Thunderhart isn't just a golf destination--it becomes part of the tradition…read more Since 2017, I've been fortunate enough to join a family-and-friends golf trip that has been going strong for roughly 20 years. We bring together around two dozen guys from different generations and different parts of the country for three days of golf, laughs, stories, competition, and a much-needed escape from everyday life. Over the years, Thunderhart has become woven into the fabric of that experience. There is something incredibly special about arriving, parking your car, and realizing you genuinely have no reason to touch the keys again for three days. The golf course, lodging, pool, bar and lounge, meals, and everything you need are right there. You wake up steps from the course, eat breakfast, play golf, come back for lunch, head out again, and eventually settle in for dinner, drinks, swimming, and whatever the evening turns into. Then you wake up and do it all over again. That simplicity is a huge part of the magic. The course itself is consistently in great condition and clearly cared for by people who take pride in it. But what separates Thunderhart from other golf destinations is that the hospitality and attention don't stop when you walk off the 18th green. The Stay & Play experience is exactly that--an experience. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are taken care of, the lodging is comfortable and incredibly convenient, the pool is there when you want to cool off after a round, and the bar and lounge naturally become gathering places when the golf is finished. Everything is close enough that a group our size can spend the weekend together without constantly coordinating cars, reservations, transportation, or logistics. That matters more than you might think. When you have 20-plus people coming together from different places, age groups, careers, families, and walks of life, removing all of those little logistical headaches creates room for something better: time together. And that is ultimately what Thunderhart provides us. Gerri and the entire staff have always treated our group with genuine warmth and hospitality. After enough years, you stop feeling like a group of customers who booked a golf package and start feeling like you're returning to a place that knows and welcomes your tradition. There is obvious care behind the property, the course, the food, the accommodations, and--most importantly--the way people are treated. I've admittedly been reluctant to write this review because part of me wants to selfishly gatekeep this little slice of heaven tucked away in Freehold. Places that still feel this personal, peaceful, unpretentious, and complete are getting harder to find. But something this good deserves recognition. If you're looking for a polished resort where you spend half your trip traveling between hotels, restaurants, golf courses, and activities, there are plenty of those. Thunderhart offers something different. Park the car. Put the phone down. Play golf. Eat well. Have a drink. Jump in the pool. Tell stories. Laugh too loudly. Wake up and do it again. For three days every year, the outside world gets a little quieter and our group gets a little closer. That's why we keep coming back. And hopefully, we'll be doing exactly that for many years to come. --Mike Ferreira Proud member of the annual Thick Skin Golf extravaganza

Awesome staff, tough course. Very well maintained. Keep your ball in play and you'll do Ok...no…read moreleeway if you hit left or right.

My husband and I were in the Catskills for a midweek getaway for his birthday and we decided to go…read moreplay a few rounds of golf the day of his birthday. I had researched a few golf resorts in the area beforehand and it was between Island Green and one other place. The deciding factor was price and the fact that Island Green had a tee time that better aligned with our schedule. To be honest, my husband and I are golf novices and everyone at the resort was so friendly and helpful, on and off the course! We didn't have time to finish all of the holes due to a dinner reservation but we had such a great time. The condition of the curse was very well maintained and it wasn't too crowded for a Tuesday afternoon!

1/5 7 minutes ago on Google…read moreSo for those of you planning a wedding nearby... we had the most horrific experience here. Wedding across the street and with few places to stay in the area we rented out the Island Green for family guests. I had visited the place prior to the wedding to meet with the owner and check things out. He showed me a couple of rooms. I did not go deep into the rooms but peeked in ( except for the clubhouse "suites" which only had an outdoor entrance and it was necessary to walk through one bedroom to get to the next. There were 4 double beds in each rooms and each had one bath.) Clear this establishment is not meant for any but male golfers. The owner made a big deal about their restaurant chef and I was introduced to him during my visit. They both talked about how talented the chef was and how delicious the food was. I asked about their hours and was told they would extend their dining hours for our guests if we brought in enough people. The wedding was held in the fall. The guests staying there stayed in rooms that had scraps lumber in the closets, some closets unfinished, no hangers, one guests sink faucet was hanging loose. One guest said the cabinets were dirty as well as the refrigerator. One guest room had no heat. One room's only tv was in a hallway with no room to sit and required you stand in the hallway to view the screen. I am sure there were more issues but we were spared so we could enjoy the reason we were all there. The wonderful food they advertised was nonexistent. They were getting ready to close for the season so the food supply was negligible. I believe they had told guests they were going to bring in some pork to make barbecue but they did not follow through with that promise. When the manager was approached he got very defensive and claimed I had approved every room during my visit which was untrue as I had viewed three total rooms and had only looked into the clubhouse suites because I was trying to figure out who would be comfortable staying there with their rooms wide open and the front bedroom used as an entrance to the second room. He was dismissive to the guests who approached him over the issues I was aware of. The guests staying there described it as similar to a motel featured in the tv show Schitt's Creek if you are familiar. I understand most people who stay there are men and play golf there in the warmer months. The rooms are laid out to accommodate many people in each room. They may not have the same expectations. This is not a RESORT!!!! A resort is a self-contained commercial establishment--such as a hotel, beach, or ski destination--that provides lodging, food, entertainment, and recreation for vacationers It was definitely a rip off for the guests and humiliating for us to have promoted their accommodations. If you are planning a wedding nearby just food for thought. Maybe they'll clean things up but this was a nightmare for us.

