Berkshire Hills Golf Course

I was a caddy here in late 60’s and early 70’s when it was private and got free play on Mondays. Went back when I found out it went public. Still has the same drainage problems in the rain. Long but challenging course. Didn’t find any improvement from when it went from private to public. Wish they would fix drainage problems

Only went to the driving range and snack bar. Driving range is adequate although not as nice as other places in the area. Food options at the snack bar are limited unless you want a $ 4 hot dog (no thanks), beer or liquor. Bought a jumbo bucket of balls (110) for $ 10.

I’m giving a 3 star rating because I LOVE this course layout and for the time of year I played it (4÷12÷15). Management lacked, A LOT
Had a twosome to tee off at 8:24am. We arrived at the course at 7:30am thinking that we would hit some balls before teeing off. When we checked in, the very polite gentleman at the front said that we could tee off right away, first of the day. So we did.
The course is great. Bottom line, it really is. Even for the early time of year I couldn’t have been more pleased. For $ 25 a round (which is a steal).
We cleared the front nine in 90 minutes. As we finish the 9^th, we notice that a foursome was heading to the 10^th. But weren’t we the first to tee off? While we are waiting to hit off the 10^th, a single guy (I would say gentleman) said that the pro said that the back was wide open and that he would have no problem. Whether or not he was told this, my friend and I’s pace was screwed. So this guy joined us, but took off on us after the 1^th hole.
So now we have a foursome in front of us (women) and a weird guy jumping from hole to hole.
Course is awesome. Get a ranger…

There are lots of reasons I like this course I’ve played this course many times and I must say I’m amazed at Jason V’s review he had a bad day. I agree it’s not the best public course I’ve played but it is unique and challenging this course can provide you with lots of opportunity to shoot a low score to kick you in the backside. I really like Hole #1 the tee box is elevated and the fairway bends around to the right it allows you to swing away if you can hit the ball decent go for it. I love driving through the winding paths I think it’s a beautiful course and is in a very peaceful setting.
The club house is small and old and super nostalgic and the pro shop is cramped inside the same space the staff has always been super friendly. I’ve never had any issues with the rangers or been told to speed up play and never really have been held up I think the pace has always been good. This is usually less busy than a lot of courses in the area. I recommend you playing it at least once you won’t be disappointed.

Played an early Sunday round at Berkshire Hills. On the plus side, the course is gorgeous in the early fall with the leaves just starting to turn into their autumn hues. Unfortunately, though, that’s the end of the plus sides. My biggest complaint was their ridiculous pin placements – at least 5 or 6 holes (mostly on the back 9) were placed on the side of a hill. Any miss at any speed from above the hole would send your ball off the green. Below the hole was substantially worse as missing the hole (even sending it a couple of feet past the hole) necessarily meant your ball would soon be coming back to (and past) you. While I’m all for challenging greens (like the brilliant greens at Sleepy Hollow, for instance), Berkshire Hills resembled putt putt more than golf. My second major complaint was with the rangers. While our foursome featured a wide range of golfing talent – from consistent hitters to hackers – we were told to speed up our play with nobody even close to waiting for our shots (for example, we would be heading off to where our tee shots landed just as the group behind us was starting to putt on the previous hole) and well within accepted timelines for a course. In fact, on consecutive adjacent holes we would be even with the other group midway to the green. Of course, once the ranger told our group (despite all the evidence to the contrary) that we were too slow, we all felt rushed, which led to bad shots, which led to bad games, which led to bad moods. This absolutely killed the golfing experience. Finally, among the major complaints, the course has a drainage problem as shown by its struggle to deal with just the morning dew when it had not rained for nearly a week. Significant parts of several holes were cordoned off due to excessive mud and poor playing conditions.
After those major complaints, I have a litany of other complaints that I won’t even elaborate on: The course layout is cramped. Cart paths are brutally under-​maintained and in some cases (in the dirt paths through the woods) are downright risky. There was no water at any of the water stations. The «drop zone» on one of the holes was nothing more than a sign in the rough placed next to the water. All told, Berkshire Hills was a disappointing experience, and I have no reason to return.