Vineyard Valley Golf Club

DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME PLAYING HERE!!

this is by far the worst course i’ve ever played at. course conditions are terrible. the pro shop is not clean. it seems like this place has poor management. it’s very sad because this place seems like it has potential if it was cared for properly…

also, who thought it was a good idea to put a driving range right next to the first hole? all the balls go into the first hole fairway.

Vineyard Valley, a pleasant place to play in Connecticut’s Quiet Corner, is a fairly challenging 9-hole layout, with its routing climbing up and then down along a huge hillside. The only two courses I can think of that may be near these elevations are Farmingbury Hills in Wolcott and Stonybrook GC in Litchfield. And the elevation allows for some outstanding views into the distant countryside–in fact, very few courses in the state of Connecticut can rival these long vistas.

What’s positive here, too, are some excellent golf holes. My favorites are the second hole for its well-shaped green, the eighth for its risk/reward aspect off the tee, and the par-3 ninth for its sheer challenge, which is the product of its tightly guarded green. The sixth is also an interesting par-5, largely because it plays straight uphill and may be reached in two if you’re daring enough (the hole is also fairly tight).

This course’s value also lies in accessibility to a fairly wide range of players: it has some tough shots and holes, yet it’s not too long or too punishing. I like to pair playing this course with Woodstock GC, another nine-holer down the road less than five miles. Moreover, the clubhouse atmosphere has always been friendly, as it was today. Getting here also involves one of my favorite car rides in Connecticut–through Hebron, Columbia, Chaplin, Hampton, and Pomfret, which are beautiful towns all.

Conditions:

Part of it is the hot summer–with drier conditions recently, but unfortunately, the conditioning efforts at VVGC just can’t seem to move to the level that’s necessary for me to card what I think is an “accurate" score. This is not to say that the course is unplayable. One obstacle, though, is too much crabgrass in the fairways, on which–by contrast to either bentgrass or Kentucky Bluegrass–the ball simply lies down too much. On the greens here, surfaces are too rough and bumpy, causing putts to lose their lines. The greens have also been inflicted, here and there, with weedy strains of grass. And a few are still in need of some TLC. Some areas around these greens are also burnt out, fringes are overly long, and most tees are poor. Oftentimes these problems stem from budgetary issues, of course. My suggestion would be to focus a bit more on the greens.

A note about the seventh:

For safety’s sake, players should be careful not to hit drives from the seventh tee when the fourth green is occupied by golfers. I saw an example of this rule being broken today, and it creates a hazardous situation, even when players think it’s enough to simply yell “fore.” It is strictly up to players to read and heed the well-posted course signage.

I have used GN app to reserve rounds at this course since last year and never had a problem. Is the course crap? Yup, but I knew I was getting what you paid for. The views? Pretty, I Guess? If you’ve never been anywhere else in the state of CT to see how little they do to keep up the course and capitalize on the location. They clearly cater to “old men” and do not want women or younger players to come in. The second I entered the club shack, I mean house, the gentleman who was working behind the counter had an attitude and accused me of not paying. He couldn’t be bothered to check his system, despite my jovial personality and trying to engage him in conversation, stating “thats weird, would you mind re-fleshing your system? I’ve always used this same app and never had a problem. I’m really looking forward to getting out there today to get some practice in before returning with my dad in the season. We enjoy coming here”. You know why we enjoyed it? You couldn’t beat the price, we aren’t great golfers - but we enjoy getting out there to spend time with one another and can hold our own. my dad doesn’t drink or like hang out - and so it doesn’t matter that the club shack is legit a small room with a soda cooler of beverages and gross hotdogs in rotating a machine. He was so rude and dismissive that I finally asked him what I did to upset him as I sensed a hostile Attitude as soon as I walked in. Short story long, and drastically cut down for sake of spearing you, spend your hard earned dollars elsewhere… I know that I certainly will. They can keep there overgrown course with rude old men who should be put out to pasture and bring in a staff who actually wants to work and take care of the course.

don’t waste your time or money here, spend the few extra $ to play a course that doesn’t look like garbage, workers probably never put any work into it, plz don’t play here unless you wanna have a terrible round of golf

We enjoyed a fun round on a beautiful day. The course continues to make improvements and is always a great value!

It’s a trek up and down these hills in Pomfret, but a scenic one. What also impresses, always, about this course is the quiet feeling of seclusion. On a weekday morning, the course is on the quiet side, though there are always golfers out on the nine. Well, this is the quiet corner of Connecticut. I took a cart today, and was glad that I did–the walk is a rugged one.

Vineyard Valley is not a hard course, and it retains an old-school feel all the way until the last hole. That would be the ninth, a beast punctuated by a forced carry over a pond; it’s a near-island green. A good hole, to be sure, but I prefer the second, a less dramatic par three that still demands a well-struck mid-iron into the tiered, rolling green. The sixth, an uphill par-5, is also growing on me (each time I play it) because it tests the ability to hit two straight shots with the long clubs. Seven is a formidable downhill four-par with big trouble on the right, and eight an excellent drive-and-pitch hole. This is not a fancy layout with modern, large greens (excepting a couple of them), but it delivers playable golf holes with some challenges.

Conditioning still does not live up to the layout, but the trend is upward. The fairways suffer from too many weedy zones, but now they’re all grass-covered. Roughs and tees are mostly okay, but I find the greens on the slow and bumpy sides. Still, these greens have improved over the past couple of years; they were not too long ago plagued by a disease.

The young lady in the pro shop, Bean, was extremely helpful when I had a problem with my tee time. Outstanding service and follow-up in all respects! The atmosphere has always been friendly to course patrons, buy also less common visitors like me.

We really enjoyed our Vineyard Valley experience. Great layout and condition. Will definitely play it again.

Challenging course with beautiful views and friendly staff.