Ruggles Golf Course

I booked through golf pass, showed up at Ruggles only to be turned away by staff. Seems there was a previously scheduled golf tournament. I drove an hour and took off work for nothing! To compound matters Ruggles staff claimed they didn't have a Golfpass contact phone number so I could get my pre paid greens fees back.

Course has an easy layout. The conditions though need to be improved. Greens are not well maintained( dead grass and bare spots), the sand traps also not maintained. Fairway has allot of grass clippings, ruffs are very ruff. If you're looking for some good practice or looking to improvement you're swing, this course may help.

Talked to Ted about Ruggles will one of our rotation fro the Super Senior on Tuesdays. He give us a reasonable senior rate.

It’s a fun layout but unfortunately the pace of play is terribly slow, many people who cannot even swing a club, and poorly maintained tee boxes and bunkers. Sadly cannot recommend

After playing Geneva Farms the day before and being wildly disappointed, had to give Ruggles a try and I was not disappointed. I knew what kind of course Ruggles would be, but it still exceeded my expectations. Staff is nice and friendly. Pace of play was great, I was a single and played in 2 HR 20 min and every group instantly let me play through. For fall golf, I couldn’t complain about much. The tee boxes and fairways weren’t perfect but certainly respectable for the time of year and price I paid ($30 hot deal). The greens had a few rough spots around the edges, but very rolling very consistent and I had to speed down to a science after the 3rd hole. Pretty easy and forgiving course, just stay out of the treeline hugging almost every hole and you’ll be fine. Definitely would play again for $50 or less in the fall.

Fairways and roughs are made up of different grasses like Bermuda, bluegrass, clover, and weeds. There are also bare spots. In the fall, crabgrass starts to grow in many fairways. Bermuda grass would be a better approach, but converting to something sensible probably won’t happen here (budget?).

The fairways and greens are not in great shape partially because the irrigation system is not working well. Some greens and fairways get water (the bunker in front of #2 green is a perpetual pond); others don’t. Earlier this year, I saw a grounds crew member using buckets of water to cool down the 5th green (no place to hook up a hose). On the 8th hole, a broken pipe in April or May caused a leak on the right side of the fairway/rough, about 100 yards from the green. If they had fixed it right away, there wouldn't be a muddy swamp (50 yards by 20 yards in size). The area will be unplayable until next spring or summer unless they use sod (again, probably not within their budget).

There are also many other leaks around the course that haven’t been fixed for weeks, months, or even years.

Many bunkers resemble little league dirt infields with a deceptively thin coating of sand. Sand wedges bounce off the surface - you might try hitting down with the heel of a pitching wedge and get a better result. Replacing the sand and rakes is probably too expensive.

Many greens are sick with diseases, so there are dirt patches, weeds, and other problems.

Although they do have a maintenance crew, many things go unattended. The reeds in front of the par 3 6th are so high one can’t see the green from the forward tees. The rough to the left of the tees on #11 has grown so high you can’t easily see if it’s safe to hit or not from the white/blue/black tees.

Because there aren’t any rangers, players feel free to drive carts everywhere, to include almost right onto the greens. Fivesomes are common, so expect a slow round. If you do run into a problem with a slow group in front, call the golf shop and let them know. If they have someone available, they’ll try to resolve the issue.

There are no longer any ball washers (anywhere) or divot mix boxes on the par 3 tees. Also, there aren’t any water refill stations, so bring your own water bottles (or buy water in the golf shop). Refilling larger water bottles in the clubhouse is challenging.

That said, I enjoy walking this course, and the hole designs are moderately challenging. It’s a shame that they can’t get the Army to invest in improvements.

It was a great course to play. Wide fairways, but good luck if you manage to miss the fairway because, the rough, even though it's cut down, is really easy to lose your ball in. The course is in much better condition than the more expensive courses that I have played in the area. However, there were no water cooler emplacements throughout the course. Thankfully, I had a water bottle in my golf bag and it lasted for the front 9 and I asked the server in the canteen to refill it when I hit the turn. There wasn't even the beer/refreshment cart driving around.. So...stock up before you head out.

I will definitely play this challenging course again and also recommend it to my friends.