GCA New Hampshire?

[Mark Johnson]

All,

I will be moving to southern New Hampshire in a few weeks and wanted to reach out to see if there is any GCA presence in the area?   Would love to meet up with any like-minded GCAers in the area.


Thanks,


mj

[Mark McKeever]

Paging Charlie Gallagher...

[Pete Blaisdell]

Mark,

  Where in New Hampshire are you moving to?

  I live in Keene in the Southwest corner 'bout 20 miles from the Vermont border and 20 miles from the Mass. border.

  We don't have any Pine Valleys or Seminoles up here but we have a good number of solid courses and a slew of interesting 9 holers.

  The highway system is such that within an hour-hour and a half drive from Southern NH one can access courses in the Boston area and Southern Maine and the quality of courses increases to a top level.

  Give me a call sometime at 603-352-2732 and I'd be happy to give you the lay of the land. I have a long list of contacts at the private clubs and would be most happy to assist you.

[Mark Johnson]

Mark,

  Where in New Hampshire are you moving to?

  I live in Keene in the Southwest corner 'bout 20 miles from the Vermont border and 20 miles from the Mass. border.

  We don't have any Pine Valleys or Seminoles up here but we have a good number of solid courses and a slew of interesting 9 holers.

  The highway system is such that within an hour-hour and a half drive from Southern NH one can access courses in the Boston area and Southern Maine and the quality of courses increases to a top level.

  Give me a call sometime at 603-352-2732 and I'd be happy to give you the lay of the land. I have a long list of contacts at the private clubs and would be most happy to assist you.

Thanks so much Pete.    Still zeroing in on a new house, but will likely be Windham due to the quality of schools and proximity to new job in southern Manchester.

Thanks for your offer.  I'll give you a call a bit later this week.


Mark

[Matt Frey, PGA]

Although I have not played it myself, I have heard good things about the Mount Washington Course at the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods. The PGA Professional there is very kind as well.

[Tim Bert]

Golfing masochists must try The Shattuck at least once. Only 6,700 yards from the tips with a 153 slope.  It's not for everyone but it is good in small doses if taken with the proper spirit.

[Charlie Gallagher]

Hey  Mark,
   It is true that I'm a granite stater. I live in the central part of the state. When you resettle we should arrange a rendezvous.  You can always send me a message via this site.
   I don't know how much you know about NH and golf. We have a few solid designs sprinkled throughout the state. I would include among them: Bretton Woods, Portsmouth CC, Bald Peak Colony Club, Baker Hill, and there are others. There are a lot of good designs over the border in MA, and  some interesting architecture in both Maine and Vermont. It sure isn't Philadelphia or Long Island, but there is merit, here and there.
   I note that someone said to go and try Shattuck in Jaffrey. It is a Geoff Silva design and Geoff is capable of first class restoration work (Mountain Lake, CC of Charleston, Vesper, all fantastic) as well as very good original design, (Black Rock and Renaissance come immediately to mind) but Shattuck is in a class by its self in terms of its difficulty and unforgiving character. I have a good friend, a three handicap who lost 19 balls there in  18 holes two years ago.  If you want to go torture yourself, be my guest, but there are lots of more interesting venues. I will admit Shattuck presents superb views of Mount Monadnock, especially in the fall, but it's a real shame that the course is not more playable.  If you think Florida presents forced carries, just go check out Shattuck. Too bad, it's a pretty place.
    Message me when you arrive, maybe winter will be over by then.

[JNagle]

Mark -

If you have the opportunities, there are many quality, quirky, classic courses with the NH borders.  Three that come to mind are all Ross courses - Lake Sunapee C.C. has been privately owned by the same family since its start and could be considered to be the top Private course in the state.  Manchester C.C. is also a very good course with interesting topography on portions of the property and a few holes on rather flat land.  Both LSCC and MCC have interesting green contours and strategic varied bunkering.  The sleeper (yet hard to get on) would be Bald Peak Colony Club.  More of a Summer retreat for many, the course is situated on undulating ground with no more than a dozen bunkers.  The course is however littered with mounds and berms (nearly all original to Ross' design).   Some were added in the mid-2000's to combat the changing game but remained sensitive to the original mounds.

[Tim Martin]

In the Portsmouth area both Abenaqui and Wentworth are worth checking out. I have also heard that Breakfast Hill is pretty good as well. If you you go just into Southern Maine, York Golf and Tennis is a fun old Ross course

[Dave Doxey]

I lived in that area 20+ years ago.  In addition to the great privates, there are some nice public courses.  Shattuck is by far the most difficult course that I've ever played, but a very beautiful setting.  I came to realize that by leaving the driver in the bag and playing concerned only about accuracy, I could score OK there.

