Course: Cherry Hill Golf Course

Location: Amherst, MA

Date Played: June 26, 2007

Played By: Jason

Overall Rating: 44

Friendliness of Staff: 7
I only encountered 2 staff members here. One was the guy in the pro shop, who was very friendly and suggested we start out playing 9 holes because of the heat, then see how we feel to play 9 more. Great suggestion! The second was the beer cart girl who was peddling beer on the course.

Facilities/Pro Shop: 3
The pro shop is very small. The only inventory they have is Cherry Hill shirts, golf bags, golf gloves, and a small selection of balls. They do have a practice putting green. There is also a small area indoors with a few tables and seats.

Quality/Value of Food/Snacks: 4
You can get a hot dog, soda and bag of chips for $4, but you're serving it to yourself. The beers on the course are only $2 each. Everything was reasonably priced, but there is not a large selection to choose from.

Fairway Conditions: 2
The fairways and rough are in very poor shape. There are lots of weeds, dry areas, and dead spots. The tee boxes were as solid as a rock, as it was impossible to get your tee in to them.

Greens Conditions: 5
Surprisingly, the greens are in OK shape. It is tough to get a good read on them, but the ball rolls well. The greens are small and the pin placement was pretty tight on them, adding to the difficulty. Other golfers do not care for the greens themselves, as there were some ball marks and a lot of cleat marks from someone dragging their feet.

Scenery: 4
This course is not very pretty to look at. It could use a lot more water as it was obviously very dry. The views from the top of the hill are OK. The fall foliage views from here are probably awesome.

Difficulty of Course: 3
The greens are quite small, they're like the size of playing on a chip + putt course. The rough and fairways can be very tough, as the ground is beat up and inconsistent. The fairways are small and it is easy to hit in to the trees on some of the holes.

Value Received: 6
$20 for 18 with cart for 9 holes is fairly reasonable. They could not afford to charge any more, as golfers will not go there for a higher price. It's an easy local place to play if you're looking for a quick, cheap round.

Speed of Play/Design of Course: 4
2,620 yards from the whites. Only a par 35. This is a very short course. There are par-4's that are 262, 280, and 250 yards respectively. You could score really low here.

19th Hole: 1
There is not really a 19th hole to speak of. You can buy a couple beers in the pro shop. They have 4 tables inside and a patio outdoors that overlooks the 9th hole and 1st tee box. There is no bar though.

There is a beer cart on the course. +5

Comments:
This course is in tough shape. It's reasonably priced, but is more suited to be played by beginners. It has the feel of a chip + putt course. This course is run by the Town of Amherst and it's a tough business for them to be in. With the land that they own here, this course could be turned in to a great executive par-3 course, which the Western Mass area does not really have. Having a beer cart on a 9-hole course saved their rating from being even lower.