The Golf Club At Oxford Greens

Course was very wet with cart path only. Very nice course. Would be outstanding on a dry track.

Considering the situation with Covid-19 the course was open and busy. We were allowed to walk, but still had to pay for the carts. Sand traps were closed, they are reconditioning, but they are far from ready for play. Fairways and Greens were in good conditon, but the tees were a bit worn and it appears that the markers had not been moved for awhile. Pace of play was excellent! We walked 18 hole in 3 hours and 45 minutes, a record for this course! And the Man behind the counter, might be Matt is super friendly and very accomidating!

The bones of a great golf course is there. It could be a superb course and worth the drive from an hour or more but not yet. The bunkers are far from being finished, and they are the hallmark of the course. They are strategic but you can’t play from them now, despite what the course website says. They are months away from being done and I didn’t see a single maintenance person out there. From what it looks like to me is that you have a retirement community that is too cheap to do the proper maintenance and care of a potentially special course. The housing surrounding the course is drab and mundane and that spells trouble. They allow play all winter and the turf is hurting from the lack of care. I don’t know who the superintendent is, but there is a need for a good one.

I can tell a good track when I see one and it could be great. I hope someone recognizes that and gives it some TLC. Then I will be back.

Observed that lot of work being done in the bunkers. Understand new owners have taken over this course in 2019 and are putting in a lot of money to upgrade the course.

Look forward to playing again during the season.

Set in the Naugatuck forest in western Connecticut, Mark Mungeam’s Oxford Greens is a surpassing layout that easily ranks among the state’s elite. Here Mungeam steps outside of the mold, perhaps characteristically, of architects who stick to a predictable style. There’s plenty of the kind of complexity, in both layout and style, to be expected from an architect of Mungeam’s very high caliber. The course is part throwback to golf’s Golden Era, part modern masterpiece, but it merges the two styles so convincingly that we may not notice this—nor some of Mungeam’s neoclassical allusions to the work of C. B. MacDonald and Seth Raynor.

What I observed here were many modern features, including large greens, long tees, and strategic design elements, coupled with a more classic approach emphasizing some smaller and mostly modestly-scaled bunkers, unpredictable and often clever green complexes, and a de-emphasis on water hazards. Call this layout ‘post-modern.’ I was not surprised to learn that Golfweek (2019) ranks this number six in Connecticut among “The Best Courses You Can Play.”

Every par at OG must be earned diligently, which doubtless is one of the marks of great and tough courses. The slope, from the deep tees, is 135; the stroke rating 74.5 against par of 72. What may be most important is this: Around each of these greens, Mungeam uses slopes and knolls, ridges and plateaus with the skill of a master sculptor who lives and breathes his craft. Those who hope to score well must apply care, thought, skill and nerve—not to mention a strong short game.

At the first hole, the opening drive seems a bit mundane. By the time we reach the green, though, the course has already tightened its screws. Here we find the typically subtle Mungeam green complex, fronted in the middle by a nasty pot, its sides falling off into some unfriendly rough. But the first is more easily conquered than the second, where quite suddenly things turn testy. This hole, aptly named “Vista,” supplies more than just a pretty downhill view from its high tee. It also draws on the offbeat power of a classic golf hole (one of the par-3 MacDonald ‘templates’): the Biarritz, featuring an enormous green slashed deeply by a swale. With the pin on the back tier, the swale will often play the role of evildoer, shunting your well-meaning putt or chip (through it) onto an alternate and perhaps seemingly random course. All in good fun. And for good measure, Mungeam included a pond on this hole, left and long, to greet wayward tee-balls.

The third is this state’s longest golf hole. At 630 yards from the tips and moving gradually uphill, this enormous beast is a hungry critter. Beyond its fairway is the relentless forest-line, and when playing it (cautiously) we must avoid what Tiger Woods has called “The Big Miss,” or our golf balls may be devoured as voraciously as once were the building lots around these eighteen holes.

The stretch from four through ten contains one iconic hole, nine, but the rest here are all quite good. Each one boasts some special, distinguishing feature(s): on four a green set at 30 degrees to the fairway, favoring a drawn shot from on this long, uphill hole; on five a beautifully contoured green complex with falloffs—especially the hidden one behind the right frontal bunker; on six a wide, mildly rolling fairway and a long green that will tempt long hitters to make this short par-4 a one-shotter if they can carry a pair of big bunkers rightward; on seven a subtly contoured green defended by a bunker on the right—a perfect defense against the preferred approach shot, a draw; on eight and ten, angled fairways, which harbor tactical bunkers to be negotiated carefully on drive and second shot.

One of the most startling sights at Oxford Greens, when you first come upon it, is the ninth. A long par-3, it is a strict, unforgiving and dangerous hole. The right side offers a bail-out in the form of a hill, which still poses dangers; the left side’s grassy precipice magnifies danger levels alarmingly, as any missed shot will trundle your golf ball down into oblivion. And it is well known that saving par from oblivion is—well—somewhat difficult.

