607 West Thames Street, Norwich, Connecticut 6360, US
(860) 425-3500
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About The Spa at Norwich Inn

The Spa at Norwich Inn could provide the perfect couples golf and spa getaway. Guests can stay in villas or a historic inn featuring a destination spa with 27 treatment rooms, sauna, salon, fitness center and indoor pool, all surrounded by 42 stunning acres of perennial gardens, mature oak trees, fountains, reflecting pool, courtyards and the city-owned Norwich Golf Course across the street. The Kensington’s Restaurant offers indoor and outdoor dining. The 6,228-yard course dates to 1926.

Facts

Price Range$$$
Property Class★★★
Acres42
Year Opened1929
Number of UnitsLess than 100

Amenities

RestaurantsFine, Casual, Bar
Room TypesRoom, Suite
Fitness CenterYes
Practice FacilityYes
Banquet SpaceYes
SpaYes

Services

Room ServiceYes

Rules

Is the resort pet friendly?No
Is resort stay required for a tee time?No

Golf courses at The Spa at Norwich Inn

Reviews

4.3
606 Reviews (606)

Reviewer Photos

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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Windy weather
Used cart

Great Course, Friendly Staff, Clean Carts

We Love Norwich, the pace of play is always good, the course for early season is in great shape. Challenging and fun, plus they are taking Covid-19 seriously and doing all the right things, separate carts, sanitizing carts in between players and other players are respectful of social distancing as well. Plus, every time we play Norwich, the staff is super friendly and accommodating and are happy to have us even if we are through golf now. Thank you to everyone making it possible to play. We will definitely be back!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Windy weather
Walked

Great Greens

Course was in great shape for mid April. Greens were spectacular and fast.

15th hole is closed (under construction) but not a big deal.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 6
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played

Challenging!!!

Tees, greens and fairways are fantastic, even in early April! Wish they had more porta-potties for the ladies on the course! At least ONE on the back 9!!!

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 37
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Previously Played

Good value. Good greens

The greens have to be the highlight at Norwich Golf Club. The were fast and smooth and challenging. Not a long course. The 15th is under construction and not being played. For the price I paid it was a good deal.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once every three months
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 16
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
2.0
Previously Played
Cold weather
Used cart

16 1/2 Holes

The course is currently doing some major construction on the 15th hole. It is closed until the work is complete, Hole 10 & 11 are compromised because they significantly moved up the tee box. Other parts of the course are dug up as they fix their water system. It was annoying that I paid that much with these conditions affecting play. I will not be back until they are done.

Conditions Fair
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
Incentivized Review
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Cold weather
Walked

Late fall round

As usual Norwich was in good condition....especially for this time of year. Greens rolling quite true...fairways in good condition. The temp was cool it is November but it's still good to be getting out.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played

Tough course. Greens are always well kept and roll pretty true. Always a challenge playing here. Pace of is usually slower than Id like but thats the only downside I can think of. Would recommend to come play

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 21
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Best Municipal course I have played

This course is in excellent condition great deal on golfnow tough greens,good shots are rewarded beware the dreaded 3 putts.Will definitely return friendly staff.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 35
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 12
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 100
Handicap Don't know
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Top 1000 Contributor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Hometown

Love this course. Caddied there as a kid and played with my dad. The course is in great shape and the staff is super. You can't go wrong with Norwich golf course

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 7
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 11
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 394
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Connecticut Advisor
Top 10 Contributor
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Classy, Aesthetic Public Golf

Running through Connecticut woodlands and featuring a variety of challenging holes, Norwich Golf Course was a pleasure to encounter on my first visit today. Good things often come in ‘muni’ packages, and this course ranks among the top munis throughout the state.

Over the first four holes, it is the scenery that is the star—they are all beautiful—but none of these, strangely, seems to generate great excitement. The third is challenging, especially with its small plateau green, but it, along with the forth, are strictly target affairs. The latter is the toughest par-four at Norwich, but, despite its beauty and clear challenge, playing this hole felt as gloomy as a wet holiday: it’s a tight uphill trek between the dense woods, demanding only bullet-straight shots.

