This is a family run course located in Middlefield and they take pride in it. The course is constantly improving and always in great shape. The clubhouse was recently updated and so was the practice green and driving range. There are many hills and blind shots here including your second  shot on the par 5 5th. If I could make one change here I would make hole 6’s dogleg less sharp especially since the left is just woods and can easily be widened. #9 is my favorite hole there as it is a downhill wide open short par 4 with a large green and sends you home happy every time.

Tee times can be made by calling  860-349-8109 and are on EZLinks

http://www.indiansprings-golf.com/index.html

Give it a 7.5 and is perfect if you only have time for 9. If other local courses are packed check in here and use their full length range and chipping/bunker practice area.

• layout-7
• condition-8
• food- 8
• staff- 8

Pretty much unplayable. See Goodwin and Kenney reviews for more info

• layout-5
• condition-1
• food- NA
• staff- NA

Laurel View, located in Hamden, is a decent course with some very good holes and with a little effort can be a great course.  Hole 1 is very short so you can go for it or if you feel rusty can use a fairway wood and still be left with a mid iron shot in. Next up is a pretty short par 3 with a large green so you should be even through 2 at worst. The large lake on #3 requires you to lay up but then be left with a long approach shot to the green. Holes 4 and 5  are pars 5 and 4 and go back and forth and are pretty much the same distance so par bogey is not that bad here.  Hole 6 is a quirky hole which does not require a driver  and hole 7 is a long uphill par 3 that does. My favorite hole is probably the 8th. It requires an accurate drive, has a open flat landing zone for your second shot, then a shallow green. I hate the 9th but like how it shares it’s green with the par 3 #7 that you just bogeyed.

The back starts off with a short but tough dogleg that you DEF should not use anything more than an iron on.  Next up is  a very hard par 5(hardest hole here). The fairway slants right the hole way and everything runs off of it into big trouble(almost OB). #12 is a picturesque par 3 over a lake.  After a short easy par 4 you arrive at another great hole here at Laurel View.  If you smash your drive the ball can catch the downhill slope and leave you with a get there in 2 shot.  15 and 16 are both tough; 15 plays up hill and long while 16 plays downhill but is narrow and curves hard left.  17 is a traditionally par 3 and 18 has a tree that needs to be knocked down.

Some cheap tee times on Golf Now. The course needs a heavy make over and then would be an 8

• layout-8
• condition-6
• food- 6
• staff- 6

UPDATE

About 3 to 4  years ago I  heard rumors that this course was being renovated but I thought to myself, I’ve heard that plenty of times before. It’s very expensive to upgrade a course due to the sheer size and the time and effort it takes to grow in grasses etc. Usually a course throws in a new bunker or two, moves a tee box and you can barely notice. When I first heard about Keney, I said to myself, there is no way of saving this course but boy was I wrong. My first friend to play it was Mike aka GMR. He is a member at a private club known for the best greens in the area and when he came back and told me Keney’s greens may be the best in the state, I was shocked. So thanks to COVID19 I finally got some free time, got back into golf, and drove up to Hartford to see for myself. I hit a small bucket at the range there which isn’t the best in the world but its grass which is key and gets the job done. Hole 1 tee box is pretty much on the patio so good thing its a non driver hole. Slap a 5 iron out there, look good for the onlookers and get on your way. Holes 1 thru 4 are very easy and hole 5 favors my fade! Then after the downhill par 3 6 the course gets a little tougher. 7 and 8 go back and forth and are pretty similar and of decent length. I found myself pin high in the “church pews” on 8. With the 7th tee box being so close, the foursome there  let me hit first and I hit my best shot of the day, holeing out from the bunker! Hole 9 brings you  home after seeing your 8th false front on 9 greens. The back 9 has 2 par 5s but also longer tougher 3s so plays about the same. Some of the fairways still need some cosmetic work especially 15 and 16 but they are fine in the frequently visited areas.  I was not a fan of the closing par 3 18 but now that I think of it, it would be fun during a tight match walking up to the green not knowing who’s ball is closer on the hidden punch bowl green. I am not going to give it the most improved course award cause that to me always meant you got better but you still aren’t good. Instead I am putting it in my top 5, which coming from dead last speaks for itself.  I will be playing here very often, meeting up with my old friend TC and my old new friend Manoli!!!

Overall it now gets a 9 which is a little high but they deserve it and its walk-able and I played well! Wheres my fox though?

• layout-8
• condition-10 a little over rated but the shape it was in during the driest June on record deserves a 10
• food- 9
• staff- 10

UNPLAYABLE

a MDM ran course(see Goodwin review for more details)

The greens are all crab grass. Dirt patches in the fairways and the list goes on and on

A rabid fox followed me hole by hole

If you are really new to golf do not go here and get the wrong impression of the game

tee times on golfnow and at  http://www.keneyparkgolf.com/tee-times.html

gets a 1 and is the worst course in the state

• layout-3
• condition-1
• food- NA
• staff- NA