Ron Jaworski's Valleybrook Country Club

I booked a Friday morning 8:40 am tee time with cart via GolfNow for two players. We tee'ed off at 8:45 am. We could see three groups in front of us at the 1st hole. This was going to be a long round! The pace of play was very slow as the course was likely filled up beginning at 6:30 am. As such, we had to politely wait on many shots until the group ahead us was either off the green or a safe distance from us. We were infuriated by the group behind us who hit up on us several times in an attempt to make us play faster. Idiots!

At the 6th hole, a ranger approached us. The ranger stated a very large tournament was going to start in about 2 hours and the course management wanted all golfers off the course within the next hour so the maintenance staff could prepare many of the holes for the tourney. The ranger further stated the course management was going to give each player a full complimentary pass to play 18 holes any future time PLUS give each player a free beer for quitting early. We thought that was fair for cutting our golf day short.

After quitting following 9 holes, we went to the Pro Shop to collect our full complimentary pass and beers. The guy in the Pro Shop thanked us for quitting early and handed us two pre-printed cards for a free round of golf. We looked at the cards and quickly noticed the full complimentary round was good for Monday-Wednesday only and EXCLUDED a golf cart. I stated to the Pro Shop guy (Joe) we were told by the ranger the complimentary pass was good anytime in the future; not just M-Wed.. We were also informed by the Pro Shop guy that we would have to pay an additional $50 ($25/ea.) to rent a golf cart when using the passes. After I loudly objected to his poor passes offer and additional cart fee, the Pro Shop guy said we had two choices. ...either take the passes "as-is" or give them back to him and leave with nothing. Wise guy! I said this was totally unacceptable and immediately demanded to speak with the Pro Shop guy's manager.

I discussed the matter with Phil, the Valleybrook Director of Operations. The Director apologized for requesting we quit after 9 holes due to the upcoming tourney. I firmly pointed out that we had paid for a full round of 18 holes INCLUDING a golf cart and that we should expect to receive no less for a complimentary pass to play another 18 holes with a cart in the future anytime during the week. The Director graciously agreed and provided me his business card so that I could make contact with him in the future to redeem our complimentary 18 hours with cart for anytime during the week. Although we were finally compensated properly for quitting early, we were disappointed that we could not play the remaining 9 holes as planned as both of us were having a great scoring round.

LESSON APPLIED: SPEAK UP AND BE FIRM IF YOU FEEL YOU HAVE BEEN WRONGED!

This will be a two part review, one on the course conditions and the other of the extremely poor management and professionalism of the staff.

1. Course conditions were fine. There are better places to pay for the price, but overall I was pleased. Around and behind the greens were a little choppy. Fairways were nice and greens rolled nicely, too.

2. Now the horrendous part. Due to overbooking and "losing" our tee time, the 9 holes lasted 3 HOURS! We booked our tee time online for 10:56 and when we arrived they "didn't have it in the system." Luckily, we had a receipt. The manager said he would fit us in after a group between 12-20 people. Don't know how many because he wouldn't tell us. We didn't tee off until 11:50ish. The rate of play, mostly because of the older gentlemen in front of us, was horrendous. I could go off on the inability of the starter to pair the groupings properly, but this is already too long. Rangers were apparently non-existent because even if the gentlemen were old they still weren't playing with any semblance of pace. We decided to call it quits after 9--even though we payed for 18--because the rate of play was unacceptable. When we arrived at the clubhouse to discuss what kind of recourse would be available to us; I should have known we were leaving disappointed. After acting disgusted that we were upset that 9 holes took just over 3 hours, the manager comped 18 holes. Here is the catch: it's only valid Monday through Wednesday. Other courses in past have either returned money, or comped us 9 on the weekend.

I guess I'll be taking a day off work to play my comped round, but after that I'll never golf here or any other Jaworski course, if this is the way management acts. By the way, when we pulled around the clubhouse at 3:00pm, there were no carts available for the people waiting. Just plain old overbooked, no exuse for that.

TL;DR: overbooked, management didn't seem to care and acted disgusted when brought to their attention. Spend your money elsewhere if you have the chance.

Valleybrook is a decent course, tight on numerous holes. Not bad if you can find a discount to play. A lot of regulars and/or members play there, so pace of play moves pretty good.

Pro shop staffer not very customer friendly. Hopefully Jaws will make it right.

Course was in great shape for this time of year in the northeast. Rare good day for golf in February. Only problems were the rate of play and the fact that we had a 1:22 tee time and didn't get off until 2:28 since we were waiting for a cart which was already paid for.in advance.

Been playing golf for 20 years this was one of the least enjoyable rounds I've ever had. Heard good things about this place. It was only $35 after 2 on a Sunday. First few holes were boring but fine then we hit a wait of two groups backed up on each tee. The layout is boring. You basically go straight up and then straight back 5 times on the front. The holes are right on top of each other I've never seen holes so close to each other. One of the guys in my group got hit and that was not a rarity it was happening all over the course. We saw the group behind us slam a shot into the vinyl siding of a house which is another problem. You're literally playing through people's backyards. We teed off at 2pm and got to the turn around 4:50. No exaggeration. We decided to quit after nine and cut our losses while we were still uninjured. Also Both of our carts were broken. Greens were way too slow for a real course. They obviously don't know how to run a course here but to their defense they don't have much to work with. The holes are so close to each other there is no way to play at a normal pace unless it's empty. My buddy had some sort of Ron jaworski discount card yet somehow ended up paying more than we did without the card. There were also random people walking all over the course. It's right in the middle of a development. There were two guys driving around in a cart looking for a lost dog in the neighborhood. I'm not kidding how can you make this stuff up? I can't believe jaws attached his name to this place. Apparently his other courses are decent. They can't possibly be worse.

