I played TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut in late May.
I am a proud member of TPC Boston and one of the many benefits of my membership is reciprocity with virtually every other TPC course around the country.
The only other TPC course in New England is River Highlands and I take advantage of the opportunity to play there regularly. TPC Boston members may play River Highlands 6 times per year for only the cost of the cart fees.
Cromwell is about an hour from my home, and it is an easy drive via 95 South to Route 9 north. Cromwell is an all-American city with US flags flying proudly all over in town center, so I always feel at home.
A personal golfing goal is to play every TPC course in the country at least once. I have played about 65% of them and I consider TPC River Highlands one of my favorites.
I will be attending the Traveler’s tournament this week and it is always exciting for me to watch the PGA Tour players on a course I have played and know well.
TPC River Highlands has a lot going for it: it has, in my opinion, the best practice facility on any course I have played. The relatively new clubhouse is top notch and course conditions are always great.
One of things that fascinates me is how long the course is available to members prior to the Tournament. On my day of play, carts were allowed, and we were well within a month of the tournament. The Tour tees were closed off with ground netting but that certainly didn’t matter to me.
We checked in early enough to have a full breakfast. The eggs benedict is my favorite at TPC River Highlands. After breakfast, we took our carts down the road ~ about a five-minute drive to the range.
The range is completely open except for one chipping area that is closed ahead of the tournament for the professionals. There are similar chipping areas around the closed area, so it is a non-event for us.
The range has plenty of distance variations on targets and seems to be almost 400 yards in length.
After a good warm up, we head to the first tee and are warmly greeted by the starter.
I felt very comfortable on the first tee and hit a solid drive. I came up on my approach shot and semi topped it. I chip on and a missed putt started me off with a bogey. I played the rest of the front nine well and almost aced the par 3 5th hole and had a short birdie putt that I made.
As noted last year in GolfNewsRI, after last year’s Traveler’s tournament, 2024 US Open runner-up Rory McIlroy had harsh criticism of the course, commenting that it was obsolete and just too easy. The course is under 7,000 yards for the Tour professionals, so it is on the short side. However, I find it to be a precision course that is not easy to overpower by average length touring professionals.
In response to Rory’s public criticisms, the course has been changed and made slightly more difficult (I am playing the course post tournament on the 4th of July weekend, and I will highlight the course changes there.
I had my good stuff this round but could not stay in the 70’s and finished with an 82 ~ and I was satisfied.
We played in under four hours and the only negative to that is that we were too early for Happy Hour. We had a terrific lunch and drinks while discussing our favorite shots on the day while viewing the course from the deck.
Now only do I enjoy everything about the course, I have not experienced another TPC venue in which the staff and members make guests feel more welcome.
After playing TPC River Highlands about 12-15 times over the last few years, I have given up trying to time the return traffic home and we get home when we get home.
The food, the venue, the course conditions, the staff and other members ~ there is really nothing for me not to love about TPC River Highlands.