Chanticlair Golf Club

First time playing at Chanticlair yesterday, and can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised by the experience as a whole. Other than a few (very) bald tee-boxes, the course is in very good condition!

On-course amenities: 8.5/10 — There are plenty of trash bins scattered around for easy and convenient trash disposal, as well as ball washing stations. The carts come equipped with divot-filler canisters, which I haven’t seen very often on CT courses.. but ours were empty. Wasn’t the end of the world, we had no trouble fixing our divots and ball-marks ourselves.

Off-course amenities: 8/10 — Unfortunately, there’s no restaurant or kitchen attached to the establishment itself, so no food; however, they offer canned beverages and one-serving size snacks. Perfect for taking a quick break and grabbing a beer between 9’s. I was told there is a restaurant close-by, which is highly recommended by the staff.

Speaking of Staff: 10/10 — Every single staff member I briefly spoke to was more than courteous about absolutely everything and anything. Checking into my tee-time was quick and easy. Most courses I’ve personally been to have very strict and uninviting staff, but this course was quite the opposite, to my pleasant surprise. My partner and I had accidentally parked our cart green-side, and instead of being scolded by staff for our mistake, we were very kindly asked to move the cart; no attitude, no eye-rolls. Even the greens-keepers would smile and wave at us when we were passing through a hole they were currently working on. THIS is the kind of staff you want running your course. They maintain the rules of the course, without being overbearingly strict.

Course layout: 9/10 — VERY fun and interesting holes. 4th hole is an island green, which was my partner and I’s personal favorite. The feeling of sticking an absolute dart within 10 ft of the pin, over water, is completely unmatched. The fairways are pretty wide and mostly straight, except maybe a couple doglegs.. so as long as you can hit the ball straight, I think you’ll enjoy this course a lot!

Worth the price? For me and my partner to play 18 holes (9 holes twice,) cart included, ran us about $100. Although I’m not sure why I was charged for 2 carts when me and my partner shared one. I’m guessing it’s the lack of specification within the GolfNow app; not by fault of the course / owners.

Overall I rate this course an 8.8/10. Can definitely see myself taking the 30 minute drive to play here more often. Highly recommend trying it out for yourselves at least once!

Chanticlair is a popular nine-hole golf course located not far from Old Hartford Road and Main Street, Colchester. Its character can be described as open, parkland golf over the first five holes, after which, on the sixth through eighth, the fairways and greens head into woodland. The last five holes are quite hilly by contrast to the first four. Yet the most well-known hole here–the shortest–has been the one that has contributed most to Chanticlair’s memoratility: this is the par-3 fourth, with its island green sitting amid a large pond, a pond that consumes–every day the course is open–many a Srixon or Bridgestone or Titleist. After hitting your tee shot at the fourth, the suspense alone, over that five-second interval when your ball is flying toward the island, seems worth the price of admission. The fourth is simply great fun. Or will it lead to agony when your score for the day is inflated by one faulty tee shot?

But this layout has several good holes, and today, after not playing here since last fall, these struck me as the most interesting:

A 192-yard opening par-3, the first demands a longer iron or hybrid for most players. Its green, mostly encircled by mounding, makes pitching or chipping a bit trickier than normal.

Three is not all that hard, but I like the idea that you can smash a drive toward its wide fairway without too much concern for hitting a tree. Some short drive-and-pitch holes should give you this opportunity; golf doesn’t have to be all hard work!

Six, an excellent four-par playing downhill from the tee, is both interesting and aesthetically pleasing. The fairway bends leftward, favoring a draw, and big hitters must be wary of driving the ball too far into the marshy cross hazard. The approach plays into a sprawling green tilting front to back; it’s a difficult two-putt when your first attempt is more than thirty feet from the hole.

The seventh hole tests accuracy off the tee but also strategy. The hole plummets from the tee to a fairly tight, valley-like fairway, tree-lined on both sides. What of strategy? If you choose to hit a shorter tee shot, there’s more room on the right side–including in the rough–to launch a wedge or short iron into the green, as long as you’re not too close to the trees. From the left rough, though, you’ll generally be blocked by the treeline. A longer tee shot, by contrast, has to find a narrower overall landing zone. Risk and reward. The seventh is also a fine second-shot hole, because the front of the green is guarded closely by gaping bunkers right and left. The green itself, tilting severely from back to front, may give you putting headaches when above the hole or even on sidehill putts.

