Skungamaug River Golf Club

Note: Having reviewed the front side often, I’ll focus on the back:

With holes varying widely in length, the back nine at Skungamaug tightens the screws on players hole by hole. Major defenses include lots of water and heavily rolling terrain, plus some harsh greenside slopes and several small, narrow greens. There is conventionality here, especially two strong driving holes in 12 and 14, while other holes feel more dramatic (even if a couple, the 15th and 16th, are a bit odd). At the fifteenth, for example, side-by-side fairways narrow like the Strait of Gibraltar. The long par-3 17th, this course’s best hole, dazzles with its lengthy carry over a greenside “cut-in” bunker into a shallow green. Twelve stands out as a subtle but very effective driving hole, tempting those fixated on power to draw it down the left side of the dogleg—a shorter route to the green. Lying in wait, however, is a pond that spells disaster for the overdraw. Even if you incur the penalty shot and a drop, you’ll then be blocked by trees on the approach.

Good driving is rewarded. I invariably find hitting the fourteenth fairway a pure test of target golf. Miss left or right off the tee and you’re chipping back to the fairway (or worse); miss long and a marshy pond snares your big hit down the middle. This nine further compels when it forces equally hard approaches, specifically shots that need care and sometimes calculation to pull off. How to hit the narrow green at fifteen and still avoid its steep right-side falloff? Or avoid the strong, angular upsweep that precedes green sixteen, formed to slap less-than-perfect approaches every which way.

What sets SRGC apart from average, beyond its very well-conditioned greens, its beautiful and utterly natural setting, and the scattered great holes that pop up, is how it calls for the shaping of certain shots along with the will to think your way to a good score. And anyone who plays the back nine without having to hit a greenside pitch shot might just be a touring pro.

A few notes of interest: 1) Behind Skungamaug’s sixth green is an official Protected Habitat for Monarch butterflies; 2) Without a cart, getting from sixteen to the seventeenth tee will mean climbing 35 steps; 3) When near a couple of the ponds today, I heard (unseen) critters scuttling into the marshes.

This is the seventh year in a row that I’ve played Skungamaug, so it’s safe to say that I appreciate the characteristics of this course (see previous reviews).

Today the layout was in excellent condition on the greens, which rolled at about medium speed. The rest of the course was good overall. SGC has continued to make incremental improvements year by year in this area.

I can’t think of anything new to say about the golf course, having covered the bases already. It’s a terrific experience to come out here on a sunny, spring day and take in the expansive fairway views, which often appear as a refreshing, rolling ‘sea of green’ (Didn’t the Beatles, somewhat more literally, use that phrase?), especially because several of the holes on the front nine are adjacent to each other–with clear openings in the trees.

Considering everything, this is a very good venue that rates as an excellent value. Another plus: driving through Coventry’s peaceful country setting on the way here.

I’ve reviewed SGC many times already in some depth, so here’s a quick view with current conditions:

Possibly this course’s key trait is its woodland setting, and keeping out the trees will save you as many shots as anything else. But there are also some ponds, streams, and the river itself to contend with, along with a score of bunkers (or so) to avoid across the eighteen holes. Skungamaug is a hilly course, too, where learning how to play some of the bounces correctly, or to estimate the distances to greens set on rises, are mental skills that will help you make your score.

The signature hole, I would say, is the par-4 thirteenth, which begins on a high tee with a fine view of the fairway below. Still, that fairway is surrounded by marsh and woods both, leaving you precious little margin for error off the tee. Another tough hole is the eighth, a stout par-3 that travels steeply uphill to the large and steeply pitched (back to front) putting surface. This green feels doubly slick when you’re putting downhill; so, using the flatstick, it’s a superb test of deft feel along with judgment of slope.

Conditioning:

Very good overall. The greens stood out as consistent and putts rolled smoothly, yet these surfaces weren’t glassy. Greenside areas were generally good though not quite as consistent; a few of the greens exhibited some limited patchiness in the areas beyond their fringes. Roughs and tees were mainly well maintained.

Some Conclusions:

I always enjoy playing Skungamaug, as I did again today. It blends a solid layout (that has some hills, yet is walkable), a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, and usually a pace of play that is decent, especially on the shorter front side. The overall feel of SGC is that the course will challenge you, but it’s never overwhelming because of the manageable lengths of these holes, coupled with their fairness. That’s a nice combination.

Other Notes:

– As with most of the courses north of Hartford and many in Western Connecticut (and as opposed to the south-of-Hartford region), prices have not risen dramatically in the aftermath of Covid and its effect upon the golf population; they’ve remained pretty reasonable.

