Farmingbury Hills Golf Club

Good track and early season conditions. Worth the play. Good people

A true exemplar for what a good nine-hole layout can be in Connecticut? This course–absolutely. Given the era in which it was built, Farmingbury Hills is not a long track. Still, this rugged hillside course continuously taunts you with an array of sloping greens, with several steep or tilting fairways, and above all with many elevated green complexes that make chipping and pitching to them a real task even for the most skilled players. Whoever designed this course in 1920 had genuine golf smarts.

Off to a Solid Start:

The first hole is the best of the opening three at Farmingbury, with an approach shot that is subtly difficult–even with a wedge in hand. The long and awkward second hole, a par-4, requires positioning off the tee: the fairway’s left side is open; from its right side you’re left with a nearly impossible ‘forced carry’ over a massive tree rooted some 50 yards prior to the green. At three, the fairway hurtles downward off the tee to a driveable green, but to do so, a long hitter will have to evade a trio of bunkers in the neighborhood of the green. For most players three will be a nice drive-and-pitch hole. The fourth hole is the course’s finest, first because of its dramatic view across the valley, second from the challenge inherent in its breathtaking downhill tee shot down to an angular and slippery fairway. Hole 4 also boasts what may be the most difficult putting surface–tilted as it is–of the nine.

A Great Stretch:

By the fifth hole, the course bolts off in almost the opposite direction–literally and figuratively. Moving uphill now, fairway five splits into two, leaving two ways to play the hole: with ‘Green A’ straight ahead, and with ‘Green B’ off to the right–on the second of two branches. This means that on Farmingbury’s front side and back, hole five finishes differently.

Moreover, holes six, seven and eight follow the same principle, making for a nicely expanded course, in a sense, over the typical nine-holer. Of these, the par-4 version of the eighth hole is the most impressive, as the drive, after it has crossed a dell, should land near the corner of the dogleg–or, ideally, will be faded around it. Those who hope to make their scores will need to delve into these final five holes using careful thought and precise execution.

Hole seven is simply an outstanding hole, a par four that plays over water from the tee into a sliding, tilting fairway, where, during a dry summer, you may get a big bounce down the hill. There is work to be done, though: an edgy green complex here will catapult the rightward miss down a steep embankment; it also penalizes misses left and long in almost equal measure.

Conditions / Other:

Average. Greens were good or very good, but the fairways and some greenside areas lagged considerably. Dry weather has taken a toll. Tees were inconsistent. Of course, it’s early in the season; summer is still a month away.

Service from the counter person I met (Steve) who was outstanding in every way. His engaging presence went well beyond that of the typical employee, and I enjoyed our conversation.

Since I played this nine in 1 hour, 20 minutes, I’d say the pace was pretty good!

Some Conclusions:

This is quite the antithesis of a modern nine-hole course such as Tunxis Red in Farmington–a course I fully respect. That the old-school cleverness of a Farmingbury Hills manages to exceed the overall strengths of such a prototypically long and big-bunkered layout underscores just how good Golden Age layouts can be.

Enjoyed the course, played with three other golfers and had a great time.

Need some fill in many spots but overall fairways and greens okay. I like it there

Some spots need be filled and dressed but fairways are ok and greens are nice.

Too many slow foursomes. Maybe a space timing issue. Actuallly skipped a few holes, pace and number of golfers stacked up