Lyman Orchards Golf Club — Restaurant in Middlefield

September 2023 - this year's annual event we attended late but were happy to revisit here despite the hot and humid weather which there were few of this summer. The daily schedule consisted of carnival games, face painting for kids, concessions, a lunch buffet, speaker presentations and a ticket to the four acre corn maze with over a mile of pathways! The theme this year is based on the classic film "The Wizard of Oz" and trivia signs are placed throughout the maze along the way. This year marks the 24th anniversary of the Lyman Orchards corn maze.

The food provided here was a nice balance of healthy choices and summer favorites served under warmed stainless chafing dishes. Menu included salad with red onion, tomato and cucumber, watermelon slices, hamburgers with or w/o cheese in addition to the optional veggie burger, roasted chicken and macaroni & cheese with a bit of heat. Dessert service came out later with chocolate frosted cake squares, cookies and Lyman's well known apple cider doughnuts made from their own orchard's apples.

Much to do here aside from golf if holding an event or just visiting for the day. There are horse-drawn rides (cash only for a minimal fee), a petting zoo, a haunted trail after dusk for those seeking a thrill, and the option to pick your own apples. For food, there is the farm market for sandwiches and the 1741 Pub & Grill for tavern fare and cocktails.

The event we attended in August 2022 featured a contest of 18 holes of golf before their picnic and awards ceremony. Nice location in the country with a lot of green lawns, open space and blue sky. Playing golf or not, this is a group friendly place for any event who needs outdoor and/or tented accommodations. The Lyman Orchards store features all kinds of products for consumers whether needed or...

We played the Players Course last Wednesday. Unfortunately, it was not a good experience. The greens had just been aerated and sanded the previous two days. Basically, the greens were uputtable. While I do understand that aerating the greens is a necessary evil, when I made the tee off time over the phone I was not told this would be the case. My bad in that I should have specifically asked - but when I played the Jones course about a month ago, THOSE greens had recently been aerated. I assumed that since that happened then that the Players would be conditioned soon afterwards. Not the case. It was especially frustrating since I drove down from Boston and my playing partner from NYC - this is where we choose to play a few times a year because of the equidistance between our two locales. Furthermore, and I have found this true on a few occasions at the Players, the tee boxes were in rough shape. Crab grass has spread prolifically over the teeing area. We also found the rough just off the fairway to be almost unplayable. The rough isn't tall - but it is very thick. We often spent too much time searching for balls that were not far off the fairway. I know you are meant to hit the fairway and rough should present some challenge - but I am talking about just inches off the fairway. I know that there are ways of thinning the rough, so not sure if you have the gear to do that. Oh, and can you blow up holes #3 and #5 on the Players? Those holes are brutes. But there are lots of well designed holes on the course. Basically enjoy the facility and we will play(hopefully the Jones) there agin. I hope you will consider the issues I...

Overall Lyman Orchards is one of the best values for golf in Connecticut. There are 36 holes of championship golf on the Jones and Player courses, each with their own set of nuances.

The Player course is all about club selection. If you are too short, you are in a ravine. If you are too long, you are in a ravine or water. The easiest looking holes turn out to be scorecard nightmares if you don't select the right club, or if you hit it fat or thin.

The Jones course is more subtle. It looks easier than Player in many ways, but it is amazing how Robert Trent Jones places sand traps and trees right where your drive wants to go. Or how he places water into play on the side that the wind is blowing towards. Overshoot a green by a couple of yards and your ball can careen down a steep hill into overgrown vegetation of various sorts. Speaking of greens, the Jones course will challenge you with pin placements that almost guarantee a wide variety of undulations between your ball and the cup.

Oh, I almost forgot the Apple Nine. There is a complete practice facility with a driving range with both grass and matts. There is a large putting practice area, and a chipping and pitching practice area along with a completely separate putting green. The Apple Nine itself is a nice executive course that will help you to dial in your approach shots, where you can play a quick nine for lunch in an hour or less.

Add to this the Lyman Orchards themselves, along with the pick your own fruit, the corn maze, and the Apple Barrel farm market and deli, and Lyman Orchards stacks up to be a treasure in the state of...