Red at Tunxis Country Club

Again, a beautiful round at Tunxis golf course. Today was an incredible 75 degrees and sunny in November. The course was jammed full but pace of play was great. By the time my friend and I would reach the next tee box, it would be about a 2 minute wait and we could tee off then.

Course in great shape, leaves cleaned up very nicely. Only issue I have is there was still no cart person going around offering beverages or snacks. Not sure if because of covid....would of been nice to enjoy a cold brew but it didn't ruin the round at all.

Will be back soon to squeeze one more round before winter comes

Tunxis Country Club has enjoyed a strong reputation statewide since the club opened with this, the 9-hole Red Course, in 1962. Over the course of some 35 years, Tunxis gradually expanded to reach its current incarnation of 45 holes (which include the White and Green Courses, both traditional 18-hole layouts). I remember my high school golf coach speaking in glowing terms about Tunxis back in the late 70’s, but did not sample it myself until around 1990. It became an immediate favorite.

These days my preference at Tunxis Country Club remains the Green Course, which opened in 1997, incorporating several holes from the older layout. The Red, which Tunxis’ website promotes as mainly a beginner of family course, or the ideal setup for a quick round “after work” (exactly what I did today), is still formidable enough to have been chosen by the GA Reader’s Choice as one of the Top 15 favorites in Connecticut. While I’m not strongly partial to the layout here, I do find it a course well worth playing.

The Red’s countryside setting, being apart from housing developments and other major distractions, is quite serene and relaxing. A few of the holes—three and four—are only a few yards from the Farmington River, seen through a ‘screen’ of the large trees that border it. Hooked or pulled golf balls on these holes may “swim with the fishes,” to borrow a famous movie line. This layout’s general flatness—it’s set in a river valley—may preclude it from being exciting. But the handsome, mature trees everywhere do provide nice definition and excellent separation to the holes. They also give the Red its beauty. Thankfully, the course does not fall into the devastatingly dull pattern of predictable and relentless tree-lined borders on every single hole: the trees are varied enough in their placement to lend some genuine visual variety. Today their brilliant fall hues (see photos) were especially vivid and greatly appealing.

This layout lacks the overall variety of the typical Connecticut golf course, whose stock-in-trade is the application of significant elevation changes and strong ground movement. This, perhaps, will be the Red’s greatest weakness in the eyes those who frequent the lower half of the handicap spectrum. And yet this ‘shortcoming’ may be its greatest asset to less experienced players—the ideal fit for families and beginners. In fact, I witnessed a very vivacious young girl, playing with her father (I believe) ahead of me, and it was clear she was enjoying Tunxis Red—and the game of golf—immensely. It did my heart good to forget momentarily about my own golfing cares and watch her take pleasure in this game.

Make no mistake about it: Tunxis Red is far from a pushover. Yes, many of its fairways are wide and flat. A tour from the back tees, though, will require genuine skill if you hope to hope to shoot a number south of 90 or 85. Double the Red to 18 holes, and it would be a moderate 6,450 yards from these deep tees. The slope is also a surprisingly high 129. Moreover, the course rating slightly exceeds its par of 35. Its architect was the late Albert Zikorus, who became something of a Connecticut institution as a course designer. Credit him with pulling off the neat balancing act of fashioning a tough course that also turns out to be playable for nearly all levels.

Tunxis has gone through a tough season, as has all of Connecticut, that’s played havoc with course conditioning. One can see, readily, the effects of a dry summer on the fairways here at this mid-autumn date. Their full recovery, though, seems imminent; right now they’re about 75% of the way ‘back to normal.’ Based on what I’ve observed over the years, this facility has always had high conditioning standards. Overall, the course conditions on the Red can be called ‘average’ or a bit below that mark, given that the bunkers, fringes, and aerated greens proved to be less than desirable. The rough was surprisingly lush, but the tees were a bit spotty (though this was not much of a hindrance).

And what of the individual holes themselves? The Red begins with a trio of longish holes (377, 416, 170) which set a certain expectation. Of these, only the third feels narrow, mainly because the tree-line impinges on the tee shot, a bit surprisingly, which effectively hems you in a bit. The next hole, the par-4 fourth, will require restraint on the tee shot: trees a bit beyond the landing zone will block you in on your approach if you’re not somewhere on the fairway.

