Connecticut Golf Courses - Lake of Isles

Connecticut Golf Courses
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.

Click here to return from Connecticut Golf Courses - Lake of Isle page to Rhode Island Golf Courses page.