The Spa at Norwich Inn

Not very long but don't be fooled by the yardage tricky shots elevated greens.Greens were a little slow trying to keep the grass green during the dry season place was an impeccable shape otherwise

I’ve played several times at Norwich but never has it been such a slow pace on the back 9. There wasn’t a starter at 1:00 so singles and twosomes went out no matter what their tee times. Everyone caught up to the foursomes on the 6 or 7th hole and didn’t seem to want to pair up. We finally decided to leave before crossing the street and quit at 14. There was no ranger either. The weather was not great and there were a few sprinkles but not enough to stop play.. I will make sure before If I book again that the pace of play is overseen.

This was my first time playing the course. I enjoyed the layout - a nice mix of different types of holes. Would recommend to others looking for a new course to play.

This course is in excellent condition. Especially for a public course that gets a lot of traffic.

The starter, Mr. Lathrop was so personable and accommodating.

Really enjoyed the round.

THE LAYOUT :

-Plays longer than course yardage, and brim full of challenges

--High slope rating (131), so unsurprisingly there are no real “breather” holes

--Parkland style dominates, with a few more woodsy holes

--Fairways pitch and roll impressively by their continual ground movement

--Frequent doglegs test your driving skills

--As on a links course, you’ll benefit from knowing how to play the bounces

--Bunkers, mostly deep and large, protect the greens (a few in fairways)

--Judgment around the greens–pitching, chipping, putting–is a key to scoring

--Good size variation among greens, though most are smaller and well-contoured

--Beware the small ravine on eleven and the ditch fronting green fourteen

OUTSTANDING HOLES:

BEST PAR-4’s: Seven, Par-4, 380 and 11, Par-4, 412.

Playing closer to 400 yards (steeply uphill approach), this is a classic, Golden-Age styled hole where the tendency is to play safely left off the tee to the dogleg, which effectively makes it longer. The approach to a hazard-laden, small green is a pure test of your skill with an iron. Seven is a brutal par-4 that requires both a strong tee shot and even better approach into a fortress-like green complex.

MOST INTERESTING: Seventeen, Par-4, 328

Thrilling, imaginative short hole, and looks like something that C. B. MacDonald or Seth Raynor could have created. Downhill from a high tee with OOB left, stands of trees to the right. Unique fairway and a green set upon a plateau– a great target. Wow!

BEST PAR-3: Thirteen, 110 yards.

You simply can’t miss this postage stamp green, set atop a steep hill, by all that much, unless you go a bit right (where there are still problems). The other problems are OOB and what happens when you miss short.

CONDITIONS:

Good in places, very good in others. The greens were almost excellent, but marred somewhat by too-frequent ballmarks. Fairways and roughs were generally good, having but a few weak spots. Roughs and tees: above average. Very thick rough around the greens isn’t my preference, but–I get it–some clubs find favor with it. All and all, I think the greenskeeping efforts are strong, but the course is popular.

SOME CONCLUSIONS:

This is a hard but still strategic track, which is a nice balancing act. I haven’t played here in two years, but, writing this, I was reminded that Norwich possesses some of the best individual golf holes in Connecticut. I don’t see how serious golfers–unless they have a strong preference for modern courses–could be disappointed in this excellent, never-boring layout.

First time playing here. Staff was friendly. Course was in pretty good shape. Nice practice areas. Lucky to be hooked up with a friendly foursome which made the round more pleasurable. Some greens were slow and some were fast which made each hole challenging. Will play there again.

Course is a fun layout and has you using club in the bag. Pace of play was slow took 5 hours Saturday at 3pm. Cart girl Hannah is really friendly and professional!

Nice very shorter par 4 s. Many bad golfers think they can reach green in two…but can’t. This slows pace a little but generally a nice track. I will go back.

For this price i expected much less. I liked every hole, and the conditions were excellent.

Would have been a 5-star sweep except the foursome in front of us would not let us play through. Unfortunately, the other twosome did not show up. Not our fault. We easily could have played thru the foursome in front starting on 6th hole. Then on 7, 8, 9, 10. You get the picture. But they claimed no where to go as they were keeping pace with foursome in front. But there were 2 holes open in front of that foursome. A foursome should never hold up a twosome that is constantly waiting on them each shot.

Course in excellent shape. Pace of play better than I’ve experienced there before. Repairs on 4 and 8 are finished and the holes are back to normal. Ver enjoyable round.

The course is quirky and has a lot of play but it is in good shape! The greens are always nice, slower sometimes, but always nice.