Pros:
-Tee Boxes are great. Level, Rubber Pads, size appropriate to the hole length
-Nice Baskets... two on many holes
-Variety... up, down, left, right, open, wooded... and wooded, and more wooded.
-Very clean (exception is behind the parking lot)
-Practice Basket near parking lot / Kiosk
-Very pretty in all seasons. 18th hole especially in Spring and Fall
-Free
-Plenty of parking
-Has enough play to be vibrant, but rarely is "crowded"
Cons:
-Lacking some amenities like bathroom or even a port-o-potty, trash cans
-Very challenging for a recreational skill level player. This course can be very frustrating for a beginner, and and can make for a long day for even an experienced rec-level player. But this is a Pro NOT a con for better players.
-Signs rotted away a few years ago. The old signs were nice. But Navigation really isn't too bad for first timers, just print the course map on this site before hand or look for the arrows on all of the baskets.
Other Thoughts:
This course gets a wild variety of ratings, and I tried to be objective in my ratings. I'm an "older" (almost 60) player, and I can't throw more than 200 feet with much consistency.
I think some of the problem with this course is it's really set up to be a challenge to tournament players. REC players like me see the course this way:
1- Straight and open, but to par it I'll probably have to nail an 175' approach shot, then a putt in the windiest part of the course.
2- Some trees to negotiate, a long mostly open par 3.
3- Short but tight. Almost impossible to keep a drive in the fairway, which makes the approach fraught with danger from numerous trees
4- Where is the basket? OK if I don't roll down the hill
5- A decent 200' drive will leave a short approach, but you might have to bend a putter or a mid to get close.
6- Downhill to the "easy" basket. Not a bad par if you can avoid trees.
7- Short uphill. Good par chance if you can avoid an early tree.
8- Another downhill. Just avoid the early trees
9- Cool benches and Tee area, short basket reachable if you can avoid the trees... creek will eat an overshoot
10- Par 3? Really? Not for a rec play. No way I'm getting a drive where I can have a look at the basket unless I get a really lucky roll.
11- Downhill, but a tough Par 3 for a Rec player... trees will eventually grab a drive, and the approach will need to bend and curve just right.
12- OK, a half way decent drive and a "smart" touch approach will lead to a make-able par putt.
13- New short straight basket helps, but the tree in the middle of the already narrow fairway is intimidating. My best percentage is to throw at the tree in the middle... which means a good drive gets punished. Can the mando be ignored on the short basket since there is no advantage to "cutting" the fairway? Another hole that should be a par 4 for a rec level player
14- Hey, a "birdie-able" hole with a nice touch drive, though it's certainly easy enough to hit a tree and be down in the gully.
15- A tough dogleg right even to the short basket. Really a four is the best I can hope for.
16- The hole I fear most in Western Mass/Northern CT... Long and a narrow tunnel and even the "short" basket is a long way out there. Feels like a par five to me and will to most rec players.
17- Fun hole after the 13/15/16 gantlet.
18- Beautiful hole, and I have made par here, but it takes my best drive and then some kind of big hyzer approach to get around the apple trees to have a par putt.
I respect that this is a challenging course that rewards players that can throw long and accurately, but I understand how it can frustrate others. Course Designers need to remember there are more rounds played by us "hackers" than by good players. That said, I understand why the better players in the area love Crane Hill.
Bottom Line is this course while lacking in some amenities, this course holds its own with the better courses in New England.
Random Closing Thought: Until today, I hadn't played this course in over a year. Last time I played it one of the "locals" chewed me out for driving too fast in the parking lot (10 MPH instead of the posted 5 MPH). I thought the guy was just being a jerk, but now I know he was just being protective of a course he loves... neighbors had complained to the town about the dust. Since then the road has a coating of some fresh cinders, today the driveway/parking lot didn't seem to be any dust issue. The local core of players may not be all that warm and fuzzy, but they are not as scary as I once feared.