BLACKLEDGE COUNTRY CLUB (Gilead Highlands) HEBRON, CT
Date Reviewed: July, 2013
Blackledge Country Club is a 36-hole, public facility located twenty minutes southeast of Hartford. The Gilead Highlands Course, known as the “New Course”, was designed by Mark Mungeam and opened for play in 2000. The front nine, located across West Street, plays through the heavily wooded, flattest portion of the property. The holes run in a counter-clockwise pattern with trouble lining the right side of nearly every hole. The fairways are generally wide and flat, the greens small and undulating, placing a premium on approaches and the short game.
The back nine, considered by many to be the most difficult at Blackledge, begins on the upper, flatter portion of the property, and plays down and back through the lower, wooded hillside. The fairways are generally narrow and are often pitched or blind from the tee. The greens, like the front nine, are small and undulating, often surrounded by hazards or mounding.
The back nine, considered by many to be the most difficult at Blackledge, begins on the upper, flatter portion of the property, and plays down and back through the lower, wooded hillside. The fairways are generally narrow and are often pitched or blind from the tee. The greens, like the front nine, are small and undulating, often surrounded by hazards or mounding.
Course Information
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Course Rating
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Course Layout & Scorecard
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Hole 1
The challenging opening hole plays uphill from the tee to a generous landing area lined by out-of-bounds right. Drives bailing out to the left risk being blocked out by scattered, mature trees. A solid drive leaves an approach between 140-170 yards to a small green guarded by depressed mounding short-right. Missing long should be avoided as the green is two-tiered and slopes generously back-left to front-right.
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Hole 2
The short second plays slightly uphill from the tee to a small green guarded by mounding left and two bunkers right. The safe miss is short as the green slopes slightly back-to-front.
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Hole 3
The third favors a drive down the middle, avoiding a lone bunker (250-yards to clear from the tips) and out-of-bounds right. A solid drive leaves a second shot between 190-220 yards that will need to negotiate a large oak that sits 115-yards short of the green. Players opting to layup should play left of the tree, leaving the best angle into a shallow green guarded by two bunkers short-right. The putting surface slopes slightly left-to-right.
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Hole 4
The short fourth plays slightly uphill from the tee to a generous landing area lined by woods on either side. Drives missing beyond the mounding right risk finding out-of-bounds. Longer hitters should note that the fairway runs out 265-yards from the tips. A solid drive leaves a short-iron, downhill second shot between 60-90 yards to a small green guarded by sand short-right. The putting surface is pitched slightly back-to-front, leaving a delicate recovery if missing long.
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Hole 5
The fifth favors a drive played left-of-center, avoiding a bunker right (250-yards to reach from the tips) and a small hazard that hugs the inside of the dogleg (206-yards to clear from the tips). A solid drive leaves an approach between 130-160 yards to a bunkerless green guarded by shallow drop-offs long and left. The safe miss is short as the green is pitched slightly right-to-left.
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Hole 6
The sixth plays over a crossing wetland to a landing area lined by woods right and scattered trees left. A solid drive leaves an approach between 100-125 yards to a deep green guarded by a lone bunker right. Missing long should be avoided as the green falls away sharply towards the woods. The safe miss is short as the green is pitched slightly right-to-left.
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Hole 7
The challenging seventh plays over small rise to a generous landing area lined by scattered trees left and out-of-bounds right. A solid drive leaves a second shot between 200-230 yards over a crossing hazard to a large green guarded by sand left. Players opting to layup should play left of the right bunker in view, which is deceptively positioned 30-yards short of the green. The safe miss is short-left as the green is pitched slightly back-right to front-left.
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Hole 8
The short eighth plays slightly uphill from the tee to a narrow, but deep green guarded by sand right and short-left. Missing long should be avoided as the green is pitched generally back-right to front-left.
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Hole 9
The front nine closes with a short par-four that favors a drive left-of-center, avoiding scattered trees left and a lone bunker right (245-yards to reach from the tips). Longer hitters can catch a downslope just beyond the bunker, leaving a significantly shorter approach. Most players will be left with a downhill approach between 120-150 yards to a depressed, bowl-like green that is pitched generally right-to-left. Missing long should be avoided as the green falls away sharply towards a hidden hazard.
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Hole 10
The tenth plays over a crossing hazard to a generous landing area guarded by two fairway bunkers (275-yards to clear from the tips). A solid drive leaves a blind second between 210-240 yards over trees to an elevated green guarded by sand left and right. Players opting to layup should play to the corner of the dogleg, leaving an uphill approach between 70-90 yards. The safe miss is short as the green slopes generally back-right to front-left.
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Hole 11
The short eleventh plays downhill from the tee to a small green guarded by two bunkers short-right. The safe miss is short-left as the green is pitched slightly back-to-front.
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Hole 12
The challenging twelfth favors a drive between 225-250 yards from the tips, avoiding woods left and a steep drop-off right. A solid drive leaves a demanding, downhill second between 230-260 yards over a large pond to a small green. Players opting to layup should play right of the left pond, leaving an approach between 60-90 yards. The putting surface is relatively flat. Par on this hole is an excellent score.
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Hole 13
The challenging thirteenth is all carry over a crossing hazard to a narrow, but deep green guarded by two bunkers left. The safe miss is short-left as the putting surface is pitched slightly back-left to front-right. Anything missing right is dead.
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Hole 14
The fourteenth plays downhill from the tee to a narrow landing area guarded by mounding left and a hazard right (286-yards to clear from the tips). A solid drive leaves an approach between 110-140 yards to a small green guarded by mounding right and a lone bunker long-left. The safe miss is short as the green slopes generally back-right to front-left.
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Hole 15
The challenging fifteenth favors a drive played left-of-center, avoiding two fairway bunkers right and out-of-bounds left. A solid drive leaves an uphill approach between 140-170 yards to a small green guarded by a lone bunker short-right. Missing long should be avoided as the green is crowned and slopes significantly back-left to front-right.
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Hole 16
Leave driver in the bag as the short sixteenth plays downhill from the tee to a narrow landing area guarded by scattered trees left and two bunkers right (226-yards to reach second bunker from the tips). Drives missing long or right of the bunkers in view will likely be lost. A good drive leaves a downhill approach to a bunkerless green guarded by severe drop-offs right and long. The safe miss is short as the putting surface is pitched slightly left-to-right.
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Hole 17
The seventeenth plays uphill from the tee to a landing area guarded by two bunkers and a hidden hazard left (262-yards to clear from the tips). A drive of 220-yards is needed to clear the right hazard from the tips. A solid drive leaves an uphill approach between 130-160 yards to a small, angled green. Missing long or right should be avoided as the green slopes generally back-right to front-left.
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Hole 18
The short finishing hole favors a drive down the middle, avoiding mounding left and out-of-bounds right. A drive of 260-yards is needed to clear the left fairway bunker. A solid drive leaves an approach between 90-120 yards to a slightly elevated green guarded by sand right and short-left. The putting surface is relatively flat.
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