Black Birch Golf Club

This course has a nice rural country setting. The tee boxes, fairways and greens were in good shape for this early in the season. The bunkers were in need of attention and repair. My wife and I were pleasanntly greeted by Keith, who was very friendly and accommodating. I normally play at this course a few rounds per year, and it is an exxcellent value for the average golfer. The club house also maintains a snack bar for lucnh and serves lunch.

I thought I was playing at the town dump

Banner dump

Played the course over the years and it was lacking but NOW it is playable. Better then i expected. Greens were slow but what do you want for 14 bucks. I was impressed enough and will play again. Hopefully it will get better and better.

Have been playing here at least four or five times a season for five years and the course condition has improved ten fold.

The 13th and 14 holes are now fun to play and hard. The effort is really showing.

Weather was excellent and we had a great game of golf. Pace was just right, we let a single player go ahead of us at one point but that is to be expected. We be back soon.

After the back and forth layout of the first few holes, the rest of the course has a nice layout. No irrigation in the fairways so during periods of dry weather, you can get bad lies in the fairway. The greens are well kept and soft. Have a beer in the clubhouse afterwards, the staff is very friendly. Great value!

course has improve a great deal since we last played.

The course website lists Donald J Ross as the designer, but I could find no evidence of his style here. I suspect the first nine was built in 1923 as part of the development of a "weekend getaway" resort in this hilly area about 35 miles from Hartford. The first four holes are extremely boring [down and back up the same ridge twice]. The next five are slightly better, except for the 8th, which is the worst par five I've seen in 60 years of golf.

The second nine is more recent and somewhat more competently designed and money has clearly been spent to improve the drainage. There is apparently no budget for fertilizer and herbicide as the fairway grass, what there is of it, is thin and is rapidly being overhauled by crabgrass and clover. The greens are decent and the traps did have some sand. There is a driving range [mostly crabgrass] for irons only and a tiny practice putting green. The buildings are well kept and the staff friendly. The carts were clean and well maintained. I did not eat at the dining facility. I doubt I will be back.

From the reviews I read ahead of time this course was worth a try. The course is a great price and yes I can see they are trying to improve the conditions. Things don't happen over night. If your looking to get some swings in for a reasonable price then this is the course to play. For one it helps you ( the golfer) improve their game and it also helps the course to get golfers try their course for a reasonable price. Nice staff! Go out and grip it and rip it!

Enjoy!

Fun to play. You will use every club. Elevation changes keeps you on your toes selecting the right club. Greed rolled well

Nice layout of a parkland course. Fairway grass not great, bare on a couple of holes.

I played Black Birch this morning and thought it was a course with great potential. The phrase "you get what you pay for" is a fitting description for Black Birch. I paid $24 with a cart and thought it was a great deal for the course. The entire staff was extremely friendly from the guy in the Pro shop to the maintenance crew. The tees and fairways were mainly crab grass but I didn't notice too many bare spots. Very playable. The greens were in good shape not great shape. There were a lot of ball marks that needed to be fixed and they rolled a little slow but still very playable. Bunkers are not rock hard but they contain very little sand.

Layout is challenging but fair. A couple of forced carries over water and bunch of elevated tees and greens to mix things up. Overall I had an enjoyable experience at Black Birch. As I said before a course with great potential. I would definitely play again especially if they continue to improve.

First off, I would recommend this course if you get a good price ($30 max). I had not played the course in many years and heard that they had put some money into improving the conditions so I was intrigued. Yes, they have improved the course somewhat but they have more to do. The most notable improvement was their greens - which most players care about. They were in much better condition than when I used to play there. They were a little slow but were but rolled true (I actually had to fix my ball mark a couple of times - which was never the case before!). They have worked on the back nine as well, with improvements to holes 13-15. The clubhouse restauarant is much better and the staff is very friendly. I will be back (and be willing to pay more if they continue to improve the conditions beyond the greens).

Black Birch is a great course for a quick mid week round. There are elevated tees and challenging holes to enjoy.

Hadn't played here in a few years but noticed some improvements to layouts on back nine. Tees & fairways in o.k. condition but greens were very good condition. Staff was very friendly. Overall a very good value. Look forward to playing again.