Timber Banks Golf Club & Marina

This course is one of the top courses in CNY, it is a pretty expensive but the conditions are worth it.

A great layout designed by Jack... doubt he knows how bad it has become now. Terrible green and tee conditions. No bar/ restaurant... way to expensive for the poor condition its in. It used to be really nice and they ran it into the ground.

Played this course in the fall and being from upstate ny, I understand Fall golf up here. I think Jack would be very disappointed to see what has happened to this beautiful piece of property and layout. First off, we paid and they were nice enough to give us a token for the ball machine. Went to the range to warm up and....no balls. Ok, when over to the chipping area to try to warm up and there were more balls cut in half by the mower than available to chip, yikes.
I will state that they had Just aerated so Im taking that into acount but the course was just tore up. If you were within 50 yards of tje green, there was barely a piece of grass to hit off of. Tire marks everywhere. Bunkers had not been raked in days....you could tell the grounds crew threw all the rakes in the middle of the bunkers for mowing and never took them out. Also, many many fairways were not visible from the tee boxes due to overgrown weeds. This lack of visibility was disappointing and frustrating.
Greens were painfully slow but the ball rolled ok but a few greens had damage that effected putts.
I told my buddies, this looks like a course that is a great design amd layout but was just let to go to s@&t.....

The Good

Played without many golfers on a weekday. The course conditions are fairly good and green speeds moderate but true.
We plyed a fast round. I like some of the holes especially hles 9 and 18. I liked hole 15 a short par 4.

The Bad

Too many forced carries off the tee with tall vegatation so you can't see where to play the ball off the tee as the fairway can't be seen. There are many other forced acrries to the greens and par 5 s. The greens are also tricked up. There really are some unfair greens that are concave shape no way to hold ball with a good shot. Jack Nicklaus loves tricked up golf courses.
I am not a fan of his designs.

The Ugly

The grounds crew was told to mow the greens while we were playing the course. We play the couse starting on 10th hole.
On the 18th hole our 9th hole. One of the crew drive his mower on green pulled the pin while we waited on our approach shots. I had to drive up to green and ask him to move and put flag back in and he would not at first. He told me he had right to mow green while we wait. I told him we paid the money to play and he would not budge. He was extremely rude. I told mgr and he made excuses saying he was a kid. He was over 21 I know not a kid and he was not trained. He then stared me down in a threatening way later after we finished he saw us. Very unprofeesional. We then had to wait on the next 9 for them to mow greens. we played from 1030 to about 3 pm. The mgr begged me not write a bad review and he tried to buy me off buying me a gatorade. I said I am rating my experience not him personally. They need to train the manager and the staff.

played the course for the first time today.very disappointed, the course has very bad fungus or some disease on almost all the tee boxes and a lot of the fairways. The extream slow play only exaggerated the poor course conditions.i was very impressed by the course layout,and the greens were in good condition and challenging. When we were walking off the course well after two in the afternoon,we noticed the drink cart girl just getting going for the day,could have really used a few during a five and a half hour round.The fall rate of 60 bucks was still not worth the very poor conditions,all though i should say the whole staff was very nice and helpful and nice to all.also i was very suprised that there was no club house bar or restaurant at all,we did have to go somewhere else for lunch

just simply a beautiful course

I played the course on 10/26/15 under sunny skies and cool temps (low 50's). I got a phenomenal hot rate and Golf Now also sent me an additional 30% off coupon, which made the round $22.50-total. This was exactly the excuse I needed to make the drive from Binghamton to play there. This course has been on my wish list to play for about 2 years now. The course was pretty much empty, as I would expect on a Monday afternoon. The pro shop attendant was cordial and the check in process smooth. Carts are gas powered and in ok shape, but a course this flat really lends itself to electric carts (particularly at its normal price). I had no trouble finding the first tee as everything seemed well marked. I encountered a twosome in the fairway, who graciously waved me thru, and continued down the line. Everything was is PRISTINE CONDITION. Tee boxes were level, bunkers were raked and loamy, and everything that's supposed to be green was. All of the greens seemed to be elevated and most were heavily bunkered. The overall layout is typical Nicklaus. The course winds it's way thru adjacent famland, and most of the OB is crop fields. Some of the home development comes into view, but never really into play. There are a few forced carries, so if you're chunking or spraying it, expect to lose some balls in the wetlands and woods. I wasn't playing very well this day and the course showed little mercy. You have to be on your game to score and do well here. You can't get away with alot, and if you play as I do (I miss a lot of greens and rely on my short game to make pars), then you find out just how insidious the greens are. All in all a great play if you're in the area.