Other excellent nearby publics that come to mind are 2 favorites - Crumpin Fox and Red Tail.  I also remember a “mom & pop” public in Keene,  Bretwood, I think.  You had to be careful on the 18th fairway, as the owner would land his small plane there.

Sky Meadow in Nashua was also nice.  May be private now.  I also remember an awful course in NH that claimed to have replica holes from famous courses - but one had to have quite an imagination 

[Pete Blaisdell]

  Just a few comments about Shattuck that might be interesting and a few thoughts on NH Golf

  Opened in 89-90, designed by Brian Silva at the base of MT. Monadnock, (most climbed mountain in the world, Mt Fuji is number 2. ). Beautiful setting but not for a golf course. I can say without reservation that it is the most difficult track in the state and I could make an argument that it is the toughest to score on in New England. I've played over 1000 tracks around the world and this is my 38th year as a rules official (83 USGA and NCAA National Championships so I've seen some tough courses) and the Shattuck is one of the 3 most difficult I've seen.

  I actually did some consulting work for the original owners before and after it opened and I told them it would be a disaster financially because the out of towners would not come back after a foursome lost 24-36 balls. So, they fired me. Well, it's gone through a number of owners in the last 25 years. I recall my wife ( Director of operations at Troop C NH State Police , she retires next Wednesday after 34 years ) calling me saying the US Marshalls were at Troop C with 3 16-wheelers lokking for the Shattuck to take all the equipment they could fit in.

  Course record for three years from the tips was 77 by Charlie Bolling , former Tour player. Then a teaching pro named Terry Nearing shot 74 and that stood for a while. I set the course up for the State Mid -am at 5800 yards and 5 players out of 87 broke 80!!!


  Swamps, trees , tight landing areas , The Devil's triangle (a three hole stretch on the back)  no bail outs on many holes, inconsistent greens , deep fairway bunkers do make it a torture test. You must play it once and then never again.  I'll comment on NH courses later. Gotta go.

[Tim Bert]

The Shattuck actually has quite a bit of information on their current web site about "more playable" tees. I think after several iterations they have probably realized that there is a small niche that loves the torture test. When I lived in CT there was a group of guys from my work that went up annually to play it - for what it was - a good chuckle at how severe the test was. The rule of thumb was if you were going to go there you might as well play the tips and see it for what it was.

My one play I lost 9 balls in the first 6 holes and we had a mini sleet storm break out mid round. I had a blast but I went in with the right mindset.

I agree with Pete that is worth that one time trip. Just take some spare balls.

I believe it is the 6th hole that plays over 600 yards with a near 200 yard carry to a tight fairway. A creek runs down the entire left side of the hole before it cuts in front of the green, which is one of the smallest greens I have seen anywhere - placed right in front of a large granite cliff that ricochets balls everyone.

I had no idea when I played it over ten years ago it was a Silva design.

Sorry to derail with Shattuck discussion. You can get back to the rest of the state!

[Charlie Gallagher]

All on this thread,
   Sorry for my previous inaccuracy regarding the misnomer of Geoff Silva, when I meant Brian. Just a silly mistake.
The additional Shattuck comments are generally right on, but I should add that the course record is held by Rich Parker at 64, believe it or not. I know, I played behind him that day, I think that was '91, but it has been a while.
   NH possesses another torture track, if one cares for additional abuse, Ragged Mountain. The course has a number of good solid holes along a stream bed at the bottom of the property, but the mountain holes present repeated blind shots, exceptionally narrow corridors, and small targets with little room for error. One could debate whether Ragged is tougher, or if The Shattuck takes it.  There are some places they just should not build golf courses.
 

[Mark Steffey]

hi mark.   i'm just over the border, maybe 10miles in leominster, ma & play out of oak hill in fitchburg.  if you ever head that way give me a yell.  i'll be driving up rt12 into manchester this weekend for the ncaa hockey regional.

shattuck is an interesting day.  friend of mine thinks they should get a new slogan... "welcome to the shattuck, fuc% you!"

bretwood in keene was mentioned and is a blast for what it is.... family run muni feel 36 holer where you can play all day for short money.  old twisty ball holders that tell you it's your tee when your ball hits the bottom.  good collection of holes and what i believe is the first island green in new england.  the grill atop the clubhouse has tasty food to eat between 18s.  we always make a trip up there during the season to get in a 36h day.

[Michael George]

Play Lake Sunapee CC.  It is one of the most underrated golf courses that I have ever played.  It is a wonderful restored Ross design in a beautiful setting.  And the Director of Golf couldn't be a nicer person.

I played numerous Ross courses in a trip around Massachusetts and New Hampshire last year and Lake Sunapee is in the same conversation with other great Ross courses like the more widely acclaimed Essex County Club (which is great in its own right, although I still don't know what to think about the 17th hole there).