Norwalk, CT

Cranbury Park

3.875(based on 50 reviews)
Filter course reviews

Filter reviews

Filter reviews

Cranbury Park reviews

Filter
7 0
Ryal
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 6.9 years 222 played 185 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Don't Hurry Through Cranbury 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 21, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

+ Long tee pads made of rubber anchored to a wood frame have enough space for long wind-ups like mine.
+ The tee signs have a crisp graphic of the hole ahead with pars and distances for all layouts. Plus, most of their anchor poles have hooks built in for players to hang their bags.
+ Each hole has two pins for the player to choose their challenge level, and each layout's pins are colored differently so the player knows intuitively which one to throw towards.
+ Every hole has a bench, and there are a fair few trash cans. Please do not litter!
+ The course is set in a quiet park with dense woods for the front nine and more open holes for the back nine.
+ Some nice elevation challenges throughout.

Cons:

- Some holes have multiple possible pin locations for the red layout, but there is no way for the player to know which location the basket occupies without spending the time to walk around and spot it. Hole 7 jumps to mind as an example of this.
- All holes in both layouts are par 3. This is just fine for the short layout, but I feel as though two or three pin positions of the long layout's holes ought to be bumped up to par 4.
- Some holes share fairways with each other. 14 + 18 is the most obvious example. There might be one or two others.
- There are no 'next hole' signs. This is combated somewhat by the fairly obvious paths to take and the tee sign diagrams, but I still got lost after completing hole 13 because of the lack of signage.

Other Thoughts:

Please note that this review is based on the longer Cranbury layout with the red baskets. My favorite hole here is #4 because of its combination dense tunnel shot and rolling downhill elevation. My least favorite hole is #11 because of how flat and plain it is. To my mind it was the least engaging.

Regarding the course altogether, Cranbury Park is a quiet and efficient course. I'll admit that I tricked myself into raising my expectations upon seeing the fancy mansion and the tiny art exhibit building right next to the parking lot. In my mind I thought that meant this course would be some kind of elegantly decorated and ornate course with pristine fairways and golden baskets. Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but what I'm saying is that the course resides within a very pleasant venue.

Hole 14 here is probably one of the prettiest holes I've played with a postcard-worthy view of a country club (I'm assuming), its patio, gardens, sculptures and statues. However, it was also one of the least stimulating from a disc golf perspective because of how level and open it is. Most of the back nine suffers from that, to be honest. The scenery is nice, but the disc golf difficulty could have been better.
As for the front nine, the vibe is notably different. Those woods are so dense and silent that I half expected to see Slenderman walking about in the background. This forest makes for some fun challenges in the way of tight lines, bending fairways and guarded baskets. The elevation among the front nine is pretty fun, too. I like a well-textured course, and Cranbury Park satisfies that itch.

I barely remember most of the holes, though. Not much reached out and grabbed me other than the scenery. I definitely remember having fun, and I would likely make this my home course if I lived in the area, but I didn't retain much as I played.
Still, I do recommend this course to players seeking golf in the woods, in a few fields and on some tough hills. It strikes me as a course to slow down and enjoy the view while you play, which not every course can pull off. Cranbury does.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
1 3
KnickerbockerLAG
Experience: 12 years 20 played 12 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Cranbury Park is beautiful and challenging 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 18, 2015 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Cranbury Park has some great highlights. If you are into architecture or horticulture, the grounds have much to look at. The wooded course has some very memorable holes. Overall the course is designed to be purposefully challenging, and it succeeds.

Cons:

The pedestrians (aka aimlessly meandering city folks) and DOg walkers can become annoying REAL quick. You regularly find yourself standing on a tee box waiting to drive, because people are on the fairway taking selfies, as if totally unaware that its a disc golf course. The dog park is also a pain because dogs regularly will grab your disc and run away with it.

Other Thoughts:

Dont expect to get near parring this course unless you are playing a godlike game.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
6 0
reposado
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.8 years 278 played 276 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 24, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Cranbury is a solid course made up of solid holes. Great signs, easy navigation and two baskets on each hole add to a very enjoyable experience. The signature element of the course is the use of stone walls to create OB. I'm not one for arbitrarily decided OB lines, but these feel very natural and add to the challenge as well as to the aesthetic quality of the course. Very nice use of an already in-place resource.
The second basket is also a nice touch. Locals can get a bit of variety by playing the blue baskets on occasion without moving the standard reds from their great positions. Alternatively, players of different ability levels can handicap their round by each playing to a different basket. But, if you are just playing once, you definitely want to play red.
The course isn't overly difficult and combined with the low level of underbrush and the existence of short baskets, it should be very playable for novice players, although the standard layout is clearly geared towards intermediates. Just about any player will likely enjoy their experience at Cranbury though.

Cons:

I do appreciate the variety here but the open holes here aren't very interesting. It's easy to compare the course to Wickham, the in-state neighbor and the open holes on Wickham are all so different from each other. They keep a player interested with a variety of directions laid out over some very significant elevation changes. Here, not so much. The open holes at Cranbury are much flatter and grow tiresome rather quickly.
It's also tempting to compare the course to Borderland, as both inhabit parks built around a historic mansion. Here though, the course doesn't have a hole that opens up to it to create a memorable moment. There is no real signature hole at all. Cranbury is a very solid course, and a recommended stop, but it isn't a destination course. Good discing, but not truly memorable discing. Worth playing but a notch below both Wickham and Borderland, both of which feature the same variety of wooded and open that plays so well here.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
1 4
markfohara
Experience: 19.9 years 6 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Bring some bug spray 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 23, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

A good variety of shots, on a very challenging course. I'm told that pros play here all the time, and i can see why

Cons:

Freaking bugs! Bring some bug spray. Or a bug A-bomb. Also, the course is heavily wooded, and if i had a nickel for every time I hit a tree....

Other Thoughts:

Great location, set back from society at a very nice park. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area, there are some really cool shots here
Was this review helpful? Yes No
9 1
forehandfranz
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 31.9 years 226 played 128 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Nice New England Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 4, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

A very nice park to take a stroll with broad lawns and trails winding through thick woods. Very clean with very nice tee pads, signs and baskets.

The challenges exist throughout as you will have to keep on tight fairways on all but 4 holes. On these wooded holes, hitting a tree early can make it a bogey hole due to thick spindly trees in the rough. The key is 80% power on 80% of the holes. The flow is decent, and is mixed with some modest elevation changes and doglegs in both directions.

A few holes are memorable to me - #4 because of it's narrow difficulty factor. # 9 has a pin mounted beautifully on an outcropping of stone. #13 twists uphill to the left then flattens and turns right and has an OB rock wall on the left, thick trees on the right, and trees within the fairway- two very accurate shots will get you to the pin on this one and make you feel you've accomplished something.

Cons:

It's a nice relief to have some open holes in the fields. They are actually SO open, they have almost no obstacles on the way to the pin. I thought those holes would have benefitted from more protection around the pin, at least.

The course suffers from winding directly through major pedestrian pathways (primarily off-leash dog walkers). I like people, and I like dogs but it it got a little redundant running into this traffic. Many of the paths run the entire length of the fairway! I realize the designers may not have had a choice, but I'm just expressing the frustration these delays create. It really is best to seperate the disc golf from other park users- especially furry ones that like to chew discs.

Other Thoughts:

There are arrows located on bricks at the base of most of the pins that point to the next tee. This was quite helpful, but a couple were missing that created a little confusion.
Was this review helpful? Yes No

Latest posts

Top