Newport National Golf Club — Local services in Middletown

I've played a number of courses across the country, Cabo, and Hawaii. This place is a treat, in my top 10. Addressing some issues with previous reviews.

Slow play -- believe they've fixed this with new carts with GPS that track speed of play and allows the management to fix slower groups. We teed off at 10:00 on a Sunday and finished in 4 hours, 15 min.

Green fees / value -- I payed a weekend rate of $150. For the course conditions and experience, I would say it was worth it. Maybe the higher fees chase away less serious players who play slower, thus helping speed of play. I've played many of the bigger name courses out there. Conditions yesterday were about as good as I've ever seen. Reminded me of Spanish Bay with the layout (minus the Pacific Ocean view). I actually preferred the conditions to SB.

Lack of amenities, etc. I came to play golf so I didn't care how much $$$ was pumped into the pro shop facility. Finally, someone spending the money on the course instead of the clubhouse.

The carts were awesome - gps, etc but also the most comfortable seats I've seen on a cart.

Staff was great, no issues...

Lunch at the turn was great as well with a...

Mixed review for me. The tee boxes, greens and fairways could not have been better. The carts were a level above all other cars I've ever seen. Comfortable seat cushions, GPS, cooler with ice, a real treat. My threesome played on Thursday at 2:00, the pace was okay until the 10th hole. A bottleneck of foursomes stuck on the 10th, left us waiting for at least 30 minutes. Perhaps one reason for the delay was the snack bar services. We were prompted to order lunch from the cart, presumably to have lunch waiting at the turn. Unfortunately the lunch was not ready, which held up the play even worse. That portion of the service was disappointing and awkward, not to mention the snack cart was absent for most of our round and not friendly when it did arrive. I was disappointed that there was no driving range and unimpressed overall for the price. Probably not going to play this...

It was a friendly place with well conditioned course however it has many architectural flaws that don't make it worth the green fee. The back to back par 3's on the front nine to get you out of a corner is lazy GCA at it's finest. The 2nd shot on 10 is almost 100% certain lost ball unless you can carry your 2nd shot 180 yards, hard for a higher handicap, older golfer or some females. There are some half decent holes there and if you're happy to part with $150USD for a nicely conditioned course, that offers very little architecturally, then book a tee time. I enjoyed my day due to the great company we were paired with but I wouldn't part with that amount of money for a course like this again. Ladies should beware of the lack of toilets unless you are close to the clubhouse. Staff were friendly which...