, 3-par: The long slender green, obliquely set to the tee, is a common feature at Gillette. Photo submitted by AptlyLinked on 08/28/2021
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The ninth green: par 4, 405, but the blues were set at 440 today. A murderously tough golf hole. Photo submitted by AptlyLinked on 08/28/2021
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Eleven: par 5, 500. Another strong driving hole, with the Heublein Tower as part of the backdrop. Photo submitted by AptlyLinked on 08/28/2021
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Eleven again, at its well-defended green. My playing partners prepare to putt. Photo submitted by AptlyLinked on 08/28/2021
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16: One of my playing partners, a scratch golfer and club member, praised the quality of the three finishing holes; this is the first of them. Photo submitted by AptlyLinked on 08/28/2021
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The 424-yard 18th, a sound tee-to-green test, finishes the exam well. Photo submitted by AptlyLinked on 08/28/2021
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Photo submitted by Mldtina1 on 05/31/2021
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Photo submitted by u000008034144 on 11/10/2020
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Photo submitted by psppete on 10/21/2020
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Photo submitted by psppete on 10/21/2020
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Photo submitted by psppete on 10/21/2020
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Photo submitted by u241990994 on 07/29/2019
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Gillette Ridge Golf Club, hole 3 (former 12) Photo submitted by TimGavrichGP on 07/13/2018
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Gillette Ridge Golf Club, hole 14 (former 5) Photo submitted by TimGavrichGP on 07/13/2018
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A welcome sight: kids and locals of all ages pack the range at Gillette Ridge on a June Tuesday evening. Photo submitted by TimGavrichGP on 07/13/2018
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Gillette Ridge's drivable par-4 13th is an excellent hole. Photo submitted by TimGavrichGP on 11/08/2017
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The 16th green at Gillette Ridge shows the course is consciously shrinking the putting surfaces, presumably for ease of maintenance. I wish they wouldn't do this - it makes an already hard course even tougher and will slow pace of play. Photo submitted by TimGavrichGP on 11/08/2017
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The quirky 17th green at Gillette Ridge juts out over a stone bridge. Photo submitted by TimGavrichGP on 11/08/2017
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Gillette Ridge's closing hole is a fair but seriously tough long par four. Photo submitted by TimGavrichGP on 11/08/2017
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Photo submitted by Bullguy on 09/01/2017
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"Really"? Photo submitted by jfeliciano103 on 06/11/2014
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Photo submitted by u000005387859 on 04/30/2013
Local knowledge a must here
Played after over 1" of rain previous night. Course was in good not great condition, fairways were in good shape, bunkers had been raked by grounds crew & in good shape, greens were a bit slow, rough was in pretty poor condition - thin & dry on several holes, cut short. This created problems in places where the rough should prevent the ball from running into a hazard, not today!
Course layout features several well designed & challenging holes along with a couple of head scratchers. Local knowledge is important for a few blind shots & knowing yardages as course was poorly marked. Frustrating to hit the ball dead center w less than driver, have it catch a slope or run through the fairway, through the rough, and into a hazard. (3x - 8,12,14)
GPS has 9s reversed.
Pace of play was just ok, 4 hrs for 18.
Improved from years ago.
I first started playing this course several years ago and it was in bad shape do to ownership change. Now it is pristine. Great job to the new management.
Maintaining
Course was in bad shape grass and especially the greens divots horrible shape
Fun course - challenging layout
Course was in solid shape for May. Greens were a little longer than expected but still enjoyable to play on. Pace of play was tough but that was due to the poor play of two groups in front of us so nothing to knock the course on. Great deal with the hot deal listing.
A joke
I get that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but this might be one of the few golf courses in CT that isn’t open. I call 15 different courses in a 30 mile radius and not a single one has an available tee time yet Gillette ridge isn’t even open. Beyond that there is no explanation for it. This course is always sold out of tee times and they aren’t even open. It is usually one of my favorite courses to play but through these challenging times this course and management is showing it’s real teeth on how it feels about it’s customers. On top of that good luck playing this course on a mid summer day. I hope you like 6 hour rounds. Oh by the way don’t bother calling the pro shop to let them know about the pace of play because no one is going to come and ever try to fix that. Bring your own cooler of beverages maybe that’ll make up for the excruciating pace of play.
Pretty Good
Played March 18, nice weather, decent conditions for time of year. The blue tees are pretty difficult , bring your 'A'' game.
Columbus Day Golf
The course was in great shape and the fall foliage was prime time. A short delay in teeing off due to a back-up on the 1st hole was nothing out of the ordinary but the 3 hours it took to play the front 9 was awful. Not once did we see a ranger and we decided to leave after seeing how long it would take to play the 10th and that the speed of play wasn't going to improve. Played with 2 other golfers I did not know, one left before my partner and I decided to leave and the 4th left as well.
Not sure if the course is too hard for some or if the golfers ahead were to blame for playing from the wrong tees, slow play or over-booked course?? Again, no ranger was in sight so it's hard to determine what the issue was. I admit is was a holiday but a 6 hour projected round is unreasonable.
Bad staff, slow play
I got a 4 some on golf now, unfortunately had 2 late cancellations, was looking to just acquire a rain check for the 2 for a later date, I was greeted extremely poorly from the staff who could care less and made me eat the other 2 players fees. Tee times are too close together, never played in less than 5 hours. Good course, bad everything else.
Layout iffy, rest of experience great.
Pros: Super friendly staff, course is well-manicured, pace of play was fantastic.
There's really only one con. The layout is not really fun. Too many forced layups, random doglegs, impossible shots. #9 is a great example. We both hit great drives from the blue tees. Over 250+ yards and in the fairway. And are still left with 220, over water. On a par 4.
If you're a really long hitter, this course is probably great. We're not slouches, either. Low-to-mid teens handicaps, depending on the day.
That said, again, the staff were very welcoming, the conditions were wonderful for October, and I love that there are several pace of play reminder clocks on the course. Those should be on every course.
Great day for 18
Enjoyed the course and staff
No starter or ranger and since many groups were on the course,some players hit on too soon and distracted our play
Seaview Stay & Play Golf Package
i live close to the course and had wondered why they werent open too. ii was told that because the course is on property owned by Cigna that they did not want the course open when cigna and the other financial services comapny that is on the property were not open, so it may not have been the preference of the course itself to remain closed.