Tradition Golf Club at Oak Lane

Super fast greens and balls didn't hold at all...

Decent conditions and beautiful weather.

My friend booked the two of us through GolfNow about a week in advance for a 9/9 tee time. Having played there before, he knew that unlike any other course he or I know of in the area, Oak Lane was requiring two golfers per cart (you couldn't have a cart to yourself, even for an additional upcharge), even if you had any type of medical condition that might make you a higher risk for COVID-19. When I got there, I put my golf bag on the cart my friend's bag was on (no dividers of any kind in that cart or any other carts I saw). Meanwhile, at least one of the other two golfers we were scheduled to play with (who had also booked through GolfNow), were not aware of the cart policy and upon being informed of it offered to pay an additional fee for a single rider cart but was denied. He had come up from NY to play at Oak Lane but after a few more unsatisfying words with the staff, including the manager, left without playing (they said it was stated on the GolfNow confirmation but can't believe they (or GolfNow) think anyone looks at the actual confirmation other than to possibly verify date and time, much less read the "small print"). My friend and I ended up playing that day as a threesome, with the remaining golfer from the other twosome, and had to start off on the 10th hole and were told that it was cart paths only on holes 3 through 9. After we made the turn and were playing the front nine, we saw that most of the front nine was cart paths only because they had punched the fairways. We did a little waiting to hit but still made it around in a decent time, so pace of play was fine (no ranger or effort to monitor pace that I saw, but didn't seem overly crowded). After the round, my friend booked a round for the two of us for a week later, on 9/16,. Now 5 days after booking the round and two days before the scheduled tee time, GolfNow called and, presumably at the instruction of Oak Lane, said they needed to cancel the tee time and refund the fee. Apparently questioning the course's policies on usage of carts and its compliance with State of Connecticut requirements for golf courses is enough to get you banned from the course. JUST A WARNING: IF YOU PLAY HERE MAKE SURE OF COURSE CONDITIONS (NO AERATIONS OF GREENS OR FAIRWAYS, ETC.) AND DON'T QUESTION ANY OF THEIR POLICIES

Played with three other singles who had to travel along way to play Oak Lane. The staff was as helpful as usual and the course was great! Greens are fast and firm which made one of the guys angry, he couldn’t putt and blamed the course lol, even said he couldn’t wait to kill them in a review. I really enjoyed the course and plan to play again soon!

Played this course maybe a month ago and except for the abundance of wasps/hornets in many of the bunkers, enjoyed my round. I can’t say the same for the course conditions today. Some of the tee boxes were “rough” with dry patches and sloppily kept. The bunkers, especially on the front 9 were full of pebbles and lacked sand. My foursome used pitching wedges rather than sand wedges to get out of the sand. The worst part was the conditions on the areas surrounding the greens which were poorly maintained and extremely inconsistent.We were all bewildered by the overall conditions as opposed to the last time we had played the course. Mind you, we were 4 singles who just met today and all left disappointed on the upkeep. We finished in 4 hours which I appreciated as I had traveled over an hour each way to play. I will not be returning to The Tradition anytime soon.

This course looked really worn down. Lots of tee boxes were beat up and missing grass. Greens had a ton of ball marks and divots in them. Fairways looked good for the most part. This course has a decent layout with a lot of holes needing you to play less than driver. Bunkers looked better than they have in the past. Overall I think the cost to play here is a little too high for the conditions it’s in. I’ve played other courses in the area at the same rate that are in much better condition.

From the moment you arrive you know this is a well run course. Much better than their ‘sister’ course in Wallingford. Decent fairways and challenging greens.

The course is in very good condition, there are some sketchy spots around the greens however the greens themselves and fairways are beautiful. They do a great job of alternating tee boxes and make the course challenging.