North Kingstown Municipal loses points in many connoisseurs eyes because it is short (6,200 yards), lacks aesthetics and has a quirky combination of three par-3s and one par-5 on the back nine. The course is surrounded by industry, interrupted by road crossings and the putting green rarely seems smooth. But, if you can ignore the ruff edges and put your ego aside Quonnie is a fun test of golf with eight good par-4s, the crowing jewel being 13, a 403-yard dogleg right with sweeping views of Narragansett Bay.

The tee shot is hit downhill and usually against a cross breeze that pushes shots away from the hole. It’s a roomy fairway but the drama of the scene and the fact that the fairway drops out of view causes golfers to go for a little extra oomph. Pushed drives end up in real bunker. One of those concrete structures built into the ground for the purposes of protection during warfare. Go too far left and pine trees may stifle you. Most approach shots are hit from well beyond 150-yards. What makes the hole eminently fair is that the front of the green is open, and the best approach is often one that bounces on to the smallish green, which is protected by a left bunker and mounds, and has enough ripples to keep your putter honest.
Thirteen has it all: natural beauty, unique features, shot options and it is a test. While you may argue there are more difficult par-4s at North Kingstown, none stack up to 13 when you assess the range of elements that make for a quality par-4.
And what are those elements that make up a quality par-4? Let us know.

What’s your favorite par-3 at Triggs Memorial Golf Course in Providence?

They are all good (duh, this is a Donald Ross track), and make a quartet of par-3s equal to any single-course collection in the state, not to mention an urban municipal golf course.  While three of the distances (white tees) are similar: 184, 185 and 195, variety comes in holes that run in four different directions and have club-changing elevation changes: two up, two down.  And the holes are difficult.

With that said, I cast my vote for 14.  At 155 yards, from the whites, most any golfer thinks they can stick this green.  Heck, its downhill and the shortest 3 on the course.  The other 3s are intimidating, just by their length, to many players.  So, we’ve all got a shot at 14.  But wait a minute.  The green is small.  The wind is swirling.  There’s OB long and a necklace of bunkers.  What club should I hit?  Should I hit all of it?  Go hard with the 9 or back off the 7?

Good luck.  And, what’s your favorite par-3 at Triggs, or anywhere?  Post a comment below.

Wood River Golf Course

Ocean State Golf Reviews Wood River Golf Club, one of Rhode Island Golf Courses that is family run and owned.
Wes Thompson was an admitted golf addict. He was a homebuilder designing and building early-colonial post and beam homes.

In 1998 he said to his wife, Kate, a native of East Providence who had taught elementary school in East Providence and was then a teacher at Chariho Middle School, that he wanted to build a golf course. “We (their children Matt and Kim and her) believed he was going through a midlife crisis and thought it would pass, but he was determined,” said Kate during a recent interview at their charming little course in Hope Valley, Rhode Island adjacent to the Wood River Golf Course just a mile east of Exit 2 on Route 95.

Thompson had always lived in the Hope Valley, RI area and he learned to play golf at Meadowbrook Golf Club in Richmond. “I saw a need for that type of golf course that was not too expensive and would cater to families and people out for recreation without spending their whole week’s budget,” said Thompson. He knew that the former Chickadee Farm land on Woodville-Alton Rd. was for sale and he decided to go ahead with his plan. “The property had 130 acres (30 that were across the street. I decided to build the first nine with the intention of finishing all 18 someday,” commented Thompson.

That someday arrived two years ago when the final five holes designed and built by Thompson were completed. The first nine holes opened in 2000. “I then built two more holes, so we were the only course offering an 11-hole rate,” said a smiling Thompson. He used the rest of the land on the eastern side of the road to add two more holes, and then started the daunting task of building the final five holes across the street. “The course is a nice level walk for 13 holes, but the other 5 (holes 13-17) are completely different as you walk up a large hill on number 13, stay on top for 14, down for 15, up for 16 and then down again for 17. “We have many people who take a cart for the back nine just for those five holes,” said Kate.

“Wes always had a great eye for design,” said his wife who added that everyone enjoys the fun layout. “Those back holes were a struggle and are still a work in progress,” admitted Wes who was cutting up trees the day I played in mid March. He made me smile when he said that whenever he finds a group of balls among the trees, he tries to thin those trees out to make the hole a little easier to play. If only all the course architects would do that!

