The Links at Hiawatha Landing

Got joined up with 3 golfers from a local high school team. The golf course was a love it and hate it kind of course to me. I loved the relatively plush fairways but hated the time and effort needed to search for balls that did not end up in the fairway whether it was my ball or one or more of my playing partners. Loved the use and beauty of slightly rolling hills for a fairly flat piece of land, but hated the overabundance of blind landing areas created by the architect and the rolling hills. Other than hitting the fairway every time or bringing your own personal spotter or caddie to help watch and locate your shots, there isn't much that could be done to this tall thick grassy, marshy links style course to reduce the search time. We played at a fairly fast pace, but probably spent about an hour of our 4 hour 15 minute round looking for our golf balls. I estimate about a 50/50 success rate/failure rate which was somewhat frustrating knowing that you only missed the fairway by a few yards or in some cases hit the shot exactly where you were aiming, but a four person search party could not locate your golf ball. If I am going to loose a ball and a stroke or two, I would prefer watching the ball go in a lake or pond and seeing it splash to confirm my ball is gone instead of anxiously searching unsuccessfully for a few minutes and then deciding where to take your drop from then trying to get the thought of "Where the heck did that last ball go?" out of your mind.
The greens were aerated with the last week or so, so they were a little bumpy, but not bad for recently aerated greens. Playing in Florida for the last 20 years on Bermuda greens which are known for the effect the grain has on your putts, I was surprised at how much the grain of these Upstate NY greens seemed to effect our putts. Seemed like much more of a grain effect than any of the Bermuda greens I have played. I did like the way the greens were not overly undulating or severe. There was enough undulation in the fairways for "undulation" on one course. Due to the many blind landing areas and very few trees and other reference point on the course it was very difficult to judge distances and club selection. This is definitely the type of course that would be much more enjoyable and faster to play if they had GPS on the golf carts. Although they had the tombstone type hole views next to each tee, I would have liked to have had an overview of each hole layout on the scorecard. I'll play Hiawatha again this year, but not very often because I hate looking for balls for 25% of the time spent "not playing" my round and the frustration that comes with it.

When visiting relatives in the Southern tier, I play Hiawatha and a few others.....but we always play here. Great challenge and great conditions always. Perfect size greens that are undulating but smooth, fairways wide and groomed. Great play for the money....A little slow the day I was there but all were enjoying the fall weather at a great place to be.

Very fun day the course was busy but well marshelled...

Excellent & for our area, unique, layout. Challenging holes. No great views. Very fair to ladies, good separation on tees. Good pace of play. Very enjoyable experience.

We drove 3 hours from Buffalo to play this course, and I am glad that we did. It truly is a fun course to play. No blind shots, so it makes the first time playing fun. No guessing on where to hit it. From the tee boxes, the course looks very difficult, but if you hit the proper club off the tee, you have plenty of room. A driver is not needed on every hole. Course conditions were very good, and the greens were some of the purest I've played this year. The staff is very friendly and were genuinely happy to hear that we drove from Buffalo to play. The beverage cart service was also some of the best I've ever encountered. Not that we needed it, but we saw the beverage cart a minimum of 5 times. This course is well worth the money and very fun to play.

When you think about a golf course, you think bright green grass, nice white sand bunkers, and beautiful rolling hills. Where this course had amazing fairways and a lot of elevation change, it was simply not visually appealing. It had burnt grass areas, most of the course was swampy because of it's low-lying area, and the greens were bumpy on some holes. It was a great challenge due to it's length but the layout feels like you're just in a farmer's field. It has poor signage for it's facilities and the driving range is also hard to find if you've never been there. The staff was indifferent at best and didn't leave you feeling truly welcome to being there. Much better courses in the area.

Played the Links in the middle of a heatwave at got a deal for $15 to play one the highest rated public courses in all of NY. The only problem is that it was a 3 hour drive but thats ok. I love the trips as much as the golf. As for the course, you are really in the middle of nowhereand the clubhouse reminds you of that as it lacks elegance. The amenities were good but it was 97 degrees and I just headed to the first tee box and forgot about warm-ups. I had the whole place to myself and actually played 36 holes for no extra charge. The course was a nice Links course with tall fescue, wide fairways, and hard, fast greens. I thought the 3 finishing holes were the best on the course. Well worth the esxperience but I believe Conklin's Players Club, which is in the area, is even better. Maybe I just dont love "links" golf as much as parkland courses. Par 3s and Par 5's were very good. Par 4's lacked a bit of creativity. 18th Hole by far the best on the course.