Windham Mountain

We played on a cool misty day and the course was in amazingly good condition. Very enjoyable layout, only three par 3s, one downhill par 3 is tricky and fun. Very pretty place to play, staff was extremely nice and helpful.

I'll begin with the worst: the conditions were positively atrocious. The greens were among the worst I've played anywhere, all season, with huge black mud/fungus splotches all over most of the greens. It made putting very difficult. The layout itself is average, at best. There's a couple of memorable holes that run along the creek in the middle of the course (12 & 14), as well as a great uphill par 3 (15). Otherwise the holes are a mixture of ho-hum and repetitive par 4s, and gimmicky holes, i.e. the 4th and the 10th are almost identical holes requiring a 200-230 yard drive, before making a 90 degree right hand turn to hit a 100-50 yard pitch shot straight up the hill. The 6th hole is pure gimmick, measuring approximately 140 yards, but playing about 110, way downhill, to the tiniest green on the course, fronted by water, and surround on the other sides by woods. The 9th is similarly gimmicky, requiring only a 220 shot that plays like 190 down the hill, before making a 90 degree dog leg to the green.

Positives: the price was right. The course was about what one would expect for being charged $37 on a weekday. The staff was generally friendly. The service in the bar for lunch was a little slow, but the food was decent.

After Irene devastated the area, Windham had a major challenge in repairing 6 fairways and 5 greens that were wiped off the face of the earth.

They've done a wonderful job, especially on holes 10 and 11, where the greens are in good shape and the fairways and drainage ditches and creek add beauty. It is still *somewhat* of a work in progress, but much of the damaged course has grown back in and is entirely playable. Greens were tight and relatively quick, well maintained. Thick rough, and tee boxes were in very good shape.

It's in very good shape now, and given two more seasons of growing in and maturing, it will be in phenomenal shape.

The course itself was in beautiful condition(we were told by staff the owner just spent 2 million on improvements.)
It is a great course for women because if you are striking the ball well you can reach the green in regulation (which is not true for the newer, longer courses favoring long hitters.)
The big down side is that there are NO signs on the course and no rangers to manage slow play. We were lucky that a very slow group let us play through but I can't imagine how the folks felt that were stuck behind that group. We played quickly once we were ahead of the slow group but I gave pace of play a low rating because of no signs and no rangers.
We were also lucky that when we had a question on where the next hole was on the course, a friendly ground crew seemed to be near by to give us directions.
I do recommend this course for the quality and condition but they need to address the issues that will impact pace of play (no signs, no rangers to move along slow groups.)
Also we at at the pub -- food was good but it was expensive. The town of Windham has a lot of great restaurants and is a 5 minute drive. Have a drink on the deck but go into town for your meal.