Wow!!! This was THE BEST BBQ I've ever had!!! The brisket sandwich was phenomenal and perfectly…read moresmoked!!! The sauces are all hand made by the chef and we had great conversations with all of the staff! Julie was extremely kind and accommodated us with a Mountain View table and everything was clean and so amazing! They even have a dog menu and are pet friendly!!! Will be coming back every time we are up here

We had a blast playing at Meadows Golf Center - Owners Russ & Julie are true gems. They're on a…read moremission to make sure people enjoy life and the game of golf at their beautiful Catskills property. We played 9 holes and then ate some Delicious bbq - Russ works the smoker as well, and that bbq was great! You gotta go. It's a unique one of a kind experience!

This place is great for nostalgia and if you're with a large group. The food is AWFUL and the rooms…read moreespecially the mattresses are ancient and sagging and gross! They charge quite alot of money for what you get.

I love this place and have been coming forever with my family. So much to do. The place is…read morespotless and kept pristine. There are 3 meals a day. The food is basic. But it doesn't matter because it's Sunnyhill!

My friend and I came here as part of our mini golf tour, and we were not disappointed. While it is…read more45 minutes from Albany, it is quick highway travel and we soon found ourselves surrounded by cornfields, trees, and hills. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, and it was very peaceful. The course is $10.50 a person, but that includes UNLIMITED play for that day. So, it turns out to be a good value if you want to play multiple rounds. The holes are pretty simplistic, but many present multiple paths to the cup including some hidden tubes and channels. If you aren't familiar with the course, I would recommend scoping out each hole before putting. It is a basic course scenery wise: no water hazards, no real sand traps (just gray colored carpet which matches the rest of the green fairway), no jumps, no windmills, etc. There was an intersting tunnel and covered bridge which you played through, and a few other novelty holes with multiple staggered greens that broke up the monotony. That being said, we really enjoyed it. It was more strategic than we first thought, and the cups were for the most part fair (they didn't stick out of the ground causing frustrating rim-shots that plague other courses). All the trees/hills/rocks made it impossible to see the whole course from one place, which isolated us and allowed us to feel like we were the only ones there (until that group of kids caught up... we let them play through). As an aside, the owner woman was extremely friendly and dished out a good scoop of Hershey's ice cream too! This was a fun course.

Part 17 of our comprehensive review of every mini-golf place within an hour's driving distance of…read morethe Capital Region quadrangle moves us to the bucolic setting of the Schoharie Valley, where we tried Gobbler's Knob. The complex includes bungee jumping and a simple but nice driving range, plus what looks like a very nice Par-3 golf course. You can rent golf clubs for the Par 3, and for both the mini-golf and par 3, you pay once and can play all day. There's a basic snack bar with sketcy-looking hot dogs and ice cream, three sad arcade games, and one actual-working pinball machine in the snack shack. There is also a picnic pavilion, although this seems to be rental only. This review, as ever, is only for the mini-golf portion. I note there's a go-kart place on the same drive, but it's run as a completely separate business with different hours. If you want to combine activities, as we did, it's tricky because the go-kart place is run as a side business and the hours are a bit erratic. Pricing is simple: $6 for 5 years old and up, free for 4 and under, one price lets you play all day. Bring the scorecard back to the clubhouse to get a fresh ball and scorecard after hitting the ball into the outhouse on Hole 18. This is a mostly putt-only course, with a few hazard holes that have a little bit of a theme to them. Obstacles are mostly rocks and hills/dips; a few former sand traps have been replaced with painted astroturf, which looks really tacky. It shows the signs of some originality but at least some of the holes are cookie cutter. The holes are on a paved concrete path, surrounded by nice flowers, but make sure you turn left to start out - the holes aren't marked well, with no flags and only an embossed number in the concrete for each hole to tell you where you are. The setting, as noted, is absolutely lovely: there's a farm silo nearby, mountain views in all directions, and a nice lake. There's a creek running into the lake but there was no water running into it. Very disappointingly, there was what looks like a watercourse in part of the course, at least a fountain-mountain, that was dry, and even if there was water running they didn't incorporate water into any of the holes. A mini-golf course with no water hazards is a real waste, IMHO, and given there's natural water here, this is especially sad. The holes weren't terribly challenging, and a number of them had problems with wear on the astroturf surface, including a few with very annoying seams that actually went through the hole (see picture) that made them difficult plays. That said, the course was swept and blown of debris, and the staff were very nice and accommodating. Best holes are #9 (a covered bridge you can walk under), #11 (a deceptive three-tiered hole that had us wondering where our balls had gone), and #15, a walk-through fibreglass "cave" sponsored by nearby Howe's caverns. There's ads/sponsorship for some of the holes, but only the Howe's cavern hole is related to a theme at all; a pity, since the Schoharie Valley offers history from the French and Indian War to Hurricane Irene that easily lends itself to mini-golf themes. #18 Is an "outhouse" where you subtract strokes from your score for hitting it into a skee-ball like target, with the ball disappearing; no free-game-for-hole-in-one, but since it's play-all-day it doesn't matter that much here. There are three two-tiered holes, which is fun, but on none of the holes where there's a "trick shot" are you rewarded with a hole in one. I'm quite torn about the rating here, because the course itself as a course is only a very average three, and wiithout the water features it's a bit plain. The maintenance is also only average, the nice daily maintenance countered by worn turf and bad seams. But it's a very nice outdoors setting, off the road, and at $6 for play all day it's a pretty decent price if you play twice. But still, you will get bored about halfway through the second round. We're on the fence between three and four stars, so will give it a nudge to four based on kind staff, with the understanding it's a middle of the road mini-golf course among the region's offerings if judged on pure playing.