On holes 5 through 8, things liven up dramatically, and this outstanding stretch starts with the fantastic fifth, a downhill 510 yard par-five and superb test of strategy that should tempt both mid and long hitters into making it a two-shotter. The green complex is everything you’d expect from this course’s classically-rooted architects, Tull and Tull (who clearly should not be confused with the British rock band), as it possesses flowing and swelling ground contours—one of them a pronounced hump—that make approach shots and greenside chips anything but dull. The other great hole over this sequence is the seventh, which tempts you to carve a power-fade around the heavily tree-protected elbow of its dogleg. Then you’ll need to fly a precise short-iron directly up a tall hill to its diminutive green; the two gaping and ‘submerged’ bunkers to its left, invisible from the fairway, will gobble up pulled shots, and anything pushed won’t fare much better. It’s a unique and spectacular golf hole.

On the back nine, Norwich delivers three classic holes right out of 1926, when this layout was crafted. The dogleg-right tenth, not a ferocious hole from the tee, sports another tiny green—really, you almost have to be Jason Day to hit greens this small with regularity. A wide and welcoming fairway greets you at the 412-yard four-par 11th, yet your approach must traverse a deep gully to reach a temptingly perched putting surface. If you reach it successfully, then simply two-putt the subtly contoured green and give yourself a hearty congratulations for making par on a hole this intense. The twelfth is another classic five par, and every one of the three here (including the 560 yard 14th) has star-quality.

The 13th is a short, outrageously steep uphill par-three that forces you to strive and struggle on every shot to make par; its green, a mere seventeen yards in diameter, gilds the lily (this seems like difficulty for its own sake), and may leave you temporarily feeling that you’re playing mini-golf on its two-tiered surface. Sixteen impresses greatly with its plateau green, set on another steep (this time only 30-foot) rise, but seventeen, despite its spectacular, rolling terrain, remains a bit underwhelming to play: the entire hole feels awkward to me. The finishing par-three 18th, quirky but challenging as the closer, will require, for most, a midiron struck laser-straight to a semi-blind green, whose opening is a mere 14 yards wide.

Judging by the positive reviews of Norwich on this website, golfers generally take kindly to this track. Nonetheless, it lacks real rigor as a test of driving, as too many of the holes are virtually wide open; combine this factor with the large number of short par-4’s, and some single-digit players will likely find fault. The 9th hole, arguably the toughest here, is also a love-or-hate-it proposition: the expectation is the striking of a nearly perfect mid-iron 200 yards steeply downhill to a green that is proportioned, literally, for a 50-degree approach wedge. Playing Norwich, which slopes at a high 131 from the blues, may also be an acquired taste, and you’ll need some genuine patience and course knowledge to master its clever subtleties, not to mention the high number of quite-small greens. But its classic, old-school style is to its credit: I find that these layouts can be a welcome relief from the modern fare, courtesy of the Dyes and Fazios and Trent Joneses, so fully entrenched these days. And I’m hard pressed to think of a more beautiful public golf course in all of Connecticut. Right from tee one, the surrounding scenes often felt as soothing as a field looks in a Cezanne landscape, so aesthetic is this golf course and so peaceful are the mature trees that frequently line its broad fairways.

Norwich may be from another era—albeit a classic one—and it is slightly flawed, in my judgment, by today’s harsher standards, but this fascinating design at least belongs in the conversation as one of Connecticut’s ‘best’ east-of-the-river layouts. I’ve lived a few towns away from here for nearly 25 years now, and after playing in on Sunday I wanted to kick myself (not too hard, of course) for never having played golf at this fine club.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 5
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 8
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 15-19
Skill Beginner
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Challenging Course!

First time golfing here, 18 holes for 2 with a cart cost $65 ("super saver"). The course is well maintained. The layout is great, very spread out and spacious. Tough round of golf though! Small greens with pin placement either at the front of the back of the green. Lots of slopes on their greens as well. We especially LOVED "the Gopher hole" at near holes 9 & 10 - beers/drinks were $3.50/each! The carts and cart paths could use some TLC but nothing to complain about!

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
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