Good course to play. Wide fairways and fast greens. The course was in great shape.

The course was in great shape for a late-October round. The greens were incredibly fast, which surprised me, since it had rained that morning.

I believe there was a large group playing as well on Sunday afternoon - the course was extremely busy, with a high number of newer or high-handicapped players slowing down the pace of play significantly (spending several minutes hunting for lost balls, taking 4-5 shots to move 200 yds off the tee, etc).. We would have to wait, at minimum, 5 minutes for each shot.

As a result, my twosome started @ 2:45, and had to quit around 6pm due to darkness, only playing through 12 holes.

Can't control who plays, but the main drawback was the lack of enforcement via a Ranger.

paid for 18 holes, only played 11. Pace of play slowed down tremendously. However, the front nine layout is not very good. Holes 6,7,8,9 are up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the hill. You don't know if the group ahead of you is clear because they are blind shots and there isn't a bell for the to ring to tell you if they are clear. Balls were flying from every direction, and although I did not see anyone get hit, I'm sure it happens quite a bit. Carts are old, some have broken keys in them. Course could use an upgrade. I'd like to play the back to see if it is any better than the front. I would never play full price for this course and layout.

I have played this course 5-6 times this year and every time I come they are over booking. Our foursome had to wait at every single hole and could never get into a groove.
3 weeks ago I had a tee time to come and find out there was an outing that started late. I was told they could not get me out for at least an hour later then my tee time was originally set for. Frankly the young man that explained the situation was down right rude. He explained to me in a very arrogant tone that they were "busy" and that there's nothing he could do about it so I should get over it.
In other words, I haven't had the best experiences at this course. I like the layout and enjoy playing here but I strongly recommend not over booking tee times and also to train the staff how to handle customers when something inconvenient happens.

Great course and good condition

The staff was great. I left my wallet in the cart after playing a round, Stan called me and said that he had it and not to worry he will hold it until I pick it up.
Thank you Stan

Mark Davis

The carts here either barely run or buck like a Bronco.Brakes are shot too. Your back will hate you for playing here. Pack a lunch...the pace of play is so bad. I get ill watching Jaws blab about his concern for customer service on his tv commercial. I live a long par 5 from this course and rarely play here.

I've never played there but have heard about it. My thought was with Ron Jaworski's name on it has to be a premier course but it was far from that, It looks like no one cares about it. I dont think they have a greens keeper, which would explain alot. It just looks like no one cares, its a shame. I would never go back.

After a 5.5 hour round I do not think I will be returning to this golf course. What is frustrating is the lack of management. How can you continue to double book tee times and have 3 and 4 groups waiting? There was a ranger that pretty much followed our group around instead of going on his way when he should have been going ahead and speeding up the pace of play. Very hilly course. Young kids in front of us were playing around an picked up our ball 5 times. Course conditions overall were good especially considering the heat wave. But other factors outweighed the conditions therefore ruining the experience. Will not be back.

I had a tee time for 9:12. Apparently, two groups showed at some time before that claiming to have tee times though the course had no record of that. Still, they squeezed them in which pushed everyone behind them back. So I teed off about an hour later and waited to hit on every tee until about the 8th or 9th hole when things opened up a bit. I find this rude and inconsiderate and will never patronize this place again.

First time using golf now and first time playing Valleybrook. Very easy transition from club house to first hole. I was assigned to play in a foursome. I got there early and was told I could go out. Great . I met another senior on first tee. We hit it off ( pun and no pun) very well. We were similar in our skills. I was a bigger hitter but his short game was excellent. Course offered many types of terrain and skill levels. Will be back. A liittle difficult finding some tee boxes. Not a lot of signage . We overcame.

The course is in very good shape. It has some challenging holes but still very good for beginners such as myself. The staff is very friendly. All round a good course. I'll be back.

Course was in good shape. Greens look good. Staff was very friendly and helpful. An eagle on the Par 5 17th made the day great!

I like to start my reviews by mentioning I am a newer golfer, a little over a year now. I had read and heard many negative comments about the course in general, would like to say I was pleasantly surprised. One has to remember it is a public course, so yes it is a little beat up, but overall I would say in pretty good condition. The greens are amazing, soft and well maintained. Fairways are in pretty good condition, but like most public courses, the golfers need to fix their divots. The drink carts could not be timed better, seemed whenever I needed a drink, there they were, but could do a better job with the water station placement.

Now the few negatives, the layout of the holes seems to be too much, off one green right to the tee box, by that I mean, too narrow and straight, play does get boring. I want to say 4-8 all feel like playing the same hole. I felt like the sprinklers were following my group the first 3 holes, turned on each time we teed off. Like I said before, golfers need to fix their divots.

Overall not a bad course, I will play there again. Fortunately I found a great deal on GOLF.now, so did not mind what I paid.

Last time I played this course- "Jaws " name was not attached to it. Still looks the same. Played at 2 o'clock and there was no water in any of the coolers. Greens were punched a week ago and ran very slow. A little more sand in the bunkers is needed. Played in 3 1/2 hours. Did not try the restaurant. Staff was professional
Would only play again with another great deal from Golfnow