Was back at Wiltwyck recently for a party for my mother-in-law. What a great place to have an…read moreevent. I actually got to start the day playing golf with my brothers-in-law and had a great time. I hadn't played much this year...played well for about 13 holes then the wheels came off and I started spraying the ball all over the place...still a fun day though. Can be a very tough course and the greens are unforgiving on bad shots and bad reads. After golf, we showered and got ready at the club while the wives got their mother to the club. It's been a very long time since I've been up here at Wiltwyck and having a couple drinks after our round help take the edge off a bit. Such a beautiful view of the course from the bar-though it tends to remind me of how little time we seem to have for ourselves these days. Anyway, once people started showing up we started with some drinks (or MORE drinks for me) and passed hors d'oeuvers before sitting down to an amazing buffet that included salmon, a carving table with tenderloin, roasted chicken, pasta, salads, veggies, etc. If there's one thing I've never questioned in all the times I've eaten at this club it's the food- it's always top notch. My wife and I actually had our wedding reception her a "few" years back and they really do a great job at formal, semi-formal, and just regular daily events. They hit the ball out of the park on our wedding night and they did it again when we were there for the party recently. You won't generally get anything TOO fancy at a buffet type of dinner like we had, but there have been times when, for dinner, the chef will get creative and when he does, you're taste buds are in for a treat. In a nutshell...Great golf, great food, great service, and great times...wish I lived closer and had enough extra time and $$ to be members here.

What a great find! Not a private club anymore and the restaurant is open to the public. Excellent…read moreservice, great food and really great wine. Looking forward to going back soon. Nice bar too. Only downside was there is nothing in the place to absorb the sound and it can be be very noisy and was at times hard to hear at our table. On the second floor of the club but there is an elevator if anyone in your party needs it.

Can't go wrong with a golf course whose motto is GOLF IN PEACE. Nice Pro named Judd in the pro…read moreshop. They are a members only club but do make provisions for "tourists" in the area. Their website lays out what you need to have to demonstrate you are a tourist. We weren't asked to show papers or anything, hey, this is chilled out Woodstock NY for God's sake! We used the putting green and had fun practicing our strokes. They don't have tee times so guests are asked to call in to see what times are good times for guests. First priority goes to members. The course is well taken care of and seems to have some challenging spots. It's mostly flat which is good for sight lines and for seeing your ball and the flags. They have plenty of golf carts. There is also a restaurant attached . Nice people work there.

Great 9-hole track with super friendly staff and historic clubhouse. Just go!read more

Awesome historic golf links on the north shore of Lake Otsego - 9 hole layout that plays 18 with…read moredifferent tee boxes - a somewhat simplistic layout but plays long - driver on play on many holes. History and rustic clubhouse setting adds much charm to the experience. Carts are available & course is easily walkable. Great value too Course is @30 minutes gorgeous drive from Cooperstown - GPS directions are a bit tricky - recommend calling clubhouse to ensure route to clubhouse.

During a recent visit up from NYC, I was on the hunt for a decent driving range. Low and behold I…read morediscovered NY Golf Park in Hudson, NY. Situated in a semi-farm like pasture setting, it was just what the doctor ordered. Well kept, shady seating areas, nicely mowed lawn, facing beautiful horses in the distance. Great place to get some swings in, nice staff, and very convenient to Hudson proper. The grass tees were not open during my visit but that was due to the heavy rain fall a couple of days before. I will definitely visit this place again!!

Just finished a series of golf lessons with Lucas Cohen. I have to say if you want clear…read moreinstructions and critical constructive correction, Lucas is the person you need. Additionally, the staff at the driving range could not be more friendly or helpful; Kevin and Mikayla provide the ultimate icustomer service!