This is a Rhode Island golf course that is truly a family affair. Kate retired a couple of years ago and works the counter, does the books and is the greeter with her beautiful smile and charm. Matt, their son who graduated from Chariho High and Green Mountain College in Vermont where he was on the Ski Team, is manager of the excellent restaurant at the golf course. “We have a great chef, Steve DiSano, who worked at Sunflower in Cranston and at the Blue Grotto on Federal Hill and now lives right on the property,” said Matt. “We specialize in Italian food, but the menu is varied and we’re open all year-round he added.

Kim, their daughter, is married and lives in Deep River, Connecticut and also graduated from Green Mountain College. She is co-manager of the restaurant and also handles many of the other chores on the course including planting. When Matt was asked who the superintendent was, his reply was “We all are!” “It was not easy spending 50-60 hours a week with your whole family at first, but we really enjoy being with each other and even take vacations together,” added Matt.

This is one of Rhode Island golf courses that is open year-round except when there is too much snow. “I have a scraper on my backhoe and try to get the snow off the greens during the week so that we can open on weekends during the winter for our diehard golfers,” said Wes who says they get calls from all over New England during the winter to see if they will be open. “We’re only 15 minutes from the ocean, so we tend to get less snowfall than other parts of Rhode Island,” he added.

The bentgrass greens are of the pushup variety favored in the past. Thompson added drainage below all the greens and they were definitely puttable in March. The tees and fairways are a combination of rye, fescue and blue grass and my playing partner (Sam, a retired bricklayer from Westerly) said the golf course is beautifully green in the summer. There are no bunkers on the course, so you can leave your sand wedge home. The holes are not easy, but the course is quite short at 5,300 yards with a par of 69. Number 1 is a dogleg left par 5 of 453 that might be reached in two by long hitters. The only other par 5 on the course is number 5 where your tee shot has to be threaded through two large trees (think goalposts) in order to get home in two. This is the only hole on the course where you see the Wood River, but it won’t come into play.

The tee shot on number 6 can be hit over the former chicken coop to make the hole a little shorter. Number 8 requires the most strategy, as you have to hit the tee shot long and favor the left side not to be blocked out on your approach to the green.

Number 10 (pictured above) is a pretty par 3 over water that would fit on even the fanciest course. Number 16 is the #1 handicap hole with good reason. You need to hit your tee shot very straight (actually you need to on all five holes across the street) and then are faced with a difficult uphill second shot to a tough green.

A word to describe the Rhode Island golf course would be FUN. A word to describe the Thompson family would be DELIGHTFUL. You are not playing a fancy course, but you are getting great value. “We get many families who are visiting our beaches and campgrounds (15 minutes from Misquamicut State Beach and 10 minutes from Burlingame State Campground) in the summer as well as retirees and others enjoying our pretty course,” said Kate who added that they have a family of osprey living on the course as well as many other birds and animals in the area.

Wes Thompson’s mid-life crisis is a success. You can call the Rhode Island golf course at 401-364-0700 or visit their website at www.woodrivergolf.com. Enjoy the walk and make sure you stop for a bite to eat or stay for dinner.

As always, we’d love to hear from you, so leave a comment below!

Lake of Isle North Course

Lake of Isles-Isle of Paradise

NORTH STONINGTON, CT.-Folks now have another great reason to drive to Foxwoods Resort Casino. Besides bringing all your quarters, it would be a great idea to bring along your golf clubs and venture across the street to one of the top Connecticut Golf Courses you will ever have the chance to play.

“It is the best golf course in New England, bar none,” said head professional at Alpine Country Club and former PGA Tour player Ed Kirby. Kirby, who has played and seen many more courses than this writer, who played the Private (South Course) and was amazed by it.

The South course is carved out of the wilderness.

The Resort Course is the North course.

Did the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (MPTN) make the private course better than the one that guests are able to play? Not a chance!! I had a chance to tour both Connecticut Golf Courses and they are almost the same. In fact, the resort course might be a little more challenging and spectacular.

A writer friend said that you judge a course by the WOW Factor. I think I said “wow” about a dozen times. You won’t believe some of the views on the Connecticut Golf Course. “The land encompasses 900 acres and turf is grown on 220 acres for both courses,” said Curtis Tyrrell, who is the Director of Agronomy and boss to Jim Ritorto, a URI grad who is the superintendent of the South Course and Eric Hulland, a UMass grad who is the superintendent of the North Course. “We have a great team here,” said Tyrrell who is a native of Maryland and came to Lake of Isles in 2002 from the Anthem C.C. in Las Vegas just when they were breaking ground.

Credit for the design of the courses goes to Rees Jones. Son of Robert Trent Jones, who actually was helping him on the project until he became sick; Rees is a Yale graduate and has designed over 100 courses. He has become known as “The Open Doctor” as he has remodeled seven U.S. Open venues as well as many PGA and Ryder Cup sites.

