Rockledge Golf Club

Glad we made a visit. It was a Thursday night about 6pm. The weather was beautiful. Was in the low 90’s earlier in the day. A ton of golfers. The parking lot was packed but we had no issues finding a parking spot. Service was prompt. I waited a couple minutes which worked out since I was waiting for my party to arrive. They walked in as we were ready to be seated. There was an option to sit in or outside. The open tables outside could not be guaranteed to have an umbrella, so we sat inside, in the bar area, next to a window looking over the course. With the sun setting over the ridge, it was pretty, although bright. We lowered the blinds a little. I had a cocktail, a textbook dark and stormy. It was good. The other drinks were a fauxjito and a Diet Pepsi with waters that stayed filled. Standard libations but just right. Dinners consisted of fish tacos, a bright, citrusy, and refreshing meal, with some kind of tropical pineapple blend of stuff on top. Chicken tenders with dirty sauce, and a Mediterranean bowl with shrimp. My son enjoyed the tenders. My wife said the bowl was ok, but wasn’t great. Initially it had a light amount of dressing and it had not come with the tzatziki, or feta. She asked for more dressing and tzatziki and got it without incident. She said it needed salt or some kind of spices to give it more flavor. She ate most of it. I thought the variety was good and appreciated the specials. The setting is really nice, a good place for a date. The ambiance is also nice. If you’re looking for something else in the WeHa area that is slightly off the beaten path of the regular restaurant options, then give them a try. It was exactly what I had hoped for.

First time playing here on a gorgeous fall weekend. The greens and fairways were in excellent conditions. Pace was good as well. I walked 18 holes with my push cart without much problem. There is a restaurant on site but only open at noon. My tee time was 10:00a so you cannot purchase food or snack before teeing off. Oddly, there is a snack house at the intersection of 2nd, 11th and 18th. But even on Saturday, the only food they serve is hot dog.

Whatever the course super attendant and head greenskeeper are paid, it's not enough. You can tell whoever manages the conditions of this course truly cares, I guarantee they are a true enthusiast. Rockledge conditions typically match that of top tier public course, if not some of the better private clubs. I can confidently say it's unmatched by any other municipal in the state. Since moving to West Hartford and Farmington, I've probably played this course 30-40 times in 2 years. It is March 31st, after a torrential late winter and early spring, and the course is in immaculate shape. While other courses are under wander, brown and bare, Rockledge is reasonably dry, lush, and playing pure. It's at least a month ahead of where I'd expect it to be! A quick run down: -There's some standing water on the course but it's typically well out of the normal area of play. -Greens are soft but rolling pretty true. They're not really bumpy like other courses. Almost no winter burn. -Fairways are pure. There's so areas under repair where they installed irrigation and drainage that are being resodded. -The rough is coming in thick already. It usually plays thick here, and around the greens and in the fairway landing zones, it's already up pretty high. Sometimes over the toes of my shoes. It appears a lot of the bunkers have been overhauled this year and some others are on the way. The bunkers themselves and the surrounding birms are very nicely manicured and thought out. There were a couple changes to some holes over the off season. Mainly hole 7. The massive bunker in front of the green has been removed entirely and a tight undulated fairway has been put in its place. This is a major change as I found this to be one of the most difficult holes on the course. With the redesign, you now have an option to come up a touch short, which previously you couldn't miss the green in any direction. Any miss was almost a guaranteed bogey. Overall, mid spring, conditions are going to be amazing.