–For those who happen to be touring Connecticut as well, the Nathan Hale Homestead, also in Coventry, is 12 minutes away to the south, and the UConn campus is 12 minutes to the east.

–The last photo contains something I did not notice at all when I shot it. At the bottom of the frame, about one-third of the way across it from the left, is a groundhog (a.k.a. woodchuck (Marmota monax)). I confirmed this by greatly enlarging the digital image on my computer, and it is clear that he is watching me take this photo from up on the 13th tee box.

Skungamaug River Golf Course presents a nice front nine–the nine I played today–that quietly accelerates until, by the fourth hole, you’ll need to play more careful and strategic golf almost all the way through the ninth. The first and third holes will pester you mainly by driving hazards, including a crossing stream at one and dense woods (OOB) on three. The second is a straightforward, uphill par-3 that sneaks in a greenside bunker tucked on the right flank. Four, however, is a tricky five-par that ups the ante a bit: it demands a cautious drive that avoids the woods on the right and then a precise second for those who hope to avoid the numerous greenside hazards meant to foil almost anything less than a perfect approach. Still, you may find yourself pitching and putting for a birdie if you miss the small putting surface. Five, perhaps the one hole on the front that better golfers will call “routine,” is a short par-3 playing over a pond.

But at the sixth SRGC shifts into a higher gear. At 349 yards, this is a short hole but is rated the second toughest on the golf course. Why? It’s laden with hazards: trees that block the right side of a hilly driving zone, a narrow and tightening fairway, a pond that catches any approach shot that is short and left, and a two-tiered green with hidden sand traps behind. And the green is hard to putt. You’ll still have your hands full at seven, where a good drive must be followed by an even better second on this short par-5, but it's also a hole that includes another, larger pond and an ever-tightening fairway, concluding on a plateau green that is quite narrow. As the number twelve handicap hole, the par-3 eight hole seems underrated on the scorecard because from the blue tees this uphill 179 yarder culminates in a rolling green that pitches back-to-front and further supplies a plentiful helping of side slopes–both on the putting surface and around it. Of any hole on the front, eight is the toughest par for me, time after time.

The ninth concludes the front well, as it is a neat drive-and-pitch hole that first plays uphill to a well-guarded landing zone, then steeply downhill to the green. I found myself hitting a three-quarter gap wedge on the downslope in front of the putting surface, only to see the ball bounce and roll toward the back side of the green, away from the frontal pin-placement. Another challenging short hole.

Conditions:

This is a well-conditioned course overall; I would call it very good. The main flaw I observed was that some of the tees–mainly these were the whites– looked “average” for wear-and-tear. Fairways were good overall in their landing zones, while greens were excellent, among the best for both smoothness and speed that I’ve played this year. Putting these relatively speedy greens was a pleasure. A few of the fringes had rough patches but are undergoing work, it appears, to improve them. Greenside bunkers were tended very well. Roughs were generally good.

Some Conclusions:

The main strength that impressed me today here is the course’s strong value. It may not be as meticulously conditioned as $70-plus courses, but clearly the grounds crew makes a solid effort to deliver good conditions. I felt, certainly, that I received my money’s worth, notably with the senior rate, and especially considering the very good conditioning around the greens. And while this is not a long track, it presents enough challenges to keep me fully involved in pursuit of the object of this game: making pars. Also impressive was the way the clubhouse appearance has been improved, along with other minor but marked improvements scattered throughout. I plan to return to SRGC before long.

I thoroughly enjoyed my nine holes (on the back) today on a sun-soaked, warm, and pleasant afternoon.Once again, this is a course that’s worth playing under any circumstances.

BACK NINE COMMENTS

–Walking the back, a little steeper than the front, is vigorous but not too taxing

–Back is more densely wooded than most of the front

–Although I like the flowing nature of the front side’s terrain, the back sports more commanding views: from the high tees at twelve and fourteen, over the imaginative (if at times unnerving) landscape on the fifteenth fairway, past the gently flowing river at fifteen and sixteen, over the vale which separates tee from green at seventeen, and finally across the sinuous eighteenth fairway back to the clubhouse.

–Big, almost unruly slopes on many of these backside greens, most notably 11, 13, and15. Your putting stroke and sense for green-speed will be tested.

–Doubtless this is a beautiful course and one can’t make a better choice for a golfing venue of solitude and serenity. On the back especially, yuu feel that you’re in an idyllic, wooded tract of land out in Coventry’s countryside.