The best sequence of holes may be eleven through fifteen. In short, it’s a thrill ride, but here are some playing notes: ELEVEN: Beautiful short hole that challenges on both the drive (small nest of bunkers rightward) and on its punchbowl green. My first putt was a fearsome one with the pin placed on the left, especially with this front-to-back sloping surface. TWELVE: Arguably the course’s toughest hole, this 381-yard two shooter plays much longer, and it’s cursedly hard with the pin on the uppermost or back tier of this MacDonald template hole, the Double Plateau (three-tiered green). THIRTEEN: It’s hardly an uncanny replica of the real Redan hole at North Berwick, Scotland—It is tame by comparison, with toned-down contours and a lack of majesty.—but this hole still plays as should a classic Redan. So when you hit the green’s right side and watch it funnel left, it’s fully entertaining. FOURTEEN: Having now left MacDonald/Raynor-ville behind, the challenges persist: This is simply a great, classic par-4. Water looms left, but the fairway is flattish and more than wide enough to land the ball safely. The green is large but narrows to a mere nineteen yards wide in back. FIFTEEN: Slightly shorter but harder-edged than its predecessor, and more unsparing of a slightly missed approach shot: the contours of its green complex are sharper and steeper. If you avoid all hazards on the drive and position it properly leftward, if you fly a mid-iron high and softly into this green (missing its surrounding troubles), if you judge well this subtly contoured surface and two-putt it, then you’ve earned a par at 15.

The FINISH (A GOOD ONE): SIXTEEEN: Your first task is one to be expected for a hole named Fortress, as it involves the avoidance of testing obstacles near this (145-yard) par-3 green: its five bunkers. The second task is using your flatstick skillfully on an exacting putting surface. SEVENTEEN: Another daunting, uphill five par at 512 yards, although reachable for some. Well-trapped fairway. And its smallish green has a narrow opening angled to the fairway, with solid protection from a deep trap. EIGHTEEN: An understated but gorgeous finishing hole, and at 418 yards and downhill, it will typically be approached via a mid-iron or less. Its green, long and flanked by traps, allows for run-on approaches. One of my favorite holes on the course.

A CRITICISM BY SOME: NARROW FAIRWAYS (?) Previous reviews of this course are contradictory: some say these fairways are wide; others say they are all narrow. I only spotted a few narrower ones on the short par-4’s, such as 11, but these still seemed reasonably hittable. The USGA specifies a median width of 40 yards wide for 20 handicappers; 32 for scratch golfers. I walked off what looked to be a typical width here (on hole 14) in the landing zone; it measured 41 yards wide, and was even wider elsewhere on this fairway. In general, finding these fairways did not seem all that difficult.

QUICK NOTES: The club is spending $350,000, currently, to renovate the bunkers, and another tidy sum to upgrade the clubhouse.

IN SUM: Mungeam is an architect whose courses are not widely known on a national scale, but they should be. After reflecting upon some of the vaunted American public-access courses I’ve played—achieving national recognition—I’m sure that Oxford Greens rates with the best of these in in overall sophistication. Before and after the round, I had the pleasure of talking with Mr. Joe Degennaro, one of the Golf Professionals at OG. I was impressed by his penetrating and incisive knowledge of what makes for outstanding golf courses. His background has contributed to his deep insight: he grew up playing such esteemed private courses (being “very fortunate,” he told me) as Seminole in Florida and Myopia Hunt Club in Massachusetts—rated numbers 1 and 3, respectively, in their states by Golfweek. After talking for a bit about the virtues of Oxford Greens, we agreed that we could think of no better public course than this one in Connecticut. Although he may be, of course, a tad biased, Mr. Degennaro struck me as unfailingly honest. Oxford Greens is first-rate and pure golf; no serious golfer should pass it up.

The course was in great shape, except for that 95% of the bunkers were all taken down to rock and drainage. There’s only a handful of them that were playable, but the greens were good fairways good and tea boxes good as well. It’s definitely worth the money

A good challenging course layout. Only problem was all bunkers were under repair and made normal play very difficult Will try again next year, hope will be resolved or will not play again as traps are a major part of this course.

Seen this place in better shape.Played it once this year and done. Disappointed in the condition of the course.

Great course just a little out of the way in Oxford, Ct. challenging but fun. Would okay there again and again.

We played in less than four hours which is always thrilling. Greens and fairways were very good, bunkers a little sloppy.

Minor annoyance was the cart girl bothering us three times to sell food. I don’t eat while playing. And I would never join as a member because they don’t allow walking.

But still, a nice day of golf.

Haven’t played here in a few years at which time it was more like a private club. Unfortunately seems like course mgt staff has forgotten bunkers are part of the game. Recommend if you do land I. One the rock filled or absent of sand bunkers, pick up your ball & take a free drop. Dollar wise, they should be offering better deals for the playing conditions. So, just stay out of bunkers & you’ll have a good round. I did.

Great course in good condition. Some greens are fast and others are slow. Some holes are difficult to tell how far to hit. Someone I played with on the 14th hole said the bunkers are under repair and to take it out of bunker. He said the club house told him that. The guy at clubhouse didn’t tell me. Most sand in bunker was hard/packed. Fun course in good shape!

Use to be a very nice course but has gone downhill in last few years. Finally put some sand back in the bunkers but tee boxes bad and greens not great although they recently aerated.

$79 for morning on weekends is ridiculous.

The course needs a little TLC lately but the Layout is great and Challenging. The Bunkers need Sand!!

One of the nicer public courses I’ve played in a long time. Would play there again soon

Besides bunkers with rocks the size of soft balls and tee boxes that look like my were bombed in WWII. Pace of play was really slow. 4.75 hours. No rangers. However great layout. It’s a shame they don’t take care of it

The course is a beautiful layout. They need to water it and put sand in the bunkers. Not worth the hour ride from the Hartford area anymore

I played here several times in the past but not for the last 2-3 years due to Waterbury construction (I live in the Hartford area). When I played here years ago I raved about what a great course it was. A lot must have happened over the past few years. The pace of play was great because we were the only ones on the course. The bunkers had little to no sand and mostly rocks. The grass was dead in a lot of places due to lack of watering it appeared. Not sure we will return to this course with all the other options out there.

Great course and staff. A lot of blind shots. Greens were not true speed. Sand traps terrible. Please fix them. Fairways and tee box great.