“Lake of Isles might be one of the best natural sites that I’ve ever worked with,” said Jones in an interview last year. “The MPTN wanted to keep a connection with the land and they saw the importance of incorporating the natural features of the property. The only thing we imported onto the property was the sand. We recycled the rocks and trees,” recalled Jones.

Michael Thomas, chairman of the MPTN said of the Connecticut Golf Courses, “This truly makes us a world-class resort destination. We wanted to do it right, and you can see for yourself how magnificent it is.” Both Jones and Thomas related to how much of a nature walk the course is. “The rock outcropping serve to define many of the holes,” said Jones who said they found more big rocks every time they turned around in the construction of the course. “Because we had so much land to work with, we were really able to fit the holes to the land. This is truly a neo-classic course where less is more.”

The Lake of Isles covers 90 acres of the property, and Jones uses the water to come into play on many of the holes. The landing areas from the tees are very fair and the bunkering is well done. “We wanted to provide many more options and shot angles for golfers, so each hole has relatively wide fairways and five sets of tees,” he said.

The Connecticut Golf Courses are very long from the tips. The Resort Golf Course measures 7,252 from the tips with the forward tee measuring 4,952. The Private Golf Course measures 7,359 from the back and 4,980 from the front. Derek Hooper, who is the Director of Instruction, and served as my tour director said he could not emphasize enough that players should PLAY FROM THE PROPER TEE FOR THEIR GAME! You will see that when you get to the tee of the second hole on the Resort Course. You will say “Wow” when you look down about 70 feet to the green that sits over the lake. It measures 216 from the back tees (all carry), but a much more manageable 164 from the middle tee.

The middle tees (silver) would be my choice for the best chance for maximum enjoyment. The yardage is 6,304 and you still have many forced carries, but nothing over 200 yards.

You will really feel that you are communing with nature when you play the course. The land is the same that tribe members walked on hundreds of years ago. You wind up and down hills and travel on bridges that were made to put some of the islands into play and transport golfers across environmental areas.

“The MPTN did not spare any expense building this course. I was given a very fair budget to work with, and I think that the results are fabulous,” said Jones.

Troon Golf is the management company for the MPTN. Troon represents more than 140 upscale golf courses in 26 states and 11 countries. Everyone connected with these Connecticut Golf Courses and the property will treat you first-class. John Easterbrook, Jr., executive vice president of Operations for Troon in Scottsdale, Ariz. addressed the media and said; “I’ve never seen a better group of par 3’s on any course than Lake of Isles.”

The 50,000 square foot clubhouse at these Connecticut Golf Courses, Lake Of Isles, looks over the lake and has two separate dining areas-one for members and one for guests. Included in the clubhouse is a panoramic banquet function room that is available for corporate meetings and events, as well as special occasions like weddings and banquets.

Brock Nicholas is the Director of Golf. He came to Lake of Isles from the Westin Innisbrook Resort in Florida. Robbie Leming of Texas is the head golf professional responsible for day-to-day operations of both courses. Derek Hooper will be running golf schools starting this summer. There will be an enclosed practice facility that will be open year-round.

The daily fee to play this Connecticut golf course is not inexpensive. The fee structure ranges from $100 to $175 based on time of day and day of the week. Membership in the Private Course is $55,000.

Playing Lake of Isles is definitely worth the trip, and you can also use your Wampum points for everything except the Private Course membership. To get more information you can contact the course at 1-888-475-3746 or visit their website at www.lakeofisles.com.

Beaver River Golf Club, the scenic Rhode Island Golf Course on Route 138 in Kingston which went into bankruptcy last fall, was going to be converted into housing.

In stepped John Gale, a native of Ellington, Ct. who already owns two other courses in Connecticut. “I was looking to purchase or build another course in the tri-state area (CT-RI-Mass) and I heard about Beaver River,” said Gale. “I came to see the property and was impressed by many things. I liked the layout of the course, it was well designed, had easy access to all the major highways in the area, and it was relatively new.”

Gale crunched the numbers and thought that Beaver River was the best option to expand his golf course portfolio. “It will be a work-in-progress for a few years,” Gale commented. “Cart paths need to be improved, we want to plant many flowering shrubs and native grasses, and define the holes better with well-placed trees and bushes. We did this at Cedar Knob (one of his other courses) in Somers, Ct. and it improved the course tremendously.”

Gale grew up on a dairy farm in Ellington, Ct. He was a Future Farmers of America (FFA) student where he learned much about horticulture and working with the land. “It was tough making a living with dairy cows, so we built a golf course (Rolling Meadows) on part of the property.