TOP-NOTCH HOLES ON THE BACK SIDE:

ELEVEN:

A superb par-3, playing uphill to a green sided by a nearly hidden trap on the right side.

TWELVE:

An outstanding driving hole, gently doglegging around a marshy pond. The woods threaten misplayed tee shots.

FOURTEEN:

More of the same as at twelve off the tee, but the driving zone is threatened by both a pond, straight ahead, and a stream, leftward.

EIGHTEEN:

Of Skungamaug’s par-5’s, eighteen seems to me the best, and it's undoubtedly a strong finishing hole. The fairway curves moderately back and forth, tumbling over mounds and sloping downhill into the final green. Other than the woods, this hole has no hazards yet in truth needs none. A large, contoured putting surface may make two-putting a bit of a chore.

CONDITIONS:

Overall, good to very good. Kudos to the greenskeeper for the work done around the excellent greens, as these putting surfaces were very smooth and ran at a nice medium-fast speed. Putting was predictable. Everything else–fairways, roughs, bunkers, tees–was mainly good. The course also looks attractive despite the recent dry conditions.

FRIENDLINESS:

Excellent. The gentleman at check-in was both personable and accommodating. The staff is invariably professional at this club.

Skungamaug River probably isn’t one of those courses that immediately dazzles most golfers. What makes it good is far more subtle than obvious. But with each play of this layout, I find myself impressed with what it has to offer. The front nine seems more fun to play for me simply because you can swing the driver with more freedom here than on the tighter, more tree-lined back nine. The closing three four holes on the front still make you work hard enough for pars, however. I would not call this a quirky course, but it has plenty of unpredictability and variety, with no two holes alike.

My previous reviews focused on the outward half, and I played the whole 18 today, so here’s a quick summary of the back:

The inward half at this vintage 1950’s golf course is both longer and a bit tougher than the front side. Chief among its features are four strong par-fours: 10, 12, 13 and 14. Three of these are dog-legs, each is of moderate length, and all benefit from rolling terrain. Add to that two par-threes that play long and a closing five-par of some 530 yards, and most golfers should feel that they have their hands full in terms of challenges. The greens have a range of difficulty, but two standouts are the heavily sloping 11th and 15th. The thirteenth can be tough, too, from the green’s right side, which rolls off rapidly. I’m still not a fan of the fifteenth hole from tee to green, but you’ll have to play it and judge for yourself.

Best Hole, back nine: 12th, par-4.

The awkward, angular landing zone demands a carefully placed drive on the leftward-bending hole. If you can manage that without landing in the woods (right) or a pond (left), then a short-iron is your reward into a flattish green--though a bunker hides behind it.

Toughest holes: 17 and 18.

A great one-two punch, this finishing duo threatens to be a card-wrecker. A brawny par-three over a vale, seventeen requires nothing less than a near-perfect shot if you hope to find its shallow green. Eighteen, a bunkerless but sprawling, rolling and bending five-par, pounces on your big mistakes--and sometimes small ones--from tee to green.

Conditions: Good, and perhaps one the verge of excellence once the very wet, post-storm conditions dry up. Right now, though, the course is a big boggy in low-lying areas. Greens were excellent, roughs good.

Playing experience: I was lucky enough to hook up with Tim, a like-minded, competitive golfer with whom I enjoyed the entire 18. We decided to play a match on the back that ended up close, in fact coming down to the last putt. Wow! Maybe the best experience I’ve had this year, among many good ones upon meeting other players. Greatly enjoyed our conversation and his upbeat personality.

Service: Terrific from Richard, the Club Pro. Enjoyed seeing the owner again, albeit briefly, who is a very pleasant lady. A-plus.

Some conclusions:

It wasn’t the best day for golf today, so I want to come back in September when this course dries out and enjoy it to the fullest extent. Tim used a word that I found ideal by its description of this layout: “atmosphere.” That’s often a missing ingredient in some of the more modern designs that end up with a ‘robo-course’ feel. Given the varied challenges, the subtleties, the unpredictability, the serene backdrops, and especially the setting by the river itself, that about sums up this experience perfectly.

A few highlights about the front (played today):

--First five holes are open and feel like an inland British Isles course: unusual for Connecticut (and fun), with lots of ground movement. Last three become typical Connecticut woodland holes that test precision.

--Course conditioning: very good greens (still a few aeration marks) that are well-kept and have few blemishes; good fairways and bunkers; average roughs and greenside conditioning. Tees were mostly well-conditioned.

