Short technical holes mixed with long distance wide open holes, a great overall diverse course. Great views and lots to see as far as natural beauty goes.

Next holes are easy to get to but not clearly marked at the pin. Found a few "Next Hole" markers on the ground.
Found some of the tee pads a bit short for a running drive. Gravel was added to some for this reason I believe!
Couple more trash cans would be nice also.

Lost a red Valkrie at around hole 2 or 3 or 4...Idk!

Nice flow and feel to the course.
Great mix of shots.
Nice variety of holes.
Water comes into play, but doesn't dominate your game.
Good risk/reward choices on most holes.
Cement pads.
Trash cans.
Free to play and park!

Needs directional signs to next hole.
A few of the baskets were bent.
Cement section of tee pads are a bit short.
No bathrooms.

A really nice course to play a challenging, yet very laid back round.
Had a great day here and will be making the hour drive more often.
It is well worth it.

18 holes of challenging yet fair disc golf. Good mix of open and wooden holes with some elevation mixed in. Baskets are a little older, bu still easy to see from almost every tee and still in good shape for the most part. A small pond comes into play on 5 and 6, and the main lake comes into play on the 16th. Fairly well maintained. Concrete tees with a little gravel room beforehand to allow for a run-up or cross-step. Friendly locals are always a plus. Signature 16th with the peninsula green is a challenge and the best hole on the course. Pin locations are challenging and do incorporaate some additional thinking on your part to score well.

If you're not a fan of water courses or water holes, then play it safe and stay away from those holes. I happen to like water courses so long as I'm not stupid enough to go near it to risk losing a disc. The tenth hole is the longest hole here, but if you have trouble staying left, you could easily score very high and that could be frustrating for some people. Other than that no additional complaints.

Nice course with a short drive off I-395 and not far from the spectacular Worcester, MA area courses, so if you have a couple of days, swing over from Worcester to this gem in NE CT. You'll be glad you did.

lots of different looks at baskets
not a lot of traffic
info at almost ever hole

hole 16 is on a peninsula
hole 14 forces shot at basket on hill next to water
doesn't get mowed alot

got my first ace on hole 3
top 3 i've played good course

Wonderful settings, great use of land.

Challenge geared towards beginner to amateur level.

For rating a course I base my ratings on 50% design, 20% course upkeep, 10% basket, tee, tee sign, and signage, 10% amenities, and 10% that special something that defines a course.

Intro:
West Thompson Lake Disc Golf Course is a course hosted by the Army Corps of Engineers at the West Thompson Lake Dam complex. The course is slightly difficult to find as roads in the area are missing street signs. I suggest researching your arrival route and printing a street map if possible. Parking is in the public boat ramp parking lot. Hole 1 is down an access road at the beginning of the parking lot. The grounds contain walking trails and I did see people walking their dogs very often. At no time did they cross my fairway though.

Design:
The course is a mixture of wooded and open holes. Holes had a good variety of straight and left or right turns. Length significantly varied with some holes being short and some being long (hole 10) to extremely long (hole 15). Holes played mostly flat with only a few offering elevation changes. There are very few (one or two) blind shots and even then the disc is in sight for most of its flight. Fairways were well established but limited shots. Undergrowth along fairways in the wooded holes was very light in nature and an errant throw would pose little challenge for recovery of par. Growth along open fairways was medium to heavy and would challenge recovery of par if entered. Water only came into minor play on a few holes (Hole 14 water behind basket, Hole 16 basket sits on a peninsula). Landing areas around baskets are pretty clear and none sat on significant hills. Overall, the course design is very thought out and uses the existing wooded lands very well. Challenge is on the light side and I anticipate advanced players would be less enthusiastic about the course than beginner and medium skilled players.

Course Upkeep:
The course appeared to be kept up very well. Very few cut logs and trimmed brush piles were observed, placed well out of the way of the main fairways. Course was pretty clean with just a minor amount of trash observed. There was trash barrels only observed at two locations throughout the course (Hole 1 and Hole 11). More trash barrels would go a long way in eliminating the amount of litter.