In addition to owning the two courses in Connecticut, Gale also leased another (Banner Lodge) in Moodus, Ct. for nine years. “I think golf courses are wonderful places for people to come out and forget their cares and worries for a few hours. Giving folks a good value for their money and a chance for enjoyment is something that I am proud of,” commented Gale.

He brought a couple of key employees with him from Connecticut. Brian Foster is the general manager and director of golf. Todd Davis supervises all three courses owned by Gale. “Todd and I do the superintendent’s work,” said Gale who isn’t averse to getting up on a lawn mower and getting his hands greasy fixing equipment.

Rhode Island Golf Course, Beaver River has wonderful elevation changes and great views. It was designed by local RI golf course architect Michael Weremay of East Greenwich and has hosted many men’s and women’s tournaments as well as a college tournament hosted by Bryant College.

Gale and his wife, Debi, have three children Zach, 25; Jessica, 18; and Drew, 10. The Rhode Island Golf players are glad he came along to keep one of the gems of South County, this Rhode Island Golf Course open for our golfing pleasure.

When thinking of Connecticut Golf Courses, is it worth traveling an hour and fifteen minutes from Rhode Island to play golf? In the case of Fox Hopyard Golf Club in East Haddam, Connecticut, the answer is a resounding YES.

This six-year-old Connecticut golf course is a treasure not often found by folks playing Rhode Island Golf Courses, but we don’t think that will continue.

With dramatic elevation changes, large undulating greens, forced carries that let you bite off as much as you dare; the course traverses through wetlands, across ponds, through woods and across wide meadows. This would be a great place to take a hike, but it is even a better place to bring your clubs.

Golfweek Magazine has rated the course the best among public Connecticut Golf Courses and in 2005 Golf Digest rated it the seventh best of Connecticut Golf Courses. The Celebrity Players Tour Team Championship has been held at the course four times.

What is a Hopyard? The theory is that it is a yard that stores hops for making beer. Devil’s Hopyard State Park is next door and that is how the name came about. “Fox” is the central theme of the Sandri family of western Massachusetts who built Crumpin-Fox in Bernardston, Mass. and Fox Hollow Golf Course in Tampa, Fla. The Roger Rulewich Group designed Fox Hopyard and they can be highly commended. Rulewich worked with Robert Trent Jones, Sr. for over thirty years and has gone on to do some great work in over 100 course designs.

Connecticut Golf Course, Fox Hopyard, sits on 530 acres of varied terrain. Rulewich sends you through woods for the first few holes, up a small mountain for the par 5 third hole then down the mountain for the dramatic par 3 fourth hole. The par 4 sixth crosses wetlands, and the more you cut off on this dogleg left, the shorter the second shot. Hole 7 is similar, but on that one you need to leave the big stick in the bag, because the wetlands are not only in front of you, but also over the spit of landing area.

The five par 3s are excellent on this Connecticut Golf Course. Number four must drop close to 100 feet from tee to green. Take less club, but watch for the wind. Number 8 is over a pond as is number 11. Number 14 is almost 200 yards to a green that is wide but not deep. Number 16 can play 249 yards from the back tees.

Fox Hopyard golf course has five sets of tees and each is manicured. Don’t play the back tees that measure 6,912 and have a rating of 74.1 unless your handicap can be counted on one hand. The blues at 6,512 are tough and the whites at 6,109 are very fair. The front tees seemed very reasonable at 5,111 and quite a few women were playing on the day we played.

The wetlands, running brooks and ponds can catch quite a few balls, so make sure you make good use of the yardage book. This is a course that would get a little easier the more you played it. The large, rolling bent-grass greens were a little hard when we played them, but they were very true. There are some spots on the greens where you can almost assume that you will three putt, so distance control on shots to the green are essential. My favorite holes were number 4 and the par 5 eighteenth that will decide many matches. The lay-up second shot is hit into a narrow throat with a pond on the right and large bunkers on the left. It might be wise to hit the ball to 100 yards and then hope for a good third shot to make a birdie on the large green that has a swale in the middle.

Ron Beck is the Director of Golf at Fox Hopyard Golf Course. He was there even before the course opened in 2001 and is the winner of many PGA of America awards including Professional of the Year for the Connecticut chapter in 1997. “Golfers will receive a warm, comfortable reception when they get here, and the course will give them a nice ride through all types of terrain,” commented Beck.

There is a large restaurant on the property called On The Rocks that sits above the driving range and looks over the ninth and eighteenth greens. It is open seven days a week and there are golf and dine packages available. This Connecticut golf course is only fifteen minutes from Mohegan Sun and less than a half hour from Foxwoods.