--Toughest hole seemed to be seven: its second shot is uphill and traverses a pond, and needs to hit a small landing zone, if not the green. The seventh is also a slicer’s nightmare.

--Upgrades to some of the wooden fixtures (including fences and steps) around this course this year.

--Both friendliness and helpfulness at check-in were excellent. Driving range was busy when I arrived and left. So was the golf course--and deservedly so. Lots of young players on the course today, including a pleasant foursome of UConn students that I met.

--Beautiful course in springtime. Play it.

Most Interesting Hole: Fourth, par-5

Only 438 yards, this is easily within reach. But a big, deep greenside bunker meddles with approaches, and a hidden pot lies off to the left. The wide, rippling fairway resembles those on links courses.

A Clever Hole: Six, Par-4, 349

Ingeniously-made, short four par moves uphill to green, which is blind on the second. A left-front pond is a further problem. The hole sports two fairways, each playing from a different tee. Stone wall to the left, with a large tree hindering line-of-flight from the right. Heavily contoured greens tests both chipping and putting.

North of Hartford, golf courses in Connecticut become fairly sparse. But there are several standouts well worth the trip to play. Skungamaug River Golf Club, up in UConn territory, is one of them. It’s a beautiful and playable course, demanding solid shots from tee to green if you expect a good score. The hilly terrain meanders smoothly and sometimes abruptly here, around the Skungamaug River, past marshy ponds, and through the woodlands, yet all of it is good for golfing. The opening stretch of six holes provides a pleasant sense of freedom: it is links-like in its openness and the breadth of its holes. Trees are present on this stretch, but only in abundance on one side, usually, of the fairways. Lacking long par-4’s, the total length of SRGC is far from monstrous, yet it has four par-3s (of five total) that play uphill; they’ll require mid-irons or hybrids—or more—for most players. One of the five-pars, the seventh, demands two very powerful shots if you hope to make it a two-shotter, and another –the impressively long 18th—is unreachable for the vast majority of players.

Most of the greens here are large and contoured, but a few—especially those at fifteen and seventeen—are rather small. Several of the surfaces slope drastically in places, creating putts that may be agonizing. Only a few greens lay relatively flat. Bunkers are not pervasive here but are plentiful enough. They vary in size from large and wide to the small pots found on linksland. Mostly placed strategically, nearly all of the bunkers are in the vicinity of greens.

The front side has four strong holes in two, six, eight and nine. Eight be the toughest hole to par on the entire course: an uphill three-par of 171 to a terribly demanding green—nowhere does it flatten out—for which you’ll need great finesse to even take two putts.

The back side, though, is alone worth the price of admission to SRGC. The course’s temperament changes a bit as the inward half opens with a string of five excellent and demanding holes. The twelfth and fourteenth are the two best among these, both similar par-4’s that begin from high tees (with commanding views) and end with greens onto which shots can be run up or flown. In between are gently bending fairways lined by woods, and in each case water hazards pose distinct threats to straying or uncooperative tee shots. The par-3 eleventh, which travels sternly uphill, has a big bunker lurking to its right, and its pitched green is no easy two-putt. The seventeenth is even longer at 189. Its tee shot must fly over a small vale to reach the perched and well-protected green, quite small for this big carry. As whole, then, the back nine is longer, somewhat narrower, a bit more angular, possessed of more and bigger elevation changes, and harboring more punishing slopes and hazards. Yet it also has a couple of weaker holes, the fifteenth and (to a lesser extent) the sixteenth, that don’t seem all that strategically sound. Eighteen closes things out admirably, a big, rolling and attractive five-par of 530, ending on a slightly elevated green with a false front.

It was nice NOT to play a round today (as has happened several times this year on other courses) during which I was waiting around as a foursome in front of us was dallying on the fairways or putting out at great length. A few of those other times I was half-expecting to see fields of ice forming on the Connecticut River—a sure sign that I’d been waiting long enough to witness the onset of the next Glacial Era. Slow play is still the biggest curse of this game, but I’ve yet to see it at Skungamaug. In fact, my son and I played eighteen walking in a brisk and beautiful 3:15. The course was surprisingly well populated for a late-November day. Conditions were respectably good but not great: much of the course was in nice shape, but some of the fairways are still recovering in spots from the summer drought, and the greens were aerated.

Bottom line: You can play—at a fine value—this varied and interesting and excellent track, tucked away in the northern hills of Connecticut. It’s worth seeking out.

