Wintonbury Hills Golf Course

I participated in a golf competition at Wintonbury Hills. I played a practice round (on a Friday) and a competitive round (on a Saturday).

Bottom line first - I really liked the course layout and the condition of the course was excellent. Unless you have a terrible hook or slice you will not have trouble off the tee. The fairways are a challenge because you don't have many even lies (e.g., ball below your feet, ball above your feet). The real challenge is on the greens. The speed was what I expected but there are plenty of interesting breaks (with two tier greens, or bumps and swales protecting the greens).

They do have a few environmentally protected areas but again, you will only notice them if you have a bad slice or hook. One other thing, you need to hit a lot of shots aiming left off the tee because many fairways roll left to right.

Warm up/Practice Facilities - the only real down side is that the driving range is down the road and you must take your car. So you buy a token in the Pro Shop and drive to the range and then drive back to the course. At the course, behind the Pro Shop is a very nice practice putting green. You are allowed to chip on the green and they even have a few bunkers on the side of the practice green.

Don't let the policy of not driving in the rough turn you off from this course, it is very easy to ride in and out of the fairway (and ride down the fairway). The carts do slow and increase in speed automatically (e.g., when in the parking lot the carts go slow or going down a steep hill on the cart path) so just go with flow.

Pace of Play is great on the front nine but slows on the back nine. We still finished in 4 and 1/2 hours but any time you wait it feels slow. In my opinion the pace issue on the back is for two reasons (1) the back nine is a bit tougher and (2) I saw them putting groups off on the 10th tee when we were teeing off the 1st tee.

Staff and facilities: The staff was friendly and the starter did a great job providing instructions and giving tips. If you like yardage books, they do offer them for sale. The grill is nice and the food was decent. As with most Pro Shops not a lot of variety for women golfers.

Overall, I really enjoyed both days that I played this course.

I enjoy warming-up prior to my rounds, if I have the time. That is somewhat challenging at Wintonbury as the range is 1/4 mile from the clubhouse and you need to get your personal vehicle to get there. It's also mats only, and only offers 8-10 spots. The mats are nice however.

After that, the place is great. There are some similar holes, (1 & 10, 2& 11, 3 & 12, 4 & 13), but there is also a great mix of wide-open and tree-lined holes offering nice variety. The most difficult holes are definitely holes 14 & 15 with tight drives required and precise approach shots needed.

The greens are very challenging. Very undulating, quick, and difficult to read. There are also some challenging pin placements. The conditions of the course is great and it's a very enjoyable play for all skill levels. I've been multiple times and will continue to go, as it's a great option for anyone in the central CT/Hartford region.

Finished 9 holes in less than 1.5 hrs.

Golf cart GPS held us hostage for the first 3 or 4

holes...

Make sure to get a briefing @ check-in if new to the

course.

There was one considerate (out of 4) individual behind us who re-set the cart disable feature when

we drove in the rough

The others (members presumably) made mean

comments.

The front 9 was in good shape considering the dry weather.

If you ever wonder what it's like to play a pga course then wintonbury hills is the perfect test. The only Pete Dye course in the lower part of New England is a must play. The greens are fast and tricky. The fairways slope and run. You have to think about where you hit it because you place it right you get rewarded. If you miss then your misses can be really bad. That is what Pete dye courses do. They challenge your skills not like other courses

This is well worth the drive and the price. I've enjoyed every round I have played at this course. It is expensive even with a Hot Deal though. That said if you want to splurge to get a top of the line experience in CT, this is where you go. I suggest using your rewards on this to get the price down.

Greens and overall course in great condition. Pace of play was great. Make sure you go out ahead of the league play.

The lay out requires distance and accuracy. Greens are fast but consistent. Staff is very friendly and accommodating. Nice putting green but driving range is a bit of a hike. The back nine played slower and gets backed up as groups stop to grab lunch to go before going to the 10th tee.

Course was in great shape for a March tee time.

I will surely return.

My partner and I live an hour away on the shoreline and we usually play here once or twice a year. For us the price has a lot to do with our round. We paid a GolfNow price of $49 for April and November rounds. The course is usually in top notch shape. For the most part it was, except the greens were aerated recently and #14 had hidden plywood on the fairway which caused me to loose a ball that was hit on the fairway. With a 60 degree sunny day and little wind, we had a great time. Leaves were never an issue.

WOW! This course is beautiful. Rolling fairways with few trees as you pull into the parking lot. It really is an awesome looking course.

Our foursome played at bargain rates: $35/cart this fall day. And, although I agree with most of the reviews that state it is a great course we did have some problems.

If you've never played Wintonbury pay close attention to the Starter when he talks about golf cart use. They can only be driven on the cart paths or fairways. If you drive in the rough it will stop dead, as we learned, and will have to be pushed back to the fairway or cart path

The second problem was the greens. Although large and nicely designed, the were aerated several weeks ago but looked like they were just done. They were extremely bumpy, sandy and beat up, so much so that we limited ourselves to 2 putts each. The culprit is water. There has been very little rain recently and the sprinklers have been shut off in preparation for winter. So, no water, no growth.

