The Country Club At Woodloch Springs

My cousin Bob, my friend John, and I played the course on 11/10/10 under sunny skies and mid 50's temperatures. We're from the Binghamton, NY area and drove down here to take advantage of the off season rate ($35 for 18 with a cart). I'd read alot about Woodloch over the last 2 years, both here on Golflink and in other forums. After having read the reviews here (particularly the one that said Conklin Player's Club was "the CLOSEST the rater could find to Woodloch, condition wise") my interest was peaked. Being from Binghamton, I get to play Conklin a couple times a year (it's 10 minutes from my house) and I have yet to find a course on the same tier, condition wise. So it was with much anticipation that we took the hour and a half drive to Woodloch on this day to see if the course lived up to it's reputation. We were met with both elation and disappointment....Woodloch is a beautiful resort class course with top of the line amenities. "In season" rates approach the $100 mark, so $35 seemed a steal. The pro-shop was sizeable and well stocked, and the guy working the desk was pleasant and accomodating. Much to our dismay though, he advised us that the course was "cart path only" due to recent rains. This surprised us, because there was no standing water in sight and the ground around the clubhouse seemed firm enough. The gentleman then proceeded to the bag drop, where we had unloaded our bags a moment earlier. He put them on the cart and gave us a little course knowledge before turning us loose. We found the practice green to be LIGHTNING fast, which we would later discover was not at all indicitive of the rest of the greens on the course. The carts were gas powered and have no g.p.s. (disappointment #1). The course was in decent shape for the time of year. The fairways had been aerated recently, but were still very playable. The greens were in good shape too. The bunkers were all hard packed and didn't appear to have been raked yet this day. Be mindful of stones in the bunkers too (a problem which seems to plague alot of N.E.P.A. courses). The rough was fairly cut, and didn't seem to stop wayward shots from bounding into lateral trouble. Woodloch is bizarre in that it feels as though you're always playing uphill. Only two downhill holes spring to mind. It's like something out of the Twilight Zone. Target golf wins the day at Woodloch and you can keep your driver in the bag on a good number of the par 5's and 4's due to the large number of washes that traverse the fairways at around 200 yards. We found that the 3 hybrid and 5 wood were useful tools on our first and second shots. We avoided alot of trouble by being fortunate enough to have garmin's too. At $85+ a round in the on season, this course has no excuse for not providing g.p.s.. We stopped at the turn for a couple drinks and found no-one manning the bar/grille. I eventually located a young lady in the kitchen, who seemed mildly displeased to see us. I tried to offer a little humor about how the course was eating our lunch and she just offered a cold, blank stare (disappointment #2). After returning to the course, we started to feel the fatigue of the "cart path only" rule. None of the cart paths seemed to be near the safe landing areas and there is ALOT of uphill to contend with. There was ZERO standing water on the course and NONE of the fairways seemed sloppy. 90 degrees would have been appropriate-(disappointment #3). The course does offer stunning views and an interesting challenge. I would NOT however, put it in the same category as Conklin. It is definitely an upper tier course, comparable to The Links at Hiawatha Landing or Traditions (if you're familiar with those Binghamton area courses). Other comparable courses in the N.E.P.A. area(condition wise)would be Buck Hill and Shawnee. In a nutshell, the course is very nice and worth your time. Things just need to be kept in perspective, in my opinion.

It's a resort known for lots of family related activities and good food. Everything is a bit pricey. I have never stayed on the properties and stay at another location. It was supposedly the best course in the area and the only that was able to rent lefty clubs for a family member. It was a bit pricey, but the service was country club quality.