Lessard Lanes Return
to Connecticut
page
136 New Britain Ave
Plainville, CT 06062
860-747-1657
Cost: $8.25 Other
Activities: Bowling
Par: None Listed
Difficulty: 2
Creativity: 7
Atmosphere: 9
This is a relatively new course
that replaced several lanes in a bowling alley when it underwent new
ownership. We hope they keep the course
as good as it is now in the future because it’s one of the best indoor courses
we have played, even if it isn’t too difficult.
The course was very clean and made good use of the area it had fitting
in both 18 holes but also giving some room between the holes to stand and putt
which is sometimes an issue in indoor courses. While this meant some of the
holes were quite shore very few of them were simple straight putts and they
managed to put in a little twist to the short holes to make aces slightly
challenging, albeit attainable. A couple
plays on this course and one could sink 4-5 aces a round, with very few holes
that were challenging enough to post a 3 or better. While it’s a very “Harris” style course they
do a good job of incorporating the bowling theme both into several of the hole
obstacles (pins and bowling balls) and also the hole numbering system which is
done completely with bowling pins laid horizontally. This, coupled with the way
they make some of the short holes more interesting, helped to bring up the
creativity score. The course also uses
the “Mischief Golf” spinners on two holes to keep things interesting if you
want to use them.
This indoor course also had water
running through the middle of it, though it didn’t really come into play with
the obstacles. There was music playing
while we were there and it was completely decorated for the holidays as
well. Our only real faults with the
course is they did have metal rimmed cups and one of the holes that used a
“log” obstacle really didn’t get any benefit of using the log and it seemed like
it might be easy for the ball to get stuck in there. They had generic scorecards but we
appreciated that they used pencils from their Keno game as their minigolf pencils. One final note is that the course does
have rubber mats that they use as starting tees off the end of the carpet. We chose not to use these and play more
traditional “tournament” style, teeing off prior to the numbering pins. If you stuck to the mats the difficulty would
be slightly higher as it does take away some of the more favorable angles.
In summary, this course was very
good and a much needed addition to the indoor circuit in central Connecticut
given some of the recent closures of other indoor courses. We played it on an early evening during a
holiday break and while there were a decent amount of people on the course, it
wasn’t packed and it didn’t feel cramped. We’d recommend stopping by if the
weather isn’t conducive to outdoor play or if you want to combine it with a few
games of bowling for a great afternoon of sport.
Reviewed by Pat, Mandy, Liz, Mal & Duffer
Reviewed in 2016
Course Pictures (click to enlarge)
See pictures of all 18 holes at our Flickr album.
Map
Par:
None listed
Price:
Not included
Difficulty:
5
Creativity:
8
Atmosphere:
8
Generally well maintained course, not that difficult. Pathways can be slightly confusing the first time - I accidentally played hole 10 before completing the first 9. Quiet atmosphere for being located in a bowling alley. Creative use of bowling items & animals - only issue with condition was on my 3rd visit a large turtle had been moved creating a dangerous step on one of the greens. Overall a good solution to rainy days or New England winters.
Reviewed
by: Glenda R
Reviewed
in: 2018