French Woods Golf & Country Club, Hancock, NY

I have played this course several times over the past 10 years and have always found it enjoyable. The scenery is awesome, the greens fees are hard to beat and the staff is super friendly and accommodating. I travel from central NJ, meet my buddy from Queens in North Jersey and we drive up together for a weekday round and usually have the place to ourselves. One of the most relaxing rounds of golf I have all year with no regard for the state of my game or my score. I look forward to this trip every year and wonder why I don't make more time to get there more often. Scenic 7th hole - almost hate to tee it up and have to leave. Cabins on course are nice and plan to one day do a play and stay. Nice little mountain course.

I've organized a three night group outing at French Woods for the past three Septembers(2010, '11, '12). I found them after an extensive search of other websites that offer on course lodging (note that FW's website should be updated and certainly doesn't "sell" the course). My group travels from the NYC metro area and is just as interested in the after golf activities (campfires, beers, dinner, lawn games, card games) as they are in the golf itself. The golf course can be a bit tight, but is fair to high handicappers, and offers big hitters/low handicappers a few opportuities for aggresive shot selection to cut corners and reach greens in less than GIR. It has a typical rustic feel, several elevation changes, blind shots, small hard greens, a mix of water and treeline hazards. In late Sepember it's in reasonably good shape with almost no crowds (it always seems to rain though). In fact course management allows you to play multiple rounds on the same day providing you are lodging on site. Since holes 1-3 (par 4, 3, and 5) form a loop back to the clubhouse, you can sneak in an extra few holes before heading back to the cabins. Hole #7 offers breath taking views!

The on course cabins are the real delight of the facility. Beautiful little log cabins with modern ammenities inside. They couldn't be any more convenient for a group who enjoys a few beers on the course and doesn't want to worry about driving home. They're walking distance from the clubhouse and have all the furnishings of home (fridge, oven, microwave, 1 1/2 baths, heat, ac. Bring extra towels, and be prepared to do your own dishes. The cabins all have a fire pit outside, and offer an area to play wiffle ball, or other backyard style game.

Overall, it's a typical rustic course if you only consider the golf and you're only playing one round and going home. If you're making a weekend out of it, the price, accomodations and convenience, playability, friendliness of staff, golf conditions, and uniqueness of the course make for a great experience.