3 Amazing Northeast Courses to Play Before Winter

September 19, 2014

School buses are back on the road, leaves are promising a brilliant array of colors and golf remains popular in the Northeast, while the weather allows. Indeed, this is a prime time to tee up on some of the region’s best courses.

 

Gillette Ridge Golf Club (Bloomfield, Conn.)

Just northeast of Hartford, Conn., Gillette Ridge Golf Club can boast it has the only Arnold Palmer-designed course in the state. Playing a hefty 7,191 yards from the tips, it’s not the easiest track in the region with streams, lakes, ravines and elevation changes, but with five tee boxes, you can choose how much you want to be challenged. Some testy risk-and-reward holes add another dimension to this stunning course.

One of Connecticut’s prettiest parkland-style courses, Gillette Ridge is especially dramatic in the fall when tall hardwoods are ablaze with reds, golds and yellows. The Academy of Golf and an excellent practice facility round out the facilities, while the former home of  the course’s namesake, Francis Gillette, a 19^th century reformer and leader, still stands on the site.

 

Laurel View Country Club (Hamden, Conn.)

Another highly-rated parkland course, Laurel View Country Club in Hamden, Conn., near New Haven, was designed by renowned golf course architect, Geoffrey S. Cornish. Ever faithful to the land he was given to work with, Cornish created a masterpiece winding around trees, up and down hills and across meadowlands. There are plenty of doglegs and several large greens while the back nine can present some tricky up and downhill lies.

Since it was built in 1969, it has garnered a reputation as a solid, well-maintained track with greens as good as those found at many private courses along with an upgraded drainage and irrigation system.

 

White Clay Creek Country Club (Wilmington, Del.)

Going south to Delaware, White Clay Creek Country Club in Wilmington can be played from 7,007 yards to a manageable 4,612 yards, with two par fives (No. 3 and No. 10) playing close to 600 yards, as well as some long par threes. With five tee boxes to choose from, White Clay sets up for all levels of golfers.

From the moment you arrive to when you are packing up and receive your freshly-cleaned clubs, you get a sense of a private club. The service you get from the staff definitely matches the quality of the course. White Clay Creek is a club where you will feel you got your money’s worth, no matter the price.

The Golf Shop is also a class act with well-displayed top lines of apparel for men and women, while the Academy of Golf offers instruction on their 12-acre outdoor and indoor facility. State-of-the-art equipment includes a V-1 video swing analysis computer system, launch monitor, large-screen TV, hitting areas and holes for chipping and putting.