St. Anne Country Club

Great course and in great condition. Greens were a little soft because of last nights rain but in general the greens held very well. First five holes were fun and challenging.and then the course lightens up. Rough is thick and tall and punishes an errant tee shot.

Beautiful day, great value and we will be back! The only negative was pace of play. 4:45 and we waited on every hole on the back side. No rangers or Marshall’s on the course.

Pretty decent day, only real complaint is that they overbooked considerably. Our tee off was 10+ mins late, we were waiting almost every tee box and getting hit into from behind as other antsy groups tried to speed up their own pace of play. Course is in pretty good shape. Keep it on the fairways, the second cut is very healthy here and your golf ball will disappear.

Love playing at St Anne’s. Love the layout. Course conditions have been excellent each time I’ve played here.

Windy windy... And more Windy! Greens are slow on the front 9 and molasses on the back 9... Great warm up course to work out the cobwebs at the beginning of the season. When wet some of the fairways will swallow your ball upon impact off a great drive but other than that all the holes are complimentary to average Joe recreational golfers. Cheers Boyz!

We got to play golf in New England January 12. Does it get any better than this? It does, St. Anne’s is in great shape for January. A little wet, but in outstanding shape.

Built on what looks to be rolling farmland, St. Anne Country Club boasts a pleasant mix of holes in the tradition of classic New England layouts. From the blues, the course is moderately difficult yet enjoyable, putting forth enough challenges over its 6,349 yards to hold our interest, and decidedly so. Though the layout is very good, it has some flaws, notably its penchant for flattish greens, its inclusion of several relatively mundane holes, and its sometimes underachieving green complexes—though a majority of them are good. After the first hole, the fairways tunnel through mature oaks and conifers without much vertical movement, but later—by the sixth—they open up, rising and falling dramatically to allow for long and pretty hillside vistas. Aesthetically, this is one of the best tracks I’ve played within a 50-mile radius, with holes that flow naturally over an attractive landscape.

COMMENTS:

--MANY HOLES THAT CHALLENGE: The 569-yard 18th, though distractingly beautiful from tee to green, is a monster finishing hole. A sprawling and tumbling dogleg-left which hops a stream just after the landing area, it can be reached after a well-positioned downhill tee-shot. Yet the stream limits how far all but the longest hitters may bite off on the drive, and the only play to the green from short of the stream is to absolutely throttle a shot from some 230 yards up a gargantuan hill, in hopes of carrying (or fading around) a monumental oak tree guarding the green’s right flank. It’s an easy task if you’re Dustin Johnson. Should you want to get home in two, then, the demands of this shot that may truly fit the word ‘epic.’ The green itself also features pronounced slopes, making par a good score here.

And 18 may not even be the most interesting hole! There’s also the stunning 10th, constructed, as it is, about as cleverly as can be imagined for a 325 yard four par. The drive is straightaway, but to a blind and drastically tilted (leftward) fairway, and so must favor the right side. Any marginal second shot will be punished. From the fairway’s lower left side, your wedge into this high-perched green must be extremely well judged and struck. Miss left and you’ll tumble down to no-man’s land and be on the fast track to a double-bogey. The green is a mere 19 yards wide.

Holes six through nine provide a stern challenge on the outward nine. Both six and seven are visual treats, but also tough par-4’s, despite their openness. Six is a classic 398-yard uphill test of patience (plays long) with a blind second shot; seven a testy 415-yard down-a-big-hill affair (plays longer), its fairway gently doglegging to reach a raised green. Doubtless, birdies are scarce at the seventh. Eight may be a short five-par, but it can be exhilarating: you’ll need to hit a laser straight-second shot to hold this green and avoid the small pond coyly hiding on the right. Nine is simply an excellent—and longer—par-3 where the marsh lurks in the background to drink down wayward shots.

--MORE HOLES OF MERIT: On the back, enjoy the 195-yard 15th (arguably the course’s best par-3) along with a pair of masterful uphill, short par-4’s in the twelfth and seventeenth, which are equally demanding on the approach shots. The 17th green turns the screws a bit tighter by its strongly canted green, making 2-putting from almost anywhere a small feat. A balance is struck, however, on the difficulty of the back nine’s short four-pars, as holes 13 and 14 are relatively tame and may well yield birdies to good wedge players.

GREENS and CONDITIONING: Conditioning, save for the bunkers, was impeccable. Greens rolled to near-perfection—they are truly ‘country-club,’ as befits a course with this name. The fairways were also excellent, the rough very good, and without many bare spots. Few courses I’ve played this year have been better, but washed-out bunkers—frequently visible—were a disappointment, though fortunately I landed in none of them. The green complexes were relatively challenging, but would be tougher if they were more tightly bunkered (many of them are not greenside, but situated some 20-30 yards prior to the putting surfaces).

--IN GENERAL: Even having played golf here today with temps hovering in the high-30’s, my son and I gave St. Anne two thumbs up. Though we both thought the first five holes were a bit dull, our overall perceptions were fully reversed by the ninth. St. Anne may not quite match the shot-for-shot consistency of the nearby Oak Ridge, a superb George Fazio layout, but its strong holes still make this winning layout a must-play. I'll rate it 4.5 stars. By the way, the conditioning mainly surpassed that of Oak Ridge (I have to assume that these bunkers are normally much better). Above all, St. Anne is a great deal of fun to play, and we could attack the course, for the most part, without too many worries. The clubhouse is unpretentious and nicely appointed, and the personnel here friendly. We will have to return next spring or summer.

...those who cut into a round and start at the 10th tee instead of #1.,Those “cutting the line” can see those on holes 8&9...seems they don’t care.

Civil War league....previously played the front 9 in 1 1/2 hours. Got behind the Civil War League and finished the back nine in 3 hours. One foursome was waiting for a Par 5 hole to clear before they teed off. Average age seemed to be 100 based on pace of play.

There’s some pompous women golfers who won’t let players behind to play through.

With all above said...I like the course. It’s fun and there is great finishing hole...18

What a great course. Excellent shape, tee boxes to fairways to greens. Awesome layout.

Third time playing here. The course is always in great condition and every green putts the same speed. The course was very busy and seemed like there were players on every hole. Even with that we moved along at a nice pace. Had lunch afterward. The sandwich was excellent and at a great price. I wish this course were closer to home. Well worth the one and a half hour drive.

Very nice golf course and staff is very nice also. I like Saint Ann's its a very good course and always in great shape.

Played with a new talkative 3 some. Discovered that people talking when trying to hit can be nerve racking.

Tees, Fairways, Greens all in good condition. Greens slower today didn’t look cut or rolled. Pace of play okay but never saw a ranger. Some groups cut holes to avoid slower group that’s was 3-4 holes behind pace. Shorter holes for longer hitters but have to be straight.