While you may not be entering an Augusta National or Bethpage Black, or even a modest country club, Brookside bestows upon you a course that is in good enough condition, with a interesting enough layout, that you will not feel ashamed having tread upon it.
The tee-boxes are fairly even, with the grass not being tall, though still feeling as though the grass could be slightly shorter, and, save for the par-3s, are usually not anymore beaten up than a man sorely in debt. The fairways are much the same as the tee-boxes, with them not being tall, but feeling like they could be just that ever so slightly shorter. The fairways are decently narrow, which would make the course more difficult, if it were not for the rough being forgiving, decently plush, and not all that tall.
The bunkers are the typical types seen on courses not swimming in excess assets extorted from who knows where, that being, they are decently shallow and somewhat coarse, with a tendency to dissolve into a murky mess of mud and standing water whenever a shower comes through. Though the bunkers are slightly larger than what may be expected. There are water hazards about, but, at least for the front 9 (the part I played), they are not way to prominent in terms of affecting play. The greens are of modest size, rolling somewhere between slow and medium, and, for me at least, are somewhat bumpy, though not to any degree that you can feel justified in putting down a par when you four-putted. There was slight undulation to the greens, but, save for one or two holes, the undulation was not anywhere close to prominent and frightening.
The course is fairly short (whites playing around 6,000 yds), and, due to the sparsity of meaningful water hazards and thickets of trees, and the non-existence of fairway bunkers, is quite easy. The layout, despite being somewhat short, is decently stimulating, with not way to many holes running side-by-side, though, at least on the front, there are not much in the way of twisty dog-legs, rather, most holes run fairly linearly.
I went on a lazy Friday late-afternoon, with not to many people about, so I do not know much about the pace of play, though, with the forgiving rough that holds your balls up, and the lack of tree thickets, it is a course I could see running fairly quickly. There is a driving range, I did not hit on it or get all that close, though it looked fairly built up, with big, clean, not horribly mangled targets/yardage markers on it. The two employees I had the distinction of conversing with were jovial, if that rocks your boat. I did not spend much of any time in the clubhouse, but for the small period I did spend in it, it seemed nice, was decently open, and had some merchandise loitering about.
In all, the course is a golf course, it climbs above being a goat track, but falls short of being a pristine course remembered as a beautiful love message to the game of golf by all who walk (or ride) around it. It may not be a place which beckons you to wish to be able to kiss it, or to drown it in sentimentalities, but it is a place that will take not a whole lot of your money ($15 for walking 9), and give you a decent place to whack plastics balls around for a few hours.
