What’s in this read… (8 min read)
Our Coverage Map: What courses we cover, and why.
Weather Watch: When to book your rounds this week and weekend.
Delaware Spring golf is a scam: But we love it anyways…
Sim Recommendations: NCC’s Top 3 indoor golf simulators
🚨 Important Course Updates
🛑 St. Anne’s Golf Links
Closed. Struggling with snow patches, and standing water. The range is closed as well until warmer weather moves in.
Expected Opening: Thursday
Conditions: Unknown
🏆 Frog Hollow
Our top pick for the week - given the weather as of late, the conditions are very playable. Range is open as well.
Availability: Limited Weekend mornings - shoot for afternoon.
Conditions: 3.4/5
✅ Odessa National
The fairways and greens survived Winter, but bring an extra towel because she is WET! Possibly still no range.
Availability: Weekend mornings are all booked - 12pm & after
Conditions: 3.2/5
⚠️ Ed Oliver
They were bold enough to open during these past 2 weeks of snowy hell. However, I don’t think that was wise.
Availability: Good availability, could be a last minute option.
Conditions: 1.3/5
Our Coverage Map
We will be dedicated to covering the following courses in NCC:
Rock Manor
Ed Oliver
Delcastle
Deerfield
White Clay (if they ever reopen 😭)
Back Creek
Frog Hollow
St. Annes Links
Odessa National
Garrisons Lake
What will we be “covering” about the courses?
Great question. Basically anything you would want to know ahead of booking/playing there, along with any relevant news or updates they announce.
Things like:
Aeration & repair schedules
Openings/closings of the course & driving range
Weekly updated conditions (with pictures)
Tee Sheet traffic trends (when to book)
Tournaments and events
Pro shop sales
Coaching lesson availability
And so much more!
Where do we get our information from?
We are a boots on ground operation. We take the time each week to visit as many courses as possible, chat with the locals and the course staff, and keep a close eye on local news and public announcements.
Wait… why Garrisons Lake? Isn't that Kent County?
Yes, you’re correct, but if you love golf as much as we do, then you enjoy a nice “getaway round” every now and then. With it being only 30-40 minutes down DE1, Garrisons Lake is a low key, hidden gem.
Plus, it gave us a nice round number of 10 courses.
🌦️ Weather Watch - This Week Turns a Corner
If you’ve been waiting for the first real “golf week”… it’s almost here.
⚠️ Early week = wet + chilly
Tue: Cold and wet (showers likely). Not worth forcing it unless you’re desperate. Hit the simulators!
Wed–Thu: Milder (low 50s) but still shower chances (Wed PM / Thu AM). If you play, aim for the dry windows and expect very soft conditions.
✅ Best outdoor (dry) windows
Friday: Cooler but mostly dry, a solid “get a full round in” day.
Saturday: Good day to play (upper 50s, low rain chance). If you only get one round, make it this one.
☀️ Sunday–Monday = surprise heat
Sunday: Jumps to around 70°, but PM showers are possible, play early!
Monday: Around 70° again and mostly dry, one of the best days of the week if your schedule allows.
NCC’s Top 3 Local Indoor Simulators
Birdies Links & Drinks (Middletown): The best all-around simulator experience.
Price: $35 - $70 (for 60 min.)
Rating: 3.75/5
Pros: You can order food and drinks while you play, the bays are fairly private with comfortable seating, and if you go before 3pm during the week it’s only $35!
Cons: Price quickly jumps during peak hours and after 3pm, they don’t have Trackman (wtf), and it’s 30 minutes from Wilmington.
Golf Galaxy (Christiana): The best player focused environment for practice.
Price: $49 - $55 (for 60 min.)
Rating: 3.5/5
Pros: Low key and not as popular so bookings are more available, the store is typically slow and quiet, it’s right by White Clay Creek.
Cons: The price doesn’t change much, and this isn’t a bring your boys or family type place (if that’s what you’re looking for)
Back Nine (Wilmington): Convenient commute for Wilmington crew and offers membership.
Price: $60 (for 60 min.)
Rating: 3.5/5
Pros: Convenient commute for Wilmington crew, offers affordable membership, has a putting green and private bays, offers Trackman and gambling golf games, booking and self service is easy.
Cons: Price doesn’t change at all, slots fill up FAST, can be a commute for Newark and Middletown crew, and no staff on hand to support.
“Not so” Honorable Mention: Creek Links: The twin bays facing each other can make for an awkward experience with a stranger, and the price is a touch higher than those listed above ($65). Also, the booking experience on the website sucks. However, the facility is brand new and very clean.
🏆 Read of the Week
Delaware Spring Golf is a Scam! (and we love it…)
Editor’s Note: Before you read our Read of the Week, please don’t take anything we ever write in this section too seriously. This will typically be a hot hot hot take about something going on in the local golf scene.
If I can’t find anything going on, because we know how Delaware can be sometimes, I will proceed to “make the news”. Enjoy.
Spring Golf in DE is love/hate for me…
After the last 3 months of wintery hell here in NCC, we were finally hit with a “playable” window this past weekend. Only to be teased like a prom date with a curfew. We must endure another week of nasty rain and even some snow, before we see the promise land once again.
I played Ed Oliver and Frog Hollow this past weekend and spoke with several strangers and staff about trends they’re noticing. They all agreed this will be the busiest golf season in Delaware’s history. Get ready.
It starts with one random 62° day in the forecast. That’s all it takes. Group chats light up like it’s a national emergency:
“WE’RE BACK.”
“WHO’S FREE SATURDAY?”
“WE ARE BOOKED FOR 10:20. DON’T BE LATE JEFF!”
By lunchtime, half of New Castle County has convinced themselves they’re one warm afternoon away from being a golfer again. We’re ordering new gloves, stretching for the first time since October, and talking like our swings didn’t just spend four months in witness protection.
Then the actual day arrives and Delaware does what Delaware does: it changes its mind.
Now it’s 38° with wind, the sun is doing that thing where it looks warm but feels personally disrespectful, and everyone’s first tee shot makes the exact same sound: silence… followed by “we’ll find it.”
And honestly? That’s still not even the funniest part.
The funniest part is how we treat daylight this time of year.
We’ll stroll into a course at 4:00 PM like we’re on vacation, pay for a full round with complete confidence, and then act shocked when the cart guy hits us with:
“Carts back by 5:30.”
And we all respond the same way:
“Oh yeah, totally… no problem.”
Then we start playing like we’re being timed. No practice swings. Everyone suddenly becomes a pace-of-play activist. Putts are “good.” Three-footers are “gimmes.” Somebody suggests we “just play ready golf” like we’re not a foursome that hasn’t seen a fairway since Halloween.
By hole 6, the sun is halfway gone, we’re negotiating whether we’re playing 9 or “9-ish,” and somehow we’re still smiling because, deep down, we know this is exactly what we signed up for.
Because Delaware spring golf isn’t about perfection. It’s about optimism. It’s about collective delusion. It’s about believing this is the round where everything clicks… while wearing two layers and gripping the club like it’s a frozen wrench.
And when we do get one of those sneaky good days? The whole state acts like we invented golf.
I just love it. Don’t you?
New Member Gift
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Did you know? Rock Manor (Wilmington) is credited as Delaware’s first public daily-fee golf course, opening on Labor Day 1921. Meaning you could play without belonging to a private club, which was huge at the time.
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Till next time,