One flaw in the layout is the shortness of the par-5 ninth. The tee today from the whites was set at about 425 yards, which left us only about 150 yards from the green on our approaches. The eighth hole, in my opinion, is compromised somewhat by a very tight landing zone, the fairway seemingly no more than thirty yards wide, and contributing to the penal nature are big overhanging limbs on both sides of the fairway. Yes, you need a straight shot, but it has to be so straight that curving the ball (draw, fade) is not a good option unless the ground is soft.

Conditions:

Average overall. Greens were good and putted smoothly, greenside areas mostly good. Fairways were also good, but roughs uneven, with a few holes needing serious work in places (the most needy is eight, on its right side). A few tees were okay but many poor, and those that are need both regrading and essentially much more grass.

Some Conclusions:

I’ve been playing Chanticlair off and on since the late nineties, and it has been, always, a respectable nine holes. I enjoyed the round today on a hot but clear morning. Pace was about average, but service was excellent here, both at check-in and after the round.

Had fun today played there a lot is Close to my home

Fairways are in good shape. Tees are in ok to good shape although a few are in need of some reseeding. Course layout is challenging but play the course a few times and you can play it well. I personally like the course as you can drive a few holes, short game gets a lot of use and putting is challenging when they move the pin placement.

The course and the greens were very nice. A few of the tee boxes could use some turf but in general the course was very well maintained and the layout is very nice for a nine hole course. Will definitely be back to conquer the island green.

I booked a teetime online and when I arrived, I was informed that there is a women’s league playing and I will be behind their last group, apparently there are leagues that play multiple times a week. When I say the pace was slow, I mean so slow that you’re waiting 20 minutes on each hole. I ended up leaving after the fifth hole when a group of elderly women were struggling to hit the ball further than 10 yards. None of the women had any respect for the groups behind them. A ranger is desperately needed. So a word of advice, call ahead of time and make sure there are no leagues the day that you’re playing. The guy in the pro shop was very friendly, and the course is located in a beautiful part of the state, but unfortunately, the cons outweigh the pros. Won’t be returning.

Short but still potent, Chanticlair sports a varied layout highlighted by an island green at the fourth. The nine-hole course starts with a series of open holes at one through three, the best of these being the second, a long-ish par-4 with a towering tree (40 yards prior to the green) hindering the line of play from the hole’s right side. Then the island green: a fair target, but unforgiving all around, and demanding nothing less than a solid iron shot to find land.

The remaining holes are par 4s and 5s, all winding through trees, all requiring careful, target golf on tee shots to landing zones where a miss generally means you’ll be punching out from under tree branches. After the first five holes, the greens become more tilted, sloping from back to front. The seventh and eighth greens feature complex contours that will challenge accomplished putters. The eighth fairway is the toughest target on the entire course, as it’s narrow and tree-lined; it also doglegs left, meaning any drive hit to the left and too short makes a direct line to the green impossible on your approach.

Aside from slow play on a Saturday morning, conditioning here was only within the average range for public courses. The greens had not been cut recently (very slow); too many leaves occupied the margins of some of the fairways; some of the tees were poorly-kept. On the plus side, the fairways were in good shape and the greens plush and consistent. Also, it’s a positive sign that course management has decided to cut down some of the big trees around several of these tees, which will facilitate more sunlight falling on them and better re-growth after damage.

All in all, though, I enjoyed my Saturday morning round for the perfect weather, but especially with my three lively playing partners whom I met for the first time here, which happens to be one of the great advantages of playing this game.

This was a great time! Greens and fairways are in great shape!! Staff are super kind and generous!!! Even my score was good!

Nice layout and it is an interesting 9 hole course. The par 3 island green is challenging but fair. The lack of rain is definitely noticeable and the tee boxes certainly could use improvement. The greens were decent but a little slow. Overall a good experience.