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Norbrook Farm Brewery reviews
16
0
Excellent...but not for me
Reviewed:
Played on:Mar 13, 2024
Played the course:once
Pros:
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Beautiful Northern CT setting; layout features woods, open, elevation, and a water hole. Level, large paver tees, signage and baskets are all excellent. The course is well-kept, and the on-site brewery provides bathrooms and full amenities.
The layout starts well enough (see later open holes in the "Cons"), with wide and clear fairways through thick woods. The course intersects at several spots with a mountain biking trail, so stay alert if the trails are open for use when you play.
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Beautiful Northern CT setting; layout features woods, open, elevation, and a water hole. Level, large paver tees, signage and baskets are all excellent. The course is well-kept, and the on-site brewery provides bathrooms and full amenities.
The layout starts well enough (see later open holes in the "Cons"), with wide and clear fairways through thick woods. The course intersects at several spots with a mountain biking trail, so stay alert if the trails are open for use when you play.
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Cons:
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- Four open holes, each measuring over 400', each a par 3. One finishes in the woods, but for the most part, they're just boring and long. And pretty brutal if you don't have a big arm.
- It appears that Next Hole navigation is being upgraded. There are new wooden arrows being mounted atop baskets, and there's almost always one easily spotted arrow to get you going. But several of the long transitions through the woods could use a few arrows along the way. I suspect this will be fixed in the future, but in the meantime, uDisc helps a lot.
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- Four open holes, each measuring over 400', each a par 3. One finishes in the woods, but for the most part, they're just boring and long. And pretty brutal if you don't have a big arm.
- It appears that Next Hole navigation is being upgraded. There are new wooden arrows being mounted atop baskets, and there's almost always one easily spotted arrow to get you going. But several of the long transitions through the woods could use a few arrows along the way. I suspect this will be fixed in the future, but in the meantime, uDisc helps a lot.
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Other Thoughts:
~ It's hard to rate a course highly when you don't enjoy about a third of the holes. In addition to the four boring 400' par 3's, there's a par 4 on the front nine with no apparent line through a grove of trees, and #13 is a narrow uphill that squeezes next to a giant O.B. dirt mound. The signature hole is the 300' over-the-pond shot, with the large pond filling most of the second half of the hole. The basket is maybe 40' from the water. I don't mind the challenge of throwing over water, but the risk/reward on this one seemed really unbalanced.
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~ The difficulty (mostly length) of this course is an odd fit for a brewery. It's like a 900 rated player designed it for himself and his buddies, without thinking about the experience it would make for hackers, newbies and casual players who love the idea of combining some disc golf with some quality craft beer. I have to think a lot of people walk off finishing the 400' par 3 closing hole with something less than a smile.
~ So much of this course would be "fixed" with a set of alternate tees or baskets. It would be playable for a wider range of players. Glad I bagged it. Appreciate all the care that goes into the course. It's an excellent course with a layout that I didn't particularly enjoy - your mileage may vary. Good beer. But not planning on going back.
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~ The difficulty (mostly length) of this course is an odd fit for a brewery. It's like a 900 rated player designed it for himself and his buddies, without thinking about the experience it would make for hackers, newbies and casual players who love the idea of combining some disc golf with some quality craft beer. I have to think a lot of people walk off finishing the 400' par 3 closing hole with something less than a smile.
~ So much of this course would be "fixed" with a set of alternate tees or baskets. It would be playable for a wider range of players. Glad I bagged it. Appreciate all the care that goes into the course. It's an excellent course with a layout that I didn't particularly enjoy - your mileage may vary. Good beer. But not planning on going back.
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2
3
DarrenJ
Experience:
4 played
2 reviews
Fantastic 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Jul 11, 2021
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
an awesome destination. views, nature, hops! Even though the brewery closes, the course stays open 24/7. Holes and tee's are well built and clean.
Cons:
they do let the fields grow to make hay so you may want to check the last time they mowed.
Other Thoughts:
i would like to check out the mountain bike trails.
