GLOCESTER – After spending a decade-plus on my “do not play under any circumstance” list, Melody Hill Golf Club started popping up in my algorithms on social media and all but forced my return.
I’ve never been so happy about the apps on my phone listening and knowing everything about me.
Melody Hill Golf Club is trying to sell its improved playing conditions, but that’s not why you’re heading to the woods of Glocester to play this 18-hole short track. It’s a solid and manageable test of golf, providing value and a whole lot of fun along the way.
Temperatures were skyrocketing when I teed off early on June 23 and while the last four holes were more about surviving the heat than playing the course, Melody Hill showed what makes it such a fun course and one you need to check out in 2025.
How playable is Melody Hill?
Very – provided you have an idea of the layout of the course.
The back tees came in at 6,000 yards and for someone like me – a 10.1 handicap with a little bit of distance – that can feel like a pitch-and-putt. Melody Hill invited me to hit driver and I took it.
That was a mistake.
There are plenty of holes where driver was the club, but I kept pulling it at the wrong time. When I did hit my hybrids off tees, I sometimes ended up in spots I didn’t want to be.
There are doglegs and elevation changes everywhere at Melody Hill, so you really have to figure out how to manage it going in. If myself and the two random gentlemen I was paired with had spectators out there, it wouldn’t be difficult to pick out who had experience on the course and who didn’t. Those guys weren’t long, but they knew where the ball needed to go. I made mistake after mistake and Melody Hill made me pay for it.
Because the course is short, it’s good for any level of play. If you can shape the ball with any sort of consistency, Melody Hill will put you to the test. If you swing and spray, you might end up in a lot of trouble. If you don’t hit it far it doesn’t matter – because the navigation matters more than how far it goes.
What are the conditions like at Melody Hill?
I ventured out to Glocester to play the course a few times in my younger years and what I remembered were patchy fairways, rough that was thinner than my hair when it was still on my head and greens that could barely be called that.
No one’s going to confuse the fairways at Melody Hill with those on the PGA Tour, but they were green and well-kept (although my ball was rarely in one). It’s borderline unfair to judge a course what it looks like on a Monday after a busy weekend of play, but being able to hit a ball in the fairway that was actually grass was a monstrous improvement from where it once was.
Since my tee shots ventured away from the short grass, I can speak more to the conditions of the rough. It was inconsistent, but you could see an effort being made to toughen the rough in presumed landing areas. Lots of times public course rough is thinned out and basically non-existent and while these spots existed, there were plenty of places where you had to focus on ripping through the grass to make sure your ball where you wanted.
I especially enjoyed the conditions of the rough near the greens I missed. It was full, it was thick and it made you work.
The greens weren’t particularly fast – almost expected on a Monday – but they rolled smoother than I expected. They were soft and spongy, but had more rollout than I expected. Some greens were better than others – the short par 3 6th hole was littered with unfixed pitch marks, which is more on the ignorant clientele than the course – but I wasn’t offended by putting on them, which is saying a lot.
What are the best holes at Melody Hill?
The par threes were fun to play, with a couple wedges on the front nine and some longer irons the two on the back nine. Having par threes that don’t punch you in the guy is a huge draw for me, so they were a big plus in my book.
There wasn’t one hole that stood out as the best on the course. No. 12 was one of my favorites because it felt like what a good par five should be. It doglegs a bit right and I had little confidence to go in that direction with my driver. I hit a cut hybrid, then casually hit another to the layup spot.
Turns out that was a bad decision because the fairway bunker that looked close was exactly where my ball landed. I missed the green left, but it turned out to be a good thing because the pin was right side and the slope fed back left to front right, making for an easy up-and-down.
The seventh hole at Melody Hill is probably its best hole, requiring a shot up the left side – with no room to miss left and adding yardage to the approach if you bail right – of the fairway, giving you an approach to a small green that slopes hard right to left. I hit my best drive of the day, knocked a wedge on and made the putt for birdie.
If we’re talking fun quotient, the best hole at Melody Hill is No. 9, a 235-yard par 4. It’s very drivable and they do a great job of keeping the rough around the green thick to make you work on your pitch shot to the pin.
Melody Hill is continuing to make improvements and it would do itself some favors if it shrunk the ninth green and surrounded it with bunkers and native grass. Still, I enjoyed the hole and not just because it added a second birdie to my card on the front.
How much does it cost to play Melody Hill?
Playing on a Monday helps the pockets and for the $39 to walk felt like stealing. During the week – with a cart – Melody Hill costs $59 to play 18, it’s $62 on Fridays and on weekends and holiday, the cost is $69 (carts are required until 1 p.m.).
Those prices are impressively fair. There are plenty of courses that don’t seem to understand their location or what kind of course they actually are and charge and arm and a leg because they think they can.
Melody Hill seems to understand its identity. When I played the course there were a lot of retirees and high school-aged kids out there. One of the guys I played with had wood made of wood and the other was wearing flip flops.
What else makes Melody Hill a course to play in 2025?
The vibes at Melody Hill are as high as anywhere in the state.
It’s a stress-free golf course. You’re going to lose golf balls. You’re going to leave putts short. You’re going to end up with more than a few bad lies.
But none of it matters. The place is just so calm and relaxed, I can’t see someone going there and not having a good time.
Melody Hill is embracing fun and trying to push “The Hill” as a place to play and hang out. It’s hard to build a sense of community at any golf course, never mind a public one, but Melody Hill is doing a good job of doing just that.
Why should you play Melody Hill Golf Club?
Last year I put Country View on my list of courses to play in 2024 and people thought I was crazy. Those people are the dorks I just mentioned.
Not every round has to be at a course with perfectly manicured fairways, lightning fast greens on track that requires four hours of thinking about every swing.
Sometimes you want to go somewhere and hang out with friends, listen to music (at a respectful volume) and have a few drinks without stressing about score or who’s getting how many shots.
You can do that at Melody Hill better than you can at a lot of places. Sometimes you have to work to have fun playing golf, but at Melody Hill it’s impossible to avoid.
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