The Sand Trap at Twin Silos Return to Massachusetts page
(413) 789-3143
Price: $5
Par: 47
2004 Ratings 2012
Ratings
Difficulty: 8 Difficulty: 7
Creativity: 4 Creativity: 6
Atmosphere: 5 Atmosphere: 7
At the end of the day we weren’t impressed with this course. It was in somewhat rough condition when we played (although they did have a sign mentioning they would be going through renovations during the year) and the overall value for the price didn’t seem to be there. Although it was early in the season there was no water in the “water-traps”, which looked more like big rain receptacles. The real sand traps were nice and the signs by all of the hazards explaining the penalties and procedures were helpful. For example, when putting into a sand trap, there was sign telling you to take a stroke penalty and place the ball on the white carpeted area instead of right outside of the sand trap. However, the white carpeted area was either in a much better position or in a place where the ball wouldn’t stay (such as on the up-slope of a hill).
One of the things we hope will be fixed during the renovations are the cups. Many of the cups had broken or half-broken edges, resulting in more than our fair share of putts that bounced over the cup or bounced off to the side and not into the cup. One of our biggest complaints was that there were a lot of plants and other obstacles in the way of standing to take a putt (mostly for right-handed people), even in highly putted areas (such as at the tee spot). This was annoying as it seemed like we had to keep moving stuff out of the way or trying to putt left-handed for a lot of shots. The design of the course’s landscaping was definitely lacking.
The course does take credit cards (although the machine was down when we tried to use one) and there is a weekly drawing if you leave your scorecard.
2012 Update
It seems like we are always playing this course in a transition phase. The course was closed for some time and recently re-opened about two months before our visit. As the course stands many of the same defects noted above were still in place but the new ownership is in the middle of many renovations. Some of the mats needed some repair work or complete replacement. Some of this was due to the “water-traps”, which when they were filled provided great places for kids to run and splash soaking the adjacent mats. The other water obstacles were fine, being running water and separate from the greens by fencing. While we also appreciate the authenticity of the real sand traps they do make for some messy obstacles as people track in and out of them. The previously mentioned penalty signs were also still there but it seems like the new owners haven’t gotten around to removing them or placing the white carpet area to shoot from. Finally it did seem like many of the places to tee off were hard to stand in, though on some holes there were “standing areas” put in (though only if you were a right handed putter).
One of the best parts of the new ownership was that this is one of the few courses we’ve been too where the price actually went down eight years later! This is one of the reasons that, despite the current drawbacks, we felt the atmosphere number was higher than before. In addition the staff was very friendly and as we were playing there were signs of the course being worked on. Overall we think that the course, as is, is worth playing and we expected it to get better as the renovations are completed.
Reviewed by Pat, Mandy and Putt
Reviewed in 2004 & 2012
Course Pictures (click to enlarge)
Map