18 Favorite Public Golf Course Holes In Hartford And Tolland Counties

HARTFORD-TOLLAND COUNTIES, CT — The dog days of August are about to begin, followed by arguably the greatest time of year for playing golf in New England - late summer through autumn. Several Patch editors in north-central Connecticut hereby present a listing of 18 of their favorite holes to play at the more than two dozen public courses throughout Hartford and Tolland counties.

Editors selected a favorite first hole, favorite second hole, etc. in determining this list. The front and back nines of our "Great 18" each contain two par threes, five par fours and two par fives, for a cumulative total of 72. No course is mentioned more than once, so 18 clubs in all are included.

Some of the holes were selected for their scenic beauty, others for the challenge they present to the average golfer, and the rest for being dogleg lefts that suit the mediocre games of the editors who tend to snap-hook the ball off most tees.

One admitted sentimental favorite is lucky No. 13 at Rockledge in West Hartford, where on May 15, 1995, I lucked into the second of my three career holes-in-one. If I recall, it was a Monday at 4:07 p.m., using an 8-iron as the hole measured 142 yards to the flag and the wind was blowing south-southwest at about 7 knots. I had just been joined on that tee by Chris Wragge, at the time a young sports anchor at WVIT-30 in Hartford who went on to work on Entertainment Tonight and The Early Show on CBS. Funny how guys remember those details from three decades ago, but have no clue as to whether or not we fed our kids this morning...

This is merely a subjective piece providing a wide variety of great offerings. Don't yell at us if your favorite hole is not included; just quietly take a mulligan and include it in the comments.

With all that being said, here are holes 1 through 18, with yardages from the blue/white tees (soon I'll be playing the golds, and the way I've been hitting lately, they should create special boxes about 50 yards in front of the reds). Click the course name for a link to complete information.

• No. 1: Manchester Country Club, Manchester, 324/316, par 4

• No. 2: Blackledge Country Club (Gilead Highlands), Hebron, 147/133, par 3

• No. 3: Blue Fox Run (Blue Course), Avon, 533/512, par 5
• No. 4: Grassmere Country Club, Enfield, 409/383, par 4

• No. 5: Stanley Golf Course (White Nine), New Britain, 445/390, par 4

• No. 6: Timberlin Golf Club, Berlin, 540/510, par 5

• No. 7: Twin Hills Country Club, Coventry, 456/444, par 4
• No. 8: East Hartford Golf Club, East Hartford, 140/127, par 3

• No. 9: Keney Park Golf Course, Hartford, 417/380, par 4

• No. 10: Hawk's Landing Country Club, Southington, 410/385, par 4
• No. 11: Simsbury Farms Golf Course, Simsbury, 374/335, par 4

• No. 12: Tunxis Country Club (Green Course), Farmington, 194/165, par 3
• No. 13: Rockledge Golf Club, West Hartford, 168/129, par 3
• No. 14: Wintonbury Hills Golf Club, Bloomfield, 415/370, par 4
• No. 15: Tallwood Country Club, Hebron, 373/364, par 4

• No. 16: Topstone Golf Course, South Windsor, 485/460, par 5

• No. 17: Gillette Ridge, Bloomfield, 502/480, par 5
• No. 18: Cedar Knob Golf Course, Somers, 405/400, par 4