The last problem was in the bar. They ran out of bottled beer except for a few unpopular brands. That is an unforgivable sin.

I will play this course again and would recommend it to anyone. It is the kind of course that would impress a guest or for entertaining clients. It is truly a bucket list and a top 10 course in New England.

Course was outstanding, fast but fair greens. Very well maintained, would return in a heart beat. Two issues: front desk told us carts would be loaded near barn. Cart guy was asleep in a cart inside the cart barn; we had to load ourselves. Pace of play was slow. No ranger. Group in front of us was incredibly slow. 2 holes open in front of them, no ranger in site.

I finally found it! A golf course in Ct. that takes full advantage of a great piece of property, offers challenging-yet-fair tests, has quick greens and is affordable!

Wintonbury Hills is a must-play, people. I was struck by its visual beauty and playability. Green complexes are just that -- complex. Playing it over and over again will be fun when I get to see different hole locations.

A real treat.

Course is in great shape. Greens are quick. Played from the back tees and the course isn't extremely long. The greens fees may be a little too high though.

I played this course as I was in the area yesterday. I'd always played Gillette Ridge in the past when I was in the Hartford area, but they've since closed.

Wintonbury Hills is a much better maintained course, though probably not as memorable. Value was great at $35 with a cart. Conditions were as good as you'll find on a public course. Most holes are fairly wide open, so you really can hit driver on almost every par 4 and 5. This really is a nice course for players of all levels. Gillette Ridge was not, it was geared exclusively towards advanced players.

This course would be of average difficulty if not for the greens. These are some of the trickiest greens I've ever seen, and they're also fast. There were several putts where I read it to break one way and it actually went the opposite way.

There were also a few quirks I noticed, one was somewhat charming, the other unbelievably annoying.

The former was a starter that takes his job WAY too seriously. He asked us if we'd ever played the course before, to which I replied no. He said, "Ok, so just a few things..." and then proceeded to read us a 5 paragraph essay about what to do and not to do on the course. He also forgot to mention the single most important piece of information, that all groups were starting on the 10th hole. I have never seen a course where every single group goes to #10. If someone can enlighten me, I'm all ears.

The latter quirk is regarding the GPS carts. So the carts do offer GPS, but the yardages are only to the center of the green as opposed to the flagstick. They also don't offer an enlarged view of the green. For a first-time player, that turns some blind approach shots into guesses on where the green actually is. Lastly, WH also doesn't allow the carts in the rough. And what happens if you do drive into the rough? The cart literally shuts down and you have to call the clubhouse so they can come out and have someone restart it. I know because it happened to us. 10 ft off the cart path. I asked the starter about this exact scenario, but I really didn't believe it. Instead of calling in, we literally pushed the cart backwards onto the cart path. 90% of golfers wouldn't have been able to do this, and would have jammed up the course waiting for someone to come restart their cart. A few holes later, I was on the cart path next to a tee box, and the GPS screen said i was in a restricted area! I thought the cart was going to shut down again, but luckily it reset once I put it in reverse.

How on earth do members of this course tolerate this garbage with the carts? I have literally played hundreds of nice courses, and have never seen anything like this. It's absolutely ridiculous.

First time playing this course. It is one of the best kept golf courses I have played this year! The greens were lightning fast and rolled true. Pace of play was decent for a challenging course. Took around 4 hours. Can't wait to play it again.

Played with my wife who had never played the course before. We were paired up with two great guys. Played in 4 Hours on a Sunday morning 8:30AM.
The course was in great shape. Greens were fast and a little difficult to stop a shot on. Beverage cart was circulating. Overall very enjoyable.

Booked a tee time over the phone for a Saturday afternoon at 1:00. Rate was not bad at all for the conditions of the course which were beautiful. I was paired up with a group of two as a solo and people I played with were very nice.
Starter was very informative and friendly at the start of the round as he went over the carts/green speeds/etc. to begin. I played from the tips and though somewhat long, the fairways for the most part are very wide so you can spray the ball a little without being penalized to much. Greens/Fairways/tee boxes were all in great shape and the greens rolled fast but true.
A few of the holes are pretty tough where you cant miss the fairways or your OB in the reservoir but just an overall great layout.
Seemed like we had a 4 man scramble finishing up before us which made the pace of play a little slow but nothing extremely terrible.]
I cant wait to get back to this course again sometime soon. Had a great time!

This course lay out is challenging and forces you to put the ball in the right place. The greens are fast break in strange ways. Great course.....

Wintonbury Hills is a great golf course. The green are fast but uniform in speed. The fairways and traps are meticulously maintained. The staff are helpful and courteous. One of the best courses in New England.

First, the course is visually stunning. Played on a weekday at 10am, so pace of play was not an issue. The course is one of the best maintained I've ever played. The fairways definitely reward a good drive, and there were plenty of slopes and hills. The greens were undulating, fast, and a true test. The starters were very friendly and accomodating. The cart GPS was an interesting technology, but it did not interfere with the experience. The price was below what I would expect for a course of this caliber.