Gillette Ridge

I have not played this course in a couple of years until yesterday. The course is in Phenom. Condition! The Fairways are like hitting off of carpets the undulating greens roll true. The primary and secondary cuts of rough are cut to specification.This course has it all: well positioned bunkers and water hazards force you to be strategic with your shots and the landscape is kept up beautifully. If you want the feel of playing on a PGA course, this is it!

I was coming in from a lot of traffic out of town w a golf now hot deal and was set to miss my time. With zero issues or questions they were able to switch my time. Really appreciated their level of customer service.

Played this course a couple year's ago. It was in very poor condition. A friend told me that the new owners had put it back into great shape. I gave it a try and wholeheartedly agree. It was in beautiful condition. Friendly staff from Pro shop experience to Starters and on course personnel.

Great price for a excellent golf course.

The new management team has done a outstanding job with this course. I truly enjoyed playing the course, which is something I couldn't say 3 years ago.

The course was in great condition a couple holes were pretty challenging would love to go there again

Gillette Ridge is getting better and better since new management took over in 2016. I began playing this course five years ago and the current conditions are the best I’ve seen.

With normal spring rains this year, courses in CT are coming back after 2 years of drought conditions and Gillette Ridge has definitely benefited from the extra water. The fairways were lush and the greens smooth and true. The grass around many of the tee boxes and secondary cut near the greens were so soft I felt like taking my shoes off just to feel how smooth they were. Many thanks to the course superintendent and the worker-bees.

Rates are reasonable and greens fees include a cart. Although the course is walkable, on many holes there are some very long distances from the green to the next tee box so taking that cart may be a sensible choice.

I find Gillette Ridge a challenging course where course management and course knowledge is critical especially those holes with water or carries over waste areas. Knowing when to or where to lay-up can help avoid high scores. The par 4 sixteenth is especially difficult for the average golfer due to a waste area across the fairway about 130 yards from an elevated green that is protected by 2 bunkers in front of the green. Even with a great drive, your second shot must be a just as good to clear the waste area and land on the green. I’ve resigned myself to a layup here and consider a bogie equal to a par on this demanding hole.

Severe brush cutting in many waste areas has taken the fear factor out of these holes. The short, par four 5th hole is an example. The gully in front of the green has been clear-cut so losing a ball here may actually be found unless it lands in the brook, that is.

To sum things up; I found the rates very reasonable. It's a challenging course and in great condition, but it requires some course know-how and shot selection to make you round less frustrating.

None of the tee boxes except 10 was groomed and all the putting greens had weeds in them

Great course and layout this course is a great challenge

This past Monday I played this course with a friend of mine. The weather was sunny and cool. We both found the course and surroundings to be quite attractive and very challenging.. We are above average golfers who, though we found some holes to be difficult, thoroughly enjoyed our experience playing this venue. We didn't expect the course to be in perfect shape as we played in late Fall. The greens had been aerated, sanded and fertilized. Still they putted true-- just a little on the slow side. However, this did not affect our overall impression of the course. It was a very satisfying round.

A very good long and challenging course with large greens many of which have either steep drop-offs, approach bunkers or water. There's enough fairway to keep the ball in play but just enough woods/tall grass to keep easily keep you out of play. The course is coming back after a couple year dormant - the back-9 is in much better shape than the front, but I think it's only because the back-9 has been open longer since the course reopen. A must play in my opinion.

Course was outstanding! Conditions tee to green, were impeccable. All the greens were smooth, fast and rolled true. Bunkers are edged, trimmed and raked well.

The course is back to its previous high standard of conditions. It had been run poorly, but now under new management it is a restored gem.

Definitely get out and play it!

Course is in very good shape...Enjoyed it very much..bring plenty of balls if your irons are not accurate to the greens...Plenty of bunkers and are in great shape..I'll be back :)

Where do I begin? Let's start with the staff. From the moment you roll up to the course there is someone there to greet you, take your bag, set up a cart and get you on your way. The Pro Shop staff is top notch and their resident PGA Pro, Lucas Hitchcock, is the guy you want to take a lesson from. The GM, Frank Ruffalo, will stop you to shake your hand and make sure your visit is the best it can be. The restaurant has a killer menu, great food and fantastic staff. This is how the front end should be. As for the course.....vast improvement from the goat farm it had become. With every passing day there are small but noticeable improvements to the fairways, greens, cart paths, bunkers and even the rough. They are DUMPING money into making this a top notch club that is challenging, playable and pretty nice to look at scenery wise. Check the place out. You'll be very surprised at what it has to offer. I have played it at least a dozen times since July and will continue as long as I have the ability to swing a club. Good work to all of you and thanks for giving me a place to call my club.

Tees fairways and greens in very good shape. Some rough spots off the fairway.

Some holes have wrong distance on tee markers. Look forward to playing again

Very solid. Tough sectioned off greens with small sections. Played with two regulars who helped me navigate. Which was helpful. Not too many drivers off the tee but I felt like the tees were up a box almost every hole. Played Blue (6700) but played more like (6300).

Not for the feint of heart with a bunch of forced carries off tees and approaches.

Good challenge but not over the top difficult.

I know this course quite well, I even used to work maintenance here back during it's second year in existence. The few reviews since the re-opening seem to be mixed, but here is what I saw. The most important thing is the greens and I found them to be in excellent condition for speed and quality of roll, very pleased there. Also as has been pointed out, the bunkers are completely filled with sand for the first time ever! For now, there is probably a little too much in there, but by next season they should be great. Fairways were fine is most areas, and the tees were where I noticed the most bare spots, but that is not a huge issue. The tees were in bad need of a cut though, almost bordering on rough length in spots. I'm wondering how much longer conditions will stay good if they don't have enough staff to mow the tees. My main complaint, and it is a big one, is that for some reason, and i'd love to hear a logical explanation for this, because there can't possibly be one. They have taken a course that was designed to solve a problem with today's golf game in that there are often not enough teeing options for all levels of play and actually made less choice for everyone. The course was designed with 5 sets of tees in mind, the scorecard has 5 sets of tees on it. How many will you find when you get out to the course? 4!!! Just unbelievable in my view. And since they seem to have made new signs with 4 on them, I don't think this is just a temporary problem. I mean really, how hard is it to put another set of tee markers out there? Now it seems that the white course is a hybrid of the old white/senior tee and shorter than most people will want to play, while the blue is likely gonna be more difficult than most people want. I really don't get it. And seniors? Well I guess you're on the ladies tee now! So for that stupidity I am taking two stars off and I hope they reconsider their mistake. Besides that though, I paid 30 for a weekday afternoon here which is an excellent value for this quality of a course. I would definitely recommend giving them another shot. Maybe just make your own set of tees, all the original yardage markers are there and the scorecard is the same!

I thought after 18 months closed the course would be prestine not what we found good but not great