Simsbury Farms Golf Club

Simsbury Farms looks like a classic New England track, yet it also subtly fits a more modern mold. The traditional countryside setting is pleasant and aesthetic, and the course is fully isolated from all nearby housing by woods. What unfolds as you play a round here, though, is the course’s smart design, which still feels contemporary: it is filled with big, strategically-placed bunkers among an array of solid holes that should challenge your whole game.

Two defining characteristics of Simsbury Farms are its general openness along with its tree-lined fairways–even though the trees are set back, typically, by wide areas of rough. Does this make the golf course easy? It is far from that, with many elevated and contoured greens, doglegs and offset fairways, lots of ground movement, and a few water hazards to be negotiated. The scratch versus par rating is 71.2/72.0; the course slopes at 129 from the deep tees.

This should not be surprising, given that Architects Geoffrey Cornish and Ted Robinson were given an ideal tract of farmland with which to work prior to Simsbury’s 1972 opening. It is huge (235 acres) and strongly rolling, as the fairways ride the hills throughout the eighteen. With all of this spaciousness, the designers were free to find the best sites for both varied fairways and green complexes, and they routed the course not only appropriately, but also with an admirable balance, especially on short and long holes. Two of the par-3s are of medium length, one of them is long, and another very long. But the difficulties of their green complexes and bunkering varies, generally to counterbalance tee shots that are long or uphill. Of the four par-5s here, two of them–the 5th and 14th–stress accuracy, while the 12th puts a premium more on length; but the seventh (the #1 index) will require both.

Bunkering / Short Game:

Unless you strike the golf ball like a touring pro, you’re likely to end up in one–or maybe several–of the bunkers here, as they seem to be almost everywhere. I found them to be challenging for their depth and especially for their sometimes unusual contouring. As in the driving zones at holes two, six, and seventeen, Cornish uses bunkers mostly as a psychological threat, but they will still snag their share of off-line shots. Bunkers at the short par-4 fifteenth are far more dangerous: all three (on both sides of the fairway) are positioned along the general line of an ideally-placed drive.

Pitching can also be difficult: the falloffs from the greens are pretty steep, often enough.

Good putting is the key to making your score here, not only because the greens are so well contoured and sloped, but also because they sometimes prove tricky to read correctly. What surprised me was just how much the ball would roll—and roll, and roll–after trickling by a hole on a downhill putt. A lot of this is a function of green slopes that had been designed more steeply in the 1970s, a time before greens were typically cut to generate the (what are now) higher Stimpmeter numbers. A typical Stimpmeter reading in 1977 (from a USGA study) was 6.5 feet; today on a typical course it varies between 8-10 feet–or nearly a 40% difference in rollout on a flat green. So, as every member of my foursome found out, control of your putts here from above the hole was one of the toughest aspects of playing this course.

Shot Values:

Cornish's signature 'shot value' philosophy is evident throughout, creating a balanced challenge where easier shots are often followed by tougher ones and vice-versa. Here are some examples of how this plays out at SFGC:

At the par-4 third hole The drive plays to an open fairway with bunkers only on the right; this is an easier shot. Yet the second shot, uphill to a raised green that is fronted by a large bunker, is much more difficult.

At the par-4 eighth A short hole, yet one that travels straight uphill, its drive is challenging, having a landing zone protected by four bunkers. By contrast, the large green may be flanked by bunkers, but they don’t lie snug to it, and it is open in front; it’s a relatively easy approach.

Course Conditions:

Very good, overall: excellent greens and fringes, good roughs and fairways. The tees lagged behind the rest.

Amenities:

Unusually strong, especially for a public course, with an impressive clubhouse, a driving range, a large putting green, and a fine pub–where service was excellent.

Staff Friendliness:

The assistant pro, also acting as the starter, was flexible and accommodating in every respect–professional attitude, friendly demeanor. The whole staff was first-rate.