19
0
From the Rec Player Perspective 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Apr 7, 2021
Played the course:once
Pros:
-Gorgeous property. Beautiful views of the surrounding Litchfield Hills from many locations, especially a viewing tower adjacent to the 10th tee. Healthy and abundant wildlife, saw a porcupine on the 14th green, and bluebirds in the field around ten, plus seventeen features a pen of sheep and goats nearby.
-Wonderful brew pub on the property. Good lunch options, great beers, and a rotation of food trucks. This is the top feature of this course.
-New DISCCatcher Pro baskets, bright yellow and show up well in the woods, well mounted. Greens are clear, not gimmicky, though Hole 12 can turn a missed putt into an OB water shot pretty easily.
-Tee Pads are great to throw from, adequately sized pavers, flat and level. Each tee pad has a good hole sign and a bench plus a broom.
-A mix of open and wooded holes, with some elevation changes. More open holes than a "classic New England woods course", that can be a PRO or a CON
-Underbrush clear. Except for the "water hole" 14, not much risk of losing a disc.
-Very clean, not a speck of trash anywhere.
-Wonderful brew pub on the property. Good lunch options, great beers, and a rotation of food trucks. This is the top feature of this course.
-New DISCCatcher Pro baskets, bright yellow and show up well in the woods, well mounted. Greens are clear, not gimmicky, though Hole 12 can turn a missed putt into an OB water shot pretty easily.
-Tee Pads are great to throw from, adequately sized pavers, flat and level. Each tee pad has a good hole sign and a bench plus a broom.
-A mix of open and wooded holes, with some elevation changes. More open holes than a "classic New England woods course", that can be a PRO or a CON
-Underbrush clear. Except for the "water hole" 14, not much risk of losing a disc.
-Very clean, not a speck of trash anywhere.
Cons:
-With just one tee and basket per hole, this course isn't particularly rec player or beginner friendly. This can be a long, frustrating, and grueling round if you don't have the skills or stamina to handle this course. Per PDGA guidelines this course rates out somewhere between White or Blue level. The description of the course in the "Misc. Info" section are not accurate, there are many par 3s in excess of 400'. https://www.pdga.com/documents/par-guidelines
-I didn't find much variety off the tees here. For me, a middle of the pack rec player, every open hole was a max drive to a wide open fairway and the woods holes were generally throw as far as I could without hitting an early tree.
-The one par four (hole 5), felt like it was "poke and hope" to get through the trees. I guess there were some open lines to the basket on the dogleg, but they were pretty narrow.
-Many long walks from the basket to the next tee, often not anywhere in sight. Although each hole has a good and informative sign, there isn't much "wayfaring" signage after putting out to get to the next tee.
-Not a problem on the day I played, but some of the mountain bike trails a close to the edge of some fairways. Could be a distraction and potentially dangerous.
-I didn't find much variety off the tees here. For me, a middle of the pack rec player, every open hole was a max drive to a wide open fairway and the woods holes were generally throw as far as I could without hitting an early tree.
-The one par four (hole 5), felt like it was "poke and hope" to get through the trees. I guess there were some open lines to the basket on the dogleg, but they were pretty narrow.
-Many long walks from the basket to the next tee, often not anywhere in sight. Although each hole has a good and informative sign, there isn't much "wayfaring" signage after putting out to get to the next tee.
-Not a problem on the day I played, but some of the mountain bike trails a close to the edge of some fairways. Could be a distraction and potentially dangerous.
Other Thoughts:
I'm probably being a grumpy old man, but on the golf alone I would have rated this 3.5 stars. The brewery and awesome land bumps this to a 4 star rating. To some of you this course might be your ideal layout. It just was a little too long and tough to be fun, though the after round beer was great.
This is still a fairly new course and has a chance to get better. I would love to see a second set of tees to make a short (PDGA RED level) alternate layout, given this property attracts many casual disc golfers. I would also like to see a "nine hole" loop as an option for players that don't have the time or energy to commit to this huge course.
This is still a fairly new course and has a chance to get better. I would love to see a second set of tees to make a short (PDGA RED level) alternate layout, given this property attracts many casual disc golfers. I would also like to see a "nine hole" loop as an option for players that don't have the time or energy to commit to this huge course.
