Farmingbury Hills Golf Club

Great course for the money. I do wish they’d add gravel to cart paths and dirt into the pot holes and bumpy spots.

Farmingbury starts out quietly on a short, downhill par-4, although the left-to-right tilt of the first green makes it tricky to hit in regulation. The longer, downhill second hole is much tougher, especially because a prominent tree may well block approaches from the right side of the fairway or the nearby rough.

This course doesn’t move into its highest gear, however, until the scenic downhill fourth. Nothing less than a full-blooded tee shot will suffice here, playing to a landing zone framed by trees and a busy road. The fairway itself is angular and offset, unfolding what seems like miles below the tee. Your tee ball should favor the left side to open up the green, but overshoot that area by a bit too much and you’ll quickly find the rough or woods. On the fourth green you’ll need to use careful judgment; it’s not uncommon to see three-putts, and birdies are a rarity.

The next three holes are moderately difficult; however, with good shotmaking these holes can be challenged. The fifth offers a wide fairway to hit from the tee, though your approach shot must be judged accurately to find a green situated atop a towering, steep hill. Ditto for the tee shot at the uphill, par-3 sixth that follows. Then at seven, it’s downhill from the tee onto a flowing, swelling fairway, a fairway that forgives imperfect tee shots. By contrast, there is precious little room for error into the well-protected seventh green, with its devilish fall-offs on the right side and in back.

A decent but somewhat basic par-3 follows. Then it’s time for the closer, which just may be the course’s best hole, whether played as a par-4 on the front side or 5 on the back. With bold fairway contours, scattered but well-placed trees, and a range of choices regarding the best line of play into the green, this is an especially terrific three-shotter.

Conditions:

Average overall. Good, lush and consistent greens (if a tad bumpy) and fringes; sometimes a bit uneven beyond that in greenside areas. Fairways and roughs were average, tees mixed.

Other:

Friendliness was mixed here. Two of the course’s employees were good, one bad. Pace was very slow: 2.5 hours. My playing partners, a very pleasant and interesting father and son, turned out to be excellent, saving the day from what was not so positive.

Some conclusions:

To make your score at Farmingbury, you’ll need to get off to a good start by playing the first four holes well; that means staying out of the most severe trouble: the road on one, the woods/trees on holes two and three; both the road and the trees on four. Two-putting the fourth green will also help. From there on in, the course moderates, such that birdies become better possibilities. What I like about the course is that there are no “thread the needle” holes, as the fairways are fairly proportioned and sometimes lean toward the broad side. That’s the Golden Age, classic tradition shining through.

This course never has anyone out policing the course. The pace of play was over 2.5 hours. The greens are so shaggy. It's going downhill.

My group of four drove up to the first tee box 5 minutes before our scheduled tee time. The always polite starter, checked our receipts. I stepped into the tee box for my first swing after not playing for a while. I missed my first swing and then dribbled my second swing, 5 foot out of the tee box. As I took a ball out of my pocket to tee up, I started being yelled at for being the reason why a back up is created. People are waiting (another cart just arrived). “This is not a driving range”. “This is not the place to play if you don’t know the rules”. I then hit a 180 yard drive with a slice. As this man continued to harass me, one of my group asked the starter if he was an owner. A hod shake confirmed that he was one of the course owners. We then had to wait at the remaining 7 tee boxes for the group that left so far ahead of our tee time, that we didn’t even see them tee off at 1.

Starter is completely careless about pace of play. They sent off a twosome who was 35 minutes late for their t time in front of us. Our 9 hole T-time was for 5pm and we didn’t even get to play all 9 holes before it got too dark. When brought to the attention of the starter she said “Well you played as many as you could”. Terrible customer service and system they’re running.

First time playing there and had a good time. There are 5 holes that play different if you're playing 18 holes. Found that to be confusing but still enjoyed the course.

I enjoy playing at this golf course. Everyone is super friendly and courteous. It’s considered to be a beginners course. The pace of play can be very slow and I think picking when you play plays a part in that.

I would play here again.

A group of 4 jumped two groups at the 1st tee box. When we told the guy who was organizing the groups about the group that jumped us and another foursome he said, “that guy is part owner at another course”. What? So, that makes it ok to jump the line. Terrible!