Galloping Hill Golf Course

There has been great improvements over the last few years and there is still work going on. It is certainly a challenging layout. The greens are much quicker then I remember too.

Bottom line first, even if the course was in pristine condition, I would only recommend it for players that like extreme changes in a course (e.g., hilly fairways with uneven lies and elevated greens). I would not recommend it for high handicap golfers. The sever rough and number of elevated tees makes it extremely long for most players.

I was looking forward to an afternoon out of the office to play a challenging fun course. The experience at Galloping Hills was very disappointing. And my golf partners (great golfers, handicaps of 7.1 and 6.6) said to me after the round "I will never play this course again."

The course itself is beautiful with rolling hills and should have been challenging but fun. The "fun" was ruined by the following:

(1) Pace of Play - it took 5 hours and 15 minutes to play on a Tuesday afternoon. I have not had a round that long on any weekend all summer. I think a major issue with the pace was the rough. Every group I saw on the holes around me were looking for balls in the rough. A ball rolls two inches into the rough and you can't see it. At one point (four golfers, two from my group and two from the adjacent fairway were looking for balls in an one small area between the two fairways. The rough was also thick and grabbed your club. This is not good for pace of play at a public course.

(2) Poor Course Conditions:

(a) The tees and greens - I saw the reviews about how much nicer the course was since the renovation. Well, the day we played the course condition was awful. The greens had lots of bumps, long gashes like someone had cut into the green and brown (burnt out) areas; as well as, donuts around the holes too. The tee boxes were not much better. For example, the tee on 18 (White and Gold forward tees) had no grass.

(b) The fairways on the front nine were aerated. And we were not told about the aeration in advance.

(3) Sprinkler System Timing: We kept having to wait or time our hits because the sprinkler system kept going on (at least 6 holes we had to deal with sprinklers) and not to mention the soaked turf and wet balls. Why would a course water at 1 p.m. when the course is full of golfers.

On the bright side, the staff was pleasant and the restaurant (bar and grill) excellent.

Good layout and much improved with the renovation. Several really good holes, but a few lack any real definition or notable characteristics. Overall a fun course and a challenge despite shorter length. Several holes play to elevated greens which is something not seen in more modern courses.

Fairways and rough were in great shape. Greens as of this review are really in rough shape, with post-aeration like top dressing despite not having been aerated. Extremely slow and bumpy - this may resolve over time, will take a few weeks to heal and then you're into aeration season, so might be longer if they do that.

Galloping is by far an easy course. A good amount of money has be put into the course and club house and its attracting players outside the local area. Yes there are some who thinks the fees are pricey but its definitely who of the best public course in the area.

Played here Monday morning - beautiful day for golf - checked in with pro shop - paid 60+ dollars and set up cart at first tee. Then it was all down hill - the guy from the pro shop comes out and tells us that it's cart path only. I get the reason for path only - the course was soaked in many places - then don't charge us full boat - I asked why he didn't tell us that before we checked in and he replied "oh, sorry, I forgot" - there was a guy in front of us on all front nine greens changing the pin locations - so we waited each hole - when we did hit up he would move the pin to another location making our putts go from manageable to ridiculous. With no one behind us you would think he would let us play thru. Then there was the maintenance guys with the huge blowers - they wouldn't stop to let players thru - running blowers full throttle near tees and greens - they just didn't care - you would never see that on a respectable course - I'm so disappointed with this experience - it will take a lot to get me back to this course

They've done a great job with the upgrade. This course wasn't that great but now plays like one of the best courses in the state.

Biggest issues with course is a lack of information. There are no course books available and distances are marked only every 50 yards with no markings on par 3s.
Course features multiple changes in height. 1st, 2nd, and 7th greens are elevated along with the 3rd tee box.
There are several blind dog legs, in particular 8 and 13 which require a hook around trees to fairway. 14th is a blind tee shot to a severely undulating fairway,
All of this contributed to being perplexed, especially true at par 3, 14th where one member measured a hole listed at over 180 yds and came with 144 yds.
Also the course has only 2 par 5s. The one on the front is a narrow tree lined hole that twists slightly as the overhanging trees pinch in. While I hit driver from the tee and found the fairway. My second shot which left edge of the narrow fairway was blocked out by trees. 18 on the back is the other par 5 and requires strength, thought and skill. A dogleg right, it plays uphill over a hazard to ample fairway. Hazard continues off the left of the fairway off the tee so stay right center. Second shot is uphill and must think where you want to place the ball and some lies are severely uphill especially closer to the green.
3 par 3s are not dramatic. 5th hole is a redan hole up a steep hill to diagonal green that is severely undulating . There are woods behind and to the left to catch the errant shot. Note green was thin and balls run more quickly. 11 is a middle distance 3 with a bunker in front and a large green. The most dramatic par 3 is 15 with a highly elevated tee with green diagonal to it. That tee was closed when we played and an alternate of unknown distance which at or near green level and straight on was in use.
Greens are generally slow except 9 and 18 which seem much faster. Some are bumpy especially 5 which was a little thin. Staff should be wary of pin placement as 5th green (when I played) yesterday was missing the windmill. One member of our group started with a 5 footer above the hole and his next putt was from twenty feet below the hole. Another player putted 3 times up the steep ridge to the cup only to have the ball come back to him.
One last note blue tees are the regular tees, white are for seniors, gold are front and black are championship tees. We played from blue as the event we play in next week used them. Maybe an interesting course from further back though.