The problem with these first four holes, though, is that they’re a bit bland—and pretty conventional—for a designer like Mr. Zikorus, who trained under Donald Ross. The good news is that from here on in—five though nine—things turn better, markedly. Five, the lone 5-par on this nine, will encourage you to slash away with your driver; its wide, receptive fairway is alluring. This dead-straight hole then throws up stronger defenses, with two clusters of big trees on either side of the fairway before the entrance to green five.

Six and seven are my two favorite holes at the Red. A stout four-par of 416, six has a St. Andrews-like fairway—seemingly as wide as a football field. I pounded a drive here into the breeze, but still found myself having to lash a five-iron into the surprisingly modest green. Seven, another nice challenger of 389, starts out over a large, shimmering pond, a pond still well in play in the landing area’s vicinity. No big forced carry is necessary to reach the fairway, however, leaving you some freedom to swing away on the drive.

Eight is another conventional, but still challenging par-3 of 201, its bunker-guarded green sitting on a small plateau. Nine is a vibrant finisher: a rightward-bending hole, but supplying just the right amount of width to set up a fairly rigorous driving zone.

A mild weakness of the Red is a predictable pattern of bunker placement around the greens, as every bunker is set to the side. Along with that, green shapes lack any real variety, and the greens are somewhat flat overall. Other courses created by Mr. Zikorus,’ such as Rolling Meadows, Hunter, Quarry Ridge, Timberlin, or Heritage Village, are notable for their contoured and slick surfaces.

Despite the few shortcomings of this Red nine, it has a lot to recommend it. I felt the same old sense of fun again playing here that I’ve always experienced. The course is also long enough that most low-handicappers won’t be forced into a steady diet of nine-irons/wedges into these greens. And although things may start off a bit tamely, the clear conversion (half-way through) to some testing holes should leave most players in want of a return engagement. I wouldn’t hesitate to tell any golfer to give it a go at this Connecticut mainstay.
Other notes, comments, & opinions:
A) I got a good look at several holes of the Green Course today, and its recovery from when I played it several months ago looked pretty dramatic. If it’s improved the way it looks, then consider it a potential five-star experience.
B) Once again, Patrick was outstanding at check-in: personable, friendly, accommodating, flexible. Most golf course staffers are fine, but a few like Patrick exceed all typical expectations. This club knows more than a thing or two about customer service.
C) Sprawling, contoured practice putting green next to the clubhouse; nice driving range near the spacious parking lot. Impressive facilities. Another highlight is the snazzy landscaping around tee one of the Green Course.

Played the Red course two times in a month and a half. I don't who wrote these reviews of "excellent," or who is coaching them to do so, but the Red Course is a cow pasture. Ruts, crab grass, and weeds in the fairways. The fairways are as hard as clay. Poorly maintained sand traps and tee boxes. The greens are decent. But there is nothing to distinguish between fairway and rough. They've got a lot of nerve charging $35 (with a cart) They won't let you play 9 on the better Green or White courses, but they don't mind taking your money and forcing you to play 9 on a course that is clearly not maintained. Lack of rain is a poor excuse for a dumpy course. Go to Stanley, where their Red, White, and Blue courses are maintained properly. They've had the same lack of rain and it's obvious that they're putting the money into their courses, not their pockets. We will never come back to Tunxis, and the sad part is, they couldn't care less if two of us come back or not.

The course is in good conditions considering the lack of recent rain and being very hot the last few days. Unfortunately there were no rangers to keep things moving and we backed up with four groups on one par five (green, fairway and two on the tee) The rough is a little long, but I presume they are not cutting because of the heat and lack of rain

Solid course and easy to navigate. Dry due to lack of rain but greens are holding up well.

Great course and conditions. Well kept and this course is perfect for someone walking or riding 9holes. They have 2 other 18 hole courses so u rarely have to wait . Also not a lot of water or woods so better for amateurs

This layout is great and the price can’t be beat but the conditions were not up to par.

As has been the case seemingly all summer, we had to wait on every single tee box. A 9 that could be played in 90 minutes instead took 2 hr 40 minutes.

Not to mention, I had booked a 3:10 tee time only to be forced to tee off at 3:20.

Seems to be happening at every course, so I won’t fault Tunxis, just keep it in mind.

Had an 11:50 tee time and couldn’t tee off until after 12:10 because it was so backed up.