Tee times are available by calling 1-800-943-1903. You can visit their website at www.golfthefox.com. To get to the course take Route 95 South to Exit 70. Proceed straight across the end of the exit until you reach Route 156. Take a right and follow the Connecticut River eight miles to Route 82. Take right and first left (50 yards) and course is next left (50 yards). It is definitely worth the ride.

Wentworth Hills Golf Club

Wentworth Hills

Wentworth Hills is one of many Massachusetts Golf Courses that proves that golf and nature can co-exist.

It’s been over a decade since Lee Trevino made his plea to golf course architects to stop building courses designed to challenge solely the PGA Tour players and start creating tracks that both the average and accomplished golfer could play and enjoy.

Evidently Howard Maurer subscribes to that same theory because the Massachusetts Golf Courses he designed and now sits on the grounds of the former Wentworth Institute of Technology’s field campus in nearby Plainville, Massachusetts is just what the doctor, or in this case the ‘Merry Mex’, ordered.

When Kelli and Bob Baker of Mansfield, Massachusetts first considered purchasing the 155-acre site, “We looked at it as a possible development,” said Bob, who is a home builder. “But after looking at the zoning by-laws it just screamed golf course. It was all wooded with meadows.”

It was a breathtaking slice of nature and the community leaders in Plainville wanted it to stay that way.

“They were afraid it would become 150 houses instead,” he noted. “When we told them we wanted to build a golf course they were thrilled with the idea.” “We couldn’t believe that nobody else saw it that way,” said Kelli Baker.

Anyone visiting Massachusetts Golf Courses of Wentworth Hills, these days will be treated to what amounts to a nature walk with a golf club in their hands. Players will trek through a cathedral of tall pines, hit tee shots over beautifully preserved wetlands and be serenaded by a wide variety of birds who call this place home.

“Even if you don’t play golf you would enjoy this golf course,” said Kelli. And you would, but it’s so much better if you do play and if you do then this is a must play.

It is unlikely that the pro tour will ever come to Massachusetts Golf Course, Wentworth Hills. Even from its gold championship tees it is only 6,114 yards, but that is so deceiving because the course was designed for the thinking player and not for brute strength.

Try overpowering this course without a strategy and you’ll be hitting out of the woods most of the day.

There are four sets of tees on the par four and five holes; The reds are 4,630, whites 5,252 and blues sit at 5,718. Many of the tee shots require the ball to carry a wetland area, but the distances are not too much of a worry for the above average player who would prefer to hit from the gold or blue markers.

Those who are not so accomplished will feel very comfortable hitting from the whites or the reds, which are set in front of the marsh areas. The par 3 holes have six sets of markers. It is one of many Massachusetts Golf Courses designed for everybody and everybody is welcome.

Wentworth Hills golf course is a semi-private course, open to the public while still catering to its membership. It offers outings but Kelli Baker is quick to point out that it will never be closed to its members.

“We have a system that allows us to have an outing or a league on one nine while our members and the public can play the other.” A computer software system helps coordinate everything.

It also allows the Bakers to know who is playing their golf course and how many times. “If you come here and play five times we know it,” said Kelli.

The yardages are exact from the respective markers to the middle of the greens. “We’ve had the entire course GPSed (Global Positioning Satellite), explained Bob.

The greens are unique; velvet bent grass and the fairways are colonial bent and fescue.

The Bakers may own the grounds but it is controlled by superintendent Peter Ohlson, who comes from a storied family of greenskeepers that spans four generations. “Peter treats this land like it’s his own,” smiled Bob. “We have complete faith in him and you can see by the condition of the course that he knows what he’s doing. We’re in magnificent shape.”

Tom Rooney is the PGA professional and holds the course record, with a 66. He was an assistant at Walpole Country Club before moving to Wentworth when it opened in June of 2001.

Then just the first nine holes were playable. The back nine opened a couple years later. “The parking lot has been full ever since,” said Kelli.

The course has already been nominated as one of the best new golf courses in America and next December the winner or winners will be published in “Golf Digest”.

There are several plans for singles, families and corporations, all of which can be found by logging onto the club’s website, www.wentworthhillsgolf.com. There is also a driving range and practice area, which includes a sand bunker. The clubhouse and function facility along with all of the maintenance buildings was already on site when the Bakers purchased the property. “We just converted the buildings that Wentworth Institute had here,” said Bob Baker.

Wentworth Hills is well worth checking out, whether you are looking to join a club or just to spend an enjoyable day on a challenging course, all the while communing with nature.