Basket, tee, tee sign, and signage:
Baskets are in good condition with only one showing any abuse (bending of basket). Tee boxes consisted of cement bases. The design seemed odd though. They were trapezoidal shaped favoring width over length. More often than not I had to begin my X-Step off of the tee pad. The transition was smooth though as the surrounding ground was graded at the same level as the pad. Tee signs are present at most tees showing direction of fairway, distance, and par. Signs are fairly well detailed offering good graphical references. Next tee signs were at very few holes (Hole 2 to 3 I believe, and directional sign between Holes 8 and 9)) but I felt more should have been present. I did have to refer to my map printed earlier for directions to the next hole on a couple of occasions

Amenities:
In a grassy area at the parking lot there are three picnic tables with grills. There is no practice target. There is a billboard with a course map and a place for scorecards although none were present. There is a port-a-potty in the same grassy area as the picnic tables. I did not notice a source of water. Picnic tables are at a lot of the tees, but at tees where there were none there were no other benches or other seating arrangements. There are no bag hooks. There was no location to practice warm up drives.

That "special something":
If you go to this course expecting great use of the dam or wonderful views of the lake you will be disappointed. It wasn't until around Hole 16 that it fully dawned on me that the beauty of the course isn't the dam itself but the wonderful lands surrounding it. The course plays like it is on a cross between a farm and an English Manor. Beautiful fields, bushy outcroppings, and winding fairways weave you in around the property. The course is as much a please to walk as it is to play.

Conclusion:
This course was a lot of fun to play and a nice change from the very technical courses in the area. The challenge level of the course was on the lighter side. It is the type of course where someone could achieve their first par for the course as there are ample birdie opportunities. After achieving said par, I'm not sure if my enthusiasm for the course would continue though as I would be searching for a higher level of difficulty. I would not hesitate to take someone here for their first experience with disc golf as it is very beginner tolerant. If in the area I would highly recommend a visit to the course not only for a round but also for a nice stroll around the grounds.

Free-play, fun holes, and great scenery will keep you coming back for more. Thompson Lake has great variety (long open field, straight, obstacles, turns, and wooded technical holes) for the thirsty golfer. They seem to keep updating the course with a few more concrete tees and signs here and there. Keep 'em coming. Over all, the course is challenging and a great time.

There is chance of losing discs at Thompson. If the grass hasn't been recently cut, it'll make you uneasy at the tee on a few holes. And watch out for the lake! It will easily swallow your discs. Rarely, the lake will rise up and make holes unplayable.

I've been playing this course for more than 5 years and I still love it.

West Thompson Lake is a good mix of huuuuuuge long holes and tightly wooded, technical shots. I have about a 400' max drive on my best day and a couple of these holes demanded that I uncork everything I had just to keep it within hope of seeing Par range. Good fun! Minimal Elevation changes throughout but there's some to be taken under consideration to keep it safe on some shots that include the lake itself. The scenery is amazing and the basket/tee placment on most holes are tough but enjoyable.
For the most part, the course is well maintained by way of mowing and general landscape upkeep.
You'll have a chance to use just about every disc in your arsenal to navigate the variety of shots necessary to score well here from your biggest driver to you gnarliest turner. Some of the water shots are delighfully challenging with one being out on a small peninsula, and another is an upshot to the elevated tee with the lake immediately behind and downhill to gobble up your missed approach.
Maps are generally available at the kiosk near the gate by tee #1

Tee signs. They exist from time to time but seem to be a favorite target for vandals. One week I was there they had almost all of them in place, the next week, most were missing. On some drives, I found myself running up to get a look at where the basket actually was to plan my shot accordingly.

There's no wading in the lake, by law. If you happen to lose a disc in the lake you technically aren't allowed to go in after it. This rule is strictly enforced by the patroling rangers. Be aware of who's watching if you REALLY need to get that disc back!

parking. You'll want the first entrance that leads to the boat ramps, not the second, smaller and plainly visible lot further down the road. This isn't immediately apparent when you're looking for the place the first time or two.