Course in great shape. Fairways were amazing. The greens were true, fast and undulating. Greens need to be hit to the corrects levels in order to have a chance to get down in two. Recommendations would move up from regulars teens or the course will eat you up. PICK UP THE COURSE GUIDE IN THE PRO SHOP, a must have in order to play.

The Logo and Website was a little weak so I was skeptical about playing this course but was overly surprised. A must in Syracuse area. Well worth the pricey price because it is that good. Pristine fairways, tee box and greens. Sand is like powder in traps. Staff was helpful and friendly. Tournament was going on but did not affect us. An easy short drive from Syracuse.

Timber Banks is not much to look at upon entering. There is no clubhouse and the food shack is a walk away. But the course is a great challenge designed for better than average golfers with some of the best greens and tricky pin placements around. While difficult, the course allows full use of the driver with mostly generous fairways. Its difficulty lies mostly with the large and undulating greens. these are some of the best in the County for sure. I put Timber Banks only slightly below Kahulyat and Shenendoah. While those course are perfectly manicured, Timber Banks makes up for it with interesting and diverse holes. Plus it is 1/2 the price.

If you are in CNY you need to put this on your short list of courses to play. Great layout, modestly challenging to get to the green. Putting can be the greatest challenge to par. Great value!

Things you will need: Bug spray, a strong putting game.

Staff very friendly, course in good condition even for how much it has rained, greens rolled true but a lack of player attention ( ball marks not fixed) was surprising. If you hit it straight, and can putt you will do well. +20 handicappers might not enjoy it as much

Tee time was at 7am and nobody showed up until 7. Free lunch with your tee time but nobody was working the concession while I played so I never received that. Good course but bring bug spray!! Front 9 has tons of mesquitos. It's a fun challenging course that I'd play again. I prefer the front 9 over the back. Overall the golf is worth it and that's why you are there!!

Course was very challenging. I wish my son and I had checked where the next shot would end up, as there was quite a few blind shots. Overall the greens were very challenging and it was a good time. We will be back, when and if we leave Binghamton again.

Course conditions are second to none. Greens are the hardest around here. Only thing that could make this course better is time to mature and a real clubhouse/pro shop.

Was very impressed with the course, nice layout, easy to play until you get to the greens. we played on a day when they were very hard, very dry, very fast, and very undulating , I suppose their the way the pros like them, but I'm not a pro ....
The price is way out of line for the area, even the golf now prices. I only paid the price to use up rewards ........

No cart service for an entire Sunday morning round and a full course of golfers. No one at the snack shack at the turn though it looked like it was open just not staffed. This course does not have a true clubhouse using a pro shop for checking in and a snack shack for drinks and limited food menu. Without the clubhouse having cart service and a staffed snack shack should be a must.

The greens border on unfair as they are quite contoured and still hard and unreceptive even after years of maturing. I've learned to try and run the ball on the greens which is a challenge when they are protected by traps. It is very difficult to stick them

First time playing and will definitely go back. Got a great deal on GN which always makes the rounds just that much better. We followed a tournament and didn't see anyone out on the course the whole time. Finished in about 3 1/2 hours as a twosome, which I assume was lucky looking at other reviews. Fairways were soft, rough was thick and greens were certainly challenging.

Timber Banks is a jewel in CNY. It is a challenging course, but fair. The condition of the course was outstanding and my partners and I love playing at Timber Banks as often as we can. As retirees, the cost is somewhat prohibitive therefore we don't play it as often as we would like so without a good deal on Golf Now, we often are forced to play elsewhere more often than not.

Course was in great shape, worth the trip. There was no food available, but not sure if it was because it was a Monday.