Recent experience there was not a happy one. Had to pay extra money to ride by myself which I think is very very unfair. There were plenty of carts available. Being a senior I did not appreciate being charged extra to protect myself from Covid 19 issues. Then when I got out to my golf cart it was soaked from rain water. Seating area and floor were full of water. I said nothing and got towels out of my car and did their job for them. Paying extra for the cart left a very sour taste in my mouth after that. Other courses I play at are more considerate. I like the pro there very much and did not want to write this review. I think he is great but I am sure he has to adhere to managements guidelines. I had planned on playing Skungamaug more often but I am going to opt for other courses that meet my needs. Joe

Having written extensively about SRGC last September, I’ll add these comments:

A) The front side has several aesthetically beautiful holes, a couple of strategically placed ponds (on five and six), and two challenging 3-pars.

B) The front-side’s two par-fives give the longer hitter birdie opportunities. The fourth is very easily reachable; the seventh by two very well struck shots.

C) Noticed a big disparity—after I thought about it—between the lengths of front nine versus back.

If both were doubled in length, the back would be a 6,000-yard course, the front 5,400. Two key differences are very short par-fours on the front (301-362 range) versus back (376-395). That’s a big contrast for most single-digit players, leading to many more wedge or shots on the front. The front has two reachable par-5’s; the back’s single five-par is out of range for most players—and it’s a tough hole to boot. All of this simply means that the front plays on the easier side, the back pretty hard. Even the two par-3’s on the back are quite severe, especially 17.

D) All that said, the layout is still the star of the show here, mixing clever design features with variety and with old-school strategic options (most of the fairways have width, leaving you to find the best route to the hole). The front nine, however, will probably leave some lower-handicap players wanting more. But it’s still clear to me that two of the best designed golf courses north of Hartford are Skungamaug and Rolling Meadows in Ellington.

E) What makes the front really interesting are the natural, rolling ground contours on all of its four-pars. They are truly links-like, and very few courses in the state have the natural (not bulldozed) ground flow that this nine possesses.

F) Conditioning dropped a bit from what I remember last fall. The fairways and rough were not as good, although the greens and their closer surrounds were very good considering this hot, dry summer.

G) To play at twilight is receive off-the-charts value: $12 allowed me to play nine holes and finish just as the sun was at the horizon. Twilight hours also attracted a lot of junior golfers, which is a refreshing sight. Kudos to the ownership for making the game affordable for them; America needs many more junior golfers than it has. As for me, this is the only time I’ve played twilight golf this year, but it turned out to be invigorating. It was the second 9-hole round I walked on two courses (the other was Rolling Meadows, earlier), so the somewhat lower temps at twilight made it easier.

H) Though I played mainly the outward half, I’ve included a few pics of the back nine as well.

Course was in poor condition. Very run down. Owners need to put some money into it. Updates and TLC needed.

This is a course, I believe, that has gone underrated. It lacks length, it lacks a well-known architect, and it lacks the trendier, modern style that became the front-runner with the likes of Robert Trent Jones, by the mid-1960’s, and beyond that with the fame of Pete Dye. Thus Skungamaug River Club, designed in 1961, may not have been considered, at one time, ‘fashionable’ among many of those golfers who were sampling courses some distance from home. Evidence of this may be suggested by its omission in Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play Guide” from 1995. In more recent years, it has received considerably more respect in both this and other guides.

Playing this golf course today, what I found—beyond such ratings—is that one’s game will be tested on the majority of SRGC’s holes, especially on the inward nine. More than this, Skungamaug was fairly swarming with golfers, while the clubhouse and restaurant both had a genuine air of vibrancy.

This is a course to be reckoned with; it is by no means ‘easy’ and far from boring. Even better, it was fun to play. It compressed much that is admirable over its acreage: clever, old-school design; an aesthetically pleasing, American-classic parkland setting; cleanly styled holes; and some strong Donald Ross-influenced design touches thrown in for good measure. If we throw out all preconceptions about length and course rating, then what may emerge is true, gem-like value in this fascinating layout. It is easily among the best short courses I’ve played in Connecticut; its layout, in my book, rates five stars.

