Course Review – Fox Hopyard, Connecticut

Fox Hopyard (Blues)
6512 yards – 72.6 Rating – 131 Slope – 81 Score
Day 17; May  7th, 2017

 

I’ve always been a fan of target golf, quite frankly, mostly because I’m pretty good with my medium and short irons and terrible with a driver in my hand. While I wouldn’t classify Fox Hopyard as a target golf course, it did set up well for me.  At around 6500 from the blue tees, it’s really a 200-215 yard shooters (read: me) paradise.  I’m just not sure how many holes you’d even want to hit anything beyond 250.  The fairways tend to narrow and get more protected beyond that.

There is a good score waiting for you, if you play this course patiently and don’t try to do too much.  Having said that, there is enough in the way of hazards – between water, trees, and the occasional bunker – to make for a long afternoon if you are overly aggressive and aren’t striking the ball well.

This course is lightly bunkered, but uses angles, elevation changes, and its densely wooded surroundings well for protection.  What bunkers there are, it should be noted, are well placed and can certainly be found if your shot is even a little offline.  There is also a decent number of water features scattered around the course in form of ponds, creeks and marshes.

Fox Hopyard is nothing if not scenic.  I found the numerous rock walls particularly pleasing. Using these, along with a variety of short carries over marshes and other water that really isn’t overly in play, the course does a nice job of providing an attractive aesthetic without being overly threatening.

There’s a good amount of variety in the design of the holes.  Even holes which play the same like the back to back par four 6^th and 7^th – each calling for a 200-215’ish drive to a dog leg left, leaving another 180 or so into a tucked away green – feel completely different because of their design elements.

Be sure to bring your thinking cap, or abacus, there will be some calculating to do with regard to club selection because of the significant elevation changes on some of the holes.  Number 4, for example drops nearly 90 feet over its 180 or so yards while the par five 5^th loses over 100 feet of elevation before rising back up about 15 feet right in front of the green.

Most of the holes on this track also enjoy a certain amount of privacy.  There are very few adjacent fairways so we often felt alone on the course (never a bad thing).  This was especially true on the front nine, and really added to our experience.  We played behind a twosome who we didn’t see after the third hole and pace of play was good while we were on the course and appeared to stay that way as we watched groups come in behind us and make the turn after our round.

The staff at Fox Hopyard was great both in the pro shop and around the course, and the grounds crew was particularly considerate and polite.  Overall, we really enjoyed the round and would certainly return if the opportunity came up.