Some conclusions:

This is a high-quality municipal layout. Other than what I saw as one flawed hole (the 14th), the course flows smoothly and runs on all cylinders. Its openness around the greens is particularly unusual for Connecticut golf, and I think it's a refreshing departure from the norm. Most importantly, Geoffrey Cornish’s encyclopedic knowledge of course design fully shines through. This layout is in the same league with some of the best Cornish tracks I’ve played, including Passaconnaway and Bretwood (both courses) in southern New Hampshire, or The Captains and Cranberry Valley on Cape Cod.

Simsbury Farms was my high school home course, and between the nostalgia and some tangible efforts the town has put into sprucing up the course (new-look bunkering, plus some other improvements), SFGC seems to be better than ever. The Geoffrey Cornish classic sports a very good set of greens, some of which are nearly 50 yards from front to back, and others that are scary-steep from back to front, such that leaving yourself above the hole is a near-guaranteed three-putt. The course is not terribly long or punishing off the tee, so the putting surfaces form its main defense. Best of all, Simsbury Farms is inexpensive to play and justifiably beloved by locals. A sneaky-good muni.

(Delayed entry)My friend raved about this course, and now I know why. This was a fun and fair test. The course is forgiving and the greens rolled true. The town of Simsbury does an excellent job of maintaining the course, and the food at the turn was delicious. Played a weekday late morning and the place was packed, but we never felt rushed, nor did we have to wait long between holes. The round flowed nicely and at a steady pace.

Simsbury Farms is a very well-kept public course located about 20 miles from the I-84/I-91 junction in Hartford. But, getting there can be especially challenging from south or east of Hartford. The course is located in the sticks and most GPS’s and Google Maps directs you via RT 44 and thru Hartford. Do not take this route. Better yet, get on I-91 North and continue to Exit 38 (Day Hill Rd) and let your GPS find the course from there. Once there you’ll find that the golf course is part of a large municipal sports complex comprised of tennis courts, an outdoor, enclosed hockey rink, and a swimming pool. There’s even an apple orchard within the complex that’s part of the course.

This track is laid out over rolling hills with stunning views especially in the fall. The best leaf peeping hole is from the #7 tee. Simsbury Farms is busy all season and very popular with women, seniors and numerous golf leagues that play there regularly. Fairways are quite wide, greens well-manicured and green-to-next tee box routes are short and logical. The golfing facilities are compact: there is ample parking next to the clubhouse and the bag drop is close to the pro shop and 1st & 10th tee boxes. Adjoining the first fairway is a driving range. Behind the range is a large, flat putting green, the clubhouse and the starters podium.

Our group usually plays from the whites here (5800 yards) while the course ranges from 5409 to 6509 yds. Even from the whites two of the par 5’s were 533 and 535 yards. Ponds come into play on holes 3, 5 & 15. On three and fifteen you’ll need to carry the pond on your drive, which should be no problem for average players. On the 5th, (500 yds blues) your approach shot is over a pond so a layup before the pond is necessary for most players. Long hitters can reach the green in two. But, be aware that there is a narrow, water-filled ditch that runs down the entire left side of the 5th fairway to the pond. Be careful with tee shots on 1 & 10 as you cannot see the group in front of you until well after they’ve hit their second shots. An “all-clear” bell on these holes would be helpful. The middle fairway of holes 1 & 10 were also resodded this spring and are just starting to fill in but are very playable. On the back nine, holes 13 & 17 share an hourglass-shaped green, which give players a very large putting surface. The course is rather hilly so taking a cart is a good option for many players.

The only problem we had this day was a very slow walking foresome in front of us. They held up everyone behind them and had a two hole gap between them and the next group. Thankfully they only played nine. A ranger was needed, but none was on the course.

The restaurant food is good and orders can be phoned in for pickup at the turn. There's a bar in the restaurant, although you'd never notice it. No beer taps, liquor bottles, etc in site. it looks more like a no frills snack shack at the turn.

This course is great for all players. I rate the course a 4.. If they had a diligent ranger and a restaurant that looks like the place to order a beer or a gin & tonic , I’d give it a 4.5.

Excellent distances on the pair 5's, the pair three's are moderately difficult and a few of the fours are up hill.