Gillette Ridge

I reserved as a single for $35+ and was told that morning before I traveled 45 minutes that 3 others would be joining me. Having arrived 30 minutes early for a 10:20AM tee time, I headed to the range and was told that the other 3 were not there, but would meet me there. About 10:10AM, 3 men came to the range and hit balls and I asked if they were the 10:20AM tee time which they said "no". Wondering if my threesome showed, the pro shop said that the were in fact my group. I went to the 1st tee and they declined to let me join them in a matter of fact way. I again went back to the pro shop and waited until a twosome checked in (which only paid $30) so I would have some one to play with. All worked out in the end. My impressions were that having played this course over the last 5 years, it has gone down hill dramatically.. No starter, few people playing the course, tee markers were off to the side instead of set up, the tee boxes were in sad shape and overall, I had the feeling that the course was really hurting. Someone will have to step up to the plate and buy this facility or I see it going under in the near future. It's sad because 75% of the holes are challenging and require some great shot shaping.

This course is really fun. A couple par fives are reachable in 2 and there is one par 4 reachable with a drive. This course is challenging though with narrow fairways on some holes. Overall great course.

Beautiful track but conditions need work - greens bumpy and traps not kept up too well

This course was excellent a few years ago. Fairways have divots everywhere. Greens were in poor shape wit lots of ball marks. In need of some serious maintenance.

Turf in great shape. Greens on the slow side but we have had some rain lately.

Course condition is way down from treats past. Pace of play was very slow, pickled up at 10 as many people left because they weren't going to get done on time.

Not even worth the $35 special I paid for it. The fairways aren't bad, but the greens are terrible. Way too many dead spots which does not allow good rolls for putting. If you are going to play in Bloomfield, then pay the $80 and play Wintonbury Hills instead. It's worth the extra money to play at a quality course.

I was looking forward to playing my first Palmer layout and impressing my buddy who was hosting my family and I for the weekend. The first clue of something amiss was all the broken carts in the abandoned tennis courts... not a good first impression. It wasn't all downhill, the starter was nice and so was the guy in the clubhouse.

The course made us think with all the blind shots and beautiful vistas but the greens were just too frustrating. They were in terrible shape: dead spots like a dalmatian, unrepaired pitch marks, aeration still visible, and the ball just wouldn't stay on a line. The fairways weren't much better: everybody is laying up to 100-120 and it was all chopped up. Drainage seems to be an issue too because there were soggy spots in a lot of areas.

The public courses I play in NYC might not have the pedigree or fancy layout but the greens and fairways are in better shape for far less money.

Course is still a nice layout, challenging but playable for ant handicap. Plenty of everything ( water, canyon bunkers, nasty rough, etc.) course needs some work but mostly from the lack of care of patrons, ball marks on greens, divots and clumps everywhere. This is still a local course that just more tlc. Worth the golf now price.

Played with friends who have played this course many times in the past and while I thought the course was in good to very good condition they said it was not being kept as well as prior years. Overall I enjoyed the day and would play this course again.

Layout is very attractive but condition not good. Traps in bad shape - no sand. Greens in trouble. Must have been a great course at one time. Decent value. Need to play a couple times to know where the trouble is.

The course has matured well since opening. The course condition is good. Bunkers still need work, but playable. I enjoy a tough course, it makes you think. It's a tough track for an average golfer. We had a great deal to play and I think that they should run specials to get more revenue to bring the course condition to great. Get away from the high end course fess and get the people playing some golf.

pace of play was great. the fairways were in nice condition. the greens were a little spotty in places but rolled good. the traps were hard with alot of stones. over all alot of fun and well worth it if you can get a good price. bring extra balls, alot of target golf.

I consider this course of nearly PGA-level difficulty but - in spite of my rustiness - I still enjoy playing there (although I lose a lot of balls) at least once a season because of the beauty and creativity of the layout.
Don't get down on yourself if your score is higher here than elsewhere. Just enjoy the surroundings and go safe and you'll have a great time.
You'll do better the second time around, of course, if you make notes on the obstacles (such as the nasty weed fields in front of four or so greens) on each hole - this kind of thing is almost necessary if you plan on going back, because success here depends upon strategy and effective strategy depends upon a thorough knowledge of the layout. (You can't see where you're driving to on many of the tee boxes and you need to plan carefully where to hit your ball, on each shot, here or you might pay the price.)
One other plus of playing here: you can usually get a great price on golfnow and this is really one of the best courses in CT.

This course used to be a decent (but overpriced) course. Now it's in horrible shape and definetaly overpriced. Greens are pitted dead grass everywhere. Worst sand traps I've ever seen. Very unkept mowing. Most likely will not be returning.

We played here last year and it was great. I was really disappointed when we check in at the pro-shop when he told us to get our cart and head out to hole one cause there no starter today. We did what he told us to do. When we got to the tee box on hole number one there three group ahead of us, two double and one single. I was nice enought to ask the single to join us, he decline and said I'm gonna hit two ballsToday was really bad for Gillette ridge, because people can't appreciate the game of golf. Every hole there were two group at the tee box waiting for a single person to tee off. Saturday was the worse day of golf and I been golfing for six yearsWe wasted 5 hrs of a beautiful Saturday. It was so bad that we had to leave after the 13th hole. The green use to be great, every green have so much brown spot and the bunker around the green actually all the bunkers need a truck load of sand for each bunker, because there no sand in it. We spend all that money for what, my friend and I will never play here again. I hope they just had a bad weekend. With the kind of money they charge to lay, they should have a starter and a back up starter just in case one take a day off for the holiday. Have a back up plann, think about your customer, time of play should be 31/2 to. 4 hrs. Unhappy golfer!!!

Greens and tee boxes were in terrible shape. My friend played here years ago and said it was great, however he agreed that the conditon of the course were terrible this time. Course need a lot of TLC....Great layout though...

This is a challenging course. Unfortunately there is some dead grass on the greens and very little sand in the traps. I don't know why they cant fix these two problems.

My foursome was very excited to play here, hearing how nice the course was. The people who are running this course has sent this course to trash. The course was in AWFUL shape the tee boxes were barely cut. All the bunkers barely had sand in them and some even caving in. Our group just decided to take the ball out if we got in the sand. The bunkers even had broken rakes in them. The course had garbage everywhere. If you live around here or are stopping by this state and are around this area drive a little farther and go to wintonbury hills golf course more money but course is in way better shape. This course has a lot of work to do to get those standards!

greens were great but subtle breaks to drive you mad. This course requires that you hit it solid and straight all of the time or get punished. Very difficult for a senior with 200 yard driving distance from the whites.....multiple forced carries on drives and approach shots. Having senior tees would have saved me four or five shots because I had 180 yard or longer second shots to greens with hazards in play around and often in front of the greens. I love the design, but it really is too hard for me. Even the low handicappers need to have at least six balls in their bag before they tee off.