The Vue

Laurel View CC was a very pleasant surprise. My wife was attending an event in Westport so I decided to tag along for the day and play some golf. Laurel View was close so I decided to give it a try. The course has a great layout and is in very good shape. Maintenance guys were very visible maintaining the course; greens, fairways and rough were all well maintained. The guys in the pro shop were very friendly and informative about the course when I checked in. The experience was very enjoyable.

Good news & bad news. Good was the course layout & greens. Bad news was no snack bar and/or bar, bunkers were in terrible condition and the range is one of the worst ever. If you go make sure to pack a lunch. The cart girl was awesome however and had a good selection of beer on ice!

Overall it was not that bad, but if you go into a bunker you would be better off picking up your ball! The bunkers are the worst I have ever seen!!

IT IS A COURSE THAT HAS EACH HOLE HAS IT OWN DIFFCULTY. YOU THINK IT LOOKS EASY THEN IT HAPPENS HIGH SCORE.

Tee to greens the course was well maintained and my foursome all enjoyed the course. Older course that definitely needs some tender loving care. The ball washers on each hole were broken or without water. We only found three holes with distance markers so most shots were a guess as to distance. Sand traps were without sand or had very little. You get what you pay for, a golf course that is a little challenging, good condition for a very reasonable price.

Cart paths are in poor condition but fairways and greens are good. Rough is deep. Back nine is narrow with severe elevation changes. Some holes need a spotter !! Great value for the price.

Liked the course alot and will go again. Got my first hole in one on hole 12 so it's tough to not to like this place. There just a few things that need attention. Some of the ball washers had no water at least half of them. No drinking water on course so bring water. There needs to be better distance markers they were hard to find or spot. The course itself was in great condition and the layout was very nice.

decent condition, greens inconsistent possibly due to Poa.

Fun course with lots of blind tee shots and very "hilly". Fairways and greens are in good shape considering that we are early in the season, BUT the cart paths, buildings, practice range, and grounds off the fairway & greens (yes- I visited these areas) are really beat. Sad because it seems with a little more TLC they could put it all together..

Great course for the money and always in great shape

We arrived 10 minutes early for our tee time only to be told that there were no carts available. We were given a small bucket of balls to take to their range. When we finished at the range 20 minutes later the carts were still not back around. By the time we got to the first tee it was 2:45 and we had a 2:10 tee time. Aside from the late start the only issue I had were the cart paths.

Staff friendly & helpful, course in very good condition for April in CT, clubhouse/restaurant was not open- a disappointment, definitely not a walking course

In comparison to other town owned golf courses, Laurel View is in terrible condition. This is not due to the fact that I played it December 4, it's because the entire facility is run down and needs many capital improvements.
The cart paths are shot. It's like driving in a war zone. Many areas of washed out ruts were all throughout the course. The sand traps have not been maintained for months and are just another eyesore.
As a Hamden taxpayer, I am embarrassed by this facility and would never reccomend it to anyone no matter what the greens fees are. The current management group has been thrown off other courses and should lose this contract. Hamden needs to step up and make needed improvements and bring in a group that will make the needed improvements or sell it to a developer.

playing in November - course in great shape - leaves are a problem as with all courses.

First day playing at Laurel View Country Club in Hamden, CT. It is not going to be the last. Great experience. Very friendly staff and attentive to details, from start to finish. Marshall (or ranger) was checking through course players' pace. Course was well maintained, even we are at New England in Autumn, were leaves galore. Leaf blowers were out there, but you block the noise after a while. You do not want to loose balls under the leaves. Holes go from easy, moderate and challenging for all playing abilities. Highly recommended. It is a public course that can brag with the privates.

The course seemed a little weather beaten, could use some landscaping improvements.

Where to start.

How about you can only get a discount if you book it through online. Doesn't matter if you call ahead in advance. Instead of paying $31 I payed $49. Whatever. I can get past that and the "front desk" guy who couldn't give a hoot.

Best part was the Starter. Friendly, helped us out, etc.

Then we get to golf. Or I thought. We hit off the short par 4 first when the group ahead of us left the green. We finish the 1st hole and we see the group ahead of us looking for their ball. Now let me say that our group consists of 2 people who shoot near 85 and 2 people near 100 so we aren't scratch but we aren't slow paced either. We wait. We wait. They finish.

Now we get to my second gripe. The score cards are 100% incorrect for distances. You can't go by them. You need GPS because my supposed 130 stone marker in the ground, I hit a SW to the green after I flew it with a PW and had to hit a provisional.

So we finish the 2nd, get in our carts, and ... what ... the group in front of us is teeing off. What? That's right. About 15 minutes have passed and they are teeing off. 2 guys in their group top, and top, and shank their way into about a 50 yard gain before we start talking about how we read online how this course is HORRIBLY slow.

Well, there has to be a ranger right? Wrong. Not 1. We finished our front 9 with a 1:20 tee off time at 4:45. Thats right people 3 hrs and 25 minutes for 9 holes is roughly 23 minutes a hole and most of it was us waiting.

The course played out well. Was in good shape. Except for the bunkers. My god. It's literally concrete with dirt on top and rocks everywhere. I destroyed my Titleist Vokey wedge trying a normal bunker shot after clearing rocks and acorns around only to see a huge buried rock underneath after my shot. Literally just chipped out of the bunkers the rest of the day if I even could otherwise I would just pick up and play from the rough.

So we finish the front 9 in the slowest time I've ever played 9 and we head to the back. Anyone to check if we are playing 18 or 9? Nope. You could easily pay for 9 and play 18 if you wanted. I bet you could walk on and pay nothing if you wanted. No rangers or security.

So we start our back 9. Nobody in front of us. We tee off and there are people in front of us who are walking up the green while 3 others try to find a ball. Now these people aren't pros nor good amateurs, heck they aren't even good so why are they taking 5 minutes to find a ball?

Whatever, that passes. Next hole happens. I crush a drive and wait 200 yards out to hit a 5 irons when ... ouch ... I get hit by a ball on my right leg. No four. No warning. Nothing. Great. We finish the 11th and I wait for the guy to drive by and apologize. Nothing. Nice people.

We wait and finish. This repeats over and over.

Funny side note. There was an abandoned cart filled with cheap beer that broke down in between the 16th and 17th and was just "there" in the middle of the cart path. Just sitting there.

We finally finish around 6:30 p.m. and it occurs to me that this course is a shell of what is was when I played it through my youth.

In my opinion save your money up and go to Traditions or if you live upstate play Wintonbury.

TL;DR - Laurel View is a slightly below average course that is made unplayable by the pace and absence of regulation.

Course had taken a lot of rain early morning but very playable. Tee boxes did not drain well and were the wettest part of course. The course had been maintained which made for an enjoyable round in spite of wet conditions. Greens were in good shape. Course was challenging but fair. Would play there again.

Great value with Golf Now. Course was in great shape. Only problem was slow play, however the pace got a little better except for the par three holes.

Very pleasant course with an interesting layout. A pity it took almost 6 hours to play 18 holes. And not only once a golf marshal showed up to explain the reason for such an amazingly slow pace and try to remedy to it.