Wintonbury Hills Golf Course

Let me start by saying I LOVE Wintonbury Hills. Me and my friends drive 2 hours to play this course and will in the future. That being said, the fairways were horrendous today. Absolutely terrible. Greens were terrific, tee boxes terrific, staff terrific. When I asked, I was told they hadn't had rain in 8 weeks. Sprinklers? I have played 30 rounds this summer and no courses were like what I saw today.

I thought I saw sprinkler heads but maybe there was drought restrictions. Whatever, I am sorry for the course. I am sure you will return to your glory and we will see you next year. I also must add what a previous review said about the GPS on the carts. We had to push a cart numerous times. No warning, just shutdown.

This is a fun golf course but man the conditions aren’t that great. For 50 bucks I’m hoping the fairways Are actually good. Greens are deceiving and really have either a lot of break or no break at all

Regulars who play think they own the course. Some are rude and indicating your pace Is too slow when it isn’t.

Paid 44 each x2 to play 18 and got there and they charged us an additional $60 for the cart

My reservation does not day walking! Rip off

Then at end could not use facilities to go to the bathroom at 6:30 they closed it

It took 4 of us to push the cart backwards up the hill because there was no one to come help us. Also paid and got to course and they said what we paid did not include the carts. I’m done playing there!!!

Very little friendliness from the staff unless they know you. Don't expect a Pete Dye golf course and you will probably enjoy it more.

Wintonbury Hills is a fantastic course. This Pete Dye design holds up beautifully. A challenging course with stunning views. We love to play here. Walking is a great workout too.

Fun layout, different from a lot of the typical New England courses in that it is more links style then anything else. Strong gusts all afternoon forced a lot of conservative approach shots. Course is not overly penalizing off the tee but it does test all facets of your game. Definitely would recommend playing it if you get an opportunity!

I had been at the coarse years ago & enjoyed it. This time was a different story.

It was a HOT day so we rented a cart. They have new carts with all the bells & whistles but on the first hole, the cart allowed us on the fairway, but then it said you were in a restricted area...so it shut down. Putting it into reverse was slower than a turtle in quicksand. Very frustrating.

It only allowed cart path. Walking from cart path to the ball in the heat, guessing your distance from the cart path - took all the fun out of the game.

There was a single player we let through on the front 9. On the back 9 - we caught up. He said there was a foursome not offering to let him through. From there we had to wait at every hole.

Pace of play was horrific. No ranger to move golfers.

Looked as if too many tee times were sold to pack the course.

Highly recommended. Par 70 6300 yards from the green tees. Nice layout w/ a good variety of holes, Course is in good condition after a dry, hot summer. Greens have a good bit of undulation making for tricky reads & few straight putts. Fairways are generous, lined by either fescue or trees. Nits - Bunkers were in pretty tough condition due to no rakes & players not smoothing foot prints, a couple of pin locations had been overused creating many pitch marks near the pins.

The course is a combination of a links course and a mountain course. Conditions were good and greens relatively fast. ( I play mostly private clubs so my standards may be biased) pace of play was good. The controlled golf carts that at limited You to the fairways were somewhat annoying. Overall it was an enjoyable golf experience.

I had played this course a few years ago & enjoyed it. But today was a different story.

Everyone who wants a cart pays $15. At first I was impressed with the new carts they had. That was until I got on the golf course. It was a hot day & on the first hole, a par 4, the monitor said cart path only.

The week before at a different course it rained so that made sense, but on a sunny day having to walk across the fairway with your clubs made it frustrating. .

A couple times I tested it & either it wouldn’t tell you until you tried to leave or it shutdown going there. At which point you had to put it in reverse, or the cart shut down Entirely (twice on me) & it didn’t function either way.

For the two of us it made our round of golf un enjoyable.

Wintonbury Hills definitely a top course in Connecticut. Unfortunately cannot say the same for the staff in the Pro Shop. Dismissive and unprofessional. Course was in good shape considering the heat of this summer. Greens were more receptive then than in previous seasons.

Despite the excellent course conditions, I had been backed up since the second hole. The waiting continued til the 18th hole. At the 5th hole, 4 groups were waiting for their tee off. A marshal needs to patrol to keep up the pace of play.

Course was extremely dry which is to be expected. Layout is great but what shocked me was the staff in the clubhouse. Guy running the shop was a complete grump, never even told me how much the round was. Just swiped the card and sent me on my way. Me and my brother checked our statements and the guy charged us each 25 dollars to share a cart which is INSANE. 25 dollars for a cart is fine. But 50.....can play a round elsewhere for that kind of money. Overall disappointing experience

I played this course today for the first time. I had really high hopes. After a 2 hour drive to get there, I was excited to play. Nice course, but no way this course should be #1 on GolfWeek. Oxford Greens, which is the only other CT course I've played, is much nicer and much more challenging. So by default, this would be #2 for me. I need to play some other courses in CT, and plan to this season.

Pros:

Tees were in fantastic shape.

Greens were in fantastic shape. Fast and true.

Fairways were firm, which I like. But see my Cons below as well

Cons:

Fairways. They were burned out and dry.

Rough was also burned out and dry. You could hear it crackling under your feet.

Kind of a boring layout. Wasn't much of a challenge to be honest.

I think part of the issue with me not placing this course on such a high level would be the fact that the course was one of the driest courses I've ever played. We haven't had any rain recently, so I imagine it's tougher to play when the grass isn't dead. I'd like to play it again when it's lush and green. Photos on this site and other sites don't really show what the course looks like in its current condition. So perhaps this rating could go higher in the future, but since I live 2 hours away, I can 't imagine getting there anytime soon. Next time I go there, it would have to be during a time when we have sufficient rain to make this course green.

Great time none the less. But next time I would cut my drive in half and hit up Oxford Greens. Or, Drive the same distance and check out some place else like Fox Hopyard or Gilette Ridge.

Pros

- Pete Dye design

- Lots of holes are forgiving if tee shots aren't great.

- Some blind shots make up for a bit of a challenge.

- Greens are quite good with lots of sloping.

- Staff is very friendly

- Pace of play was right on point at 4 hours

Cons

- This probably was because of the time I played, but the fairways where rather dry.

- Because of the driy fairways the bounces were crazy at times.

- Greens rolled well but speed was inconsistent.

Overall, I would come back when conditions are top notch, it has been a dry summer so I completely understand why the course was playing the way it was. Layout is wide and open and not the most difficult course I played.