What may be argued in terms of this course’s quality? A few facts should be helpful. The course slopes at 120 from the blues: therefore, it is an above-average challenge for the mid-handicap player. It has five par-3’s averaging 168 yards, four of them uphill and one of them (the longest, at 189 yards) requiring a mid-iron or hybrid to be flown over a gaping dell to a tiny, perched green. The closing par-5 is 533 yards long—a clear three-shot hole for 95% of golfers. Earlier, at hole 7, a 461 yard uphill par-5 travels up a final, steep slope to a well-defended green, and the majority of golfers, given how far they drive the ball, will also play this as a three-shotter. Most of the greens are on the small side, and some have been made deliberately shallow (examples are at 9 and and 17, both a mere 15 yards deep) to demand precision approaches hit at the right distances if the hope is to take a simple two-putt, and, as Ken Venturi used to say so eloquently, “go quietly” to the next hole. Water hazards are in play, meaningfully, on eleven of the holes. Almost every hole sports elevation changes; the terrain is such that many of the greens are often raised, and sometimes sternly pitched; they are frequently protected by bunkers, big greenside slopes, or their own steeply-sloped edges. Finally, much of the course features woodlands on the peripheries of its fairways and oftentimes behind the greens, where large drop-offs are not uncommon.

To me, that is quite enough factual description to suggest that few golfers will go out and mow down this track. True, its modest course length is a factor, but its par is only 70; and a lot of the ‘shortness’ is due to a quartet of par-4’s (1, 3, 15 and 16) that fall a bit under 350 yards in length.

There are also some intangibles that clearly suggest that the course’s ‘unknown’ designer, Joseph Motycka, was well versed in what made a high-quality layout. First, the greens possess several traits that are Ross-like; perhaps he admired ‘The Donald’ of links fame: the genius, that is, who died in 1948. Many of the bunkers, secondly, are hidden, or, more impressive still, are small pots with large, British-styled walls. Add to these his careful green-siting and incorporation of intelligent risk-reward options on several holes, and the course has enough drawing cards to excite serious players.

Maybe what is most impressive here is a beautiful and long string of holes, from 6 to 14, that are all at least very good. The standouts are the last four of them, starting with eleven, a burly, uphill par three with a strongly pitched and well-defended green. Twelve will fully test your driver with a confined landing area with a lethal left-side water hazard, along with woods to the right. Thirteen is a gorgeous, woods-encircled hole that demands another precision tee-shot and an equally precise short-iron. And fourteen may be the best four-par on the golf course. At 395 yards and playing downhill from the tee, it requires that you lay-up short of the water before lofting a well-struck mid-iron uphill to its undulating green.

Fifteen, the only hole that both my son and I disliked, is very finicky but still playable—but I think we’ll need to be back a few times more to get the hang of this ultra-quirky 290 yard 4-par. On the other hand, the three closing holes provide a suitably strong finish, culminating in the aforementioned par-3 17th, a masterpiece of careful design, and the almost equally impressive par-5 home hole, whose fairway wriggles over attractive ground contours on its way to another impressive Rossian green.

The staff’s friendliness would merit six stars, if they could be granted. I was happy to meet the club pro and owner, along with several other service workers at Skungamaug, all of whom were unfailingly polite and helpful. Course conditioning was good, and its standout aspect was an extremely smooth set of well-kept and true-rolling greens, which were notably fast on downhill putts. The fairways were good overall, but not great. Amenities are solid, with a particularly nice pro-shop, but the clubhouse and restaurant fall somewhat below the competition in the area (they could use a bit of sprucing up, I think).

While few experts would call SMGC a ‘hard’ or punishing golf course, even they should find more than enough challenge here to stay fully engaged (as my son and I were). Part of the fun for us was being paired up today with two friendly and amiable gentlemen, both of whom loved golf as well, on the front nine.

Skungamaug may not have a great deal in common with modern-styled courses like Lyman Orchards or Topstone, but frankly is better for having its own unique identity. And many mid-handicappers may find this a near-perfect fit. After a great initial experience here, we are certainly planning to put it on our rota.

They had a tornado pass through the course a day earlier but the course was in good condition. They were working hard to clean up the fallen trees. The greens are challenging lots of angulation.

Discount good , course interesting. Players at this time a bit loud, no concern about people on tee or green which were close to each other. Tees & yardage could be better marked. Would definitely play there again.

Good value for the money I paid to play, restaurant needs improve food was not good.

I've been playing this course for years and it is a very good course. The staff is always friendly and helpful. Some of the holes are unusual but fun to play. We started at about 10:10 and the play was a little slow. The front 9 took about 2.5 hours to play. Most people only played 9 so the back 9 only took us 1.75 hours to play. They have the basic hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch. There is a small old fashion pub. There is also an enclosed patio that overlooks the course that is very picturesque.