Local Golfing: It's All Rough

By Darren Thomas | Monday, May 28, 2001

The miserable winter weather has finally lifted from the Upper Valley, and local golfers have retrieved their clubs from the corners of their garages and flocked to driving ranges and courses. I, too, recently teed off at the Woodstock Country Club and the Hanover Country Club.

I played Woodstock on an unseasonably pleasant Sunday afternoon. Reserving a tee time was not a problem. The greens fee was $45 for 18 holes.

Players hoping to grab a bite to eat before playing should beware: service in the dining room is slow, especially at peak hours.

Woodstock Country Club is a Robert Trent Jones, Sr., track, nestled in the Kedron Valley about a half hour from Hanover. The course is fairly flat and very walkable. Due to a lack of space, the course is compacted and quite short. Measuring 5,555 yards from the men's tees and 6,001 from the tips, a player's length is never a problem. Par is 69.

The first hole at Woodstock can set the tone for a good round. It is a short par-five, measuring 465 yards for the men and 507 yards from the tips. The fairway is generous, and it opens up well for players ready to take a big swing with the driver. For those less daring, a three-wood or a long-iron off the tee will set up an easy par. Errant shots from the fairway are allowed, and players with enough length should go for the green with their second shot.

The remaining holes are not so forgiving for off-line shots. Water guards six of the remaining holes on the nine. A meandering stream often finds itself in perfect position to intercept hooked or sliced balls. The stream created a magnet for the balls of one intrepid duffer in our foursome. At one point his partner jumped in to retrieve one of the errant balls. This act of bravery should only be done with one's golf shoes off as the stream is deeper than it appears. His shoes are still drying. A long ball retriever would be helpful: the stream is loaded with Titleists, Top-Flites, and Slazengers. It is a gold mine for those aged members who always trudge through the high grass to find the nuggets. Players hoping to stop at the clubhouse after the frontside should be warned: the ninth green is quite distant from the clubhouse.

The back nine yields fewer hazards than the front. Our foursome noticed an increase in our quality of play between the two nines. Pars came much more readily, and birdies were not rare—there were two on the side. The finishing holes are excellent for the long drivers in the group. Open fairways and no water provide the perfect conditions for a straight drive. Keep the long irons in the bag—holes play shorter than the yardage. On the third hole, leave the driver in the bag and choose instead a long iron. It is very easy to run through the fairway on this dog-leg left. The uphill approach shot does not make the hole any easier.

The poor condition of the course was to be expected. The wet winter and the dry spring have not yielded favorable conditions to Upper Valley greenskeepers. The greens were poor, but New England golfers should be used to that.

There were two temporary greens on the course. With the temporary green, one of the more picturesque par threes played a whopping 70 yards. The first three players attempted high flop shots with limited success. The last gentleman in our group keenly chose to run the ball up to the green on a cart path with his five- iron. A clever play.

In all fairness to the Woodstock club, it is quite difficult to maintain the courses, especially the greens, through the harsh winters of New England. This should come as no surprise to locals, but tourists should not be quick to judge. Another week or two of care would have improved the quality quite a bit.

Players concerned with course condition should wait a few weeks before venturing to Woodstock.

I played Hanover on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. There was more activity than at Woodstock. Hanover only has nine holes open right now and will be closing completely in mid-June because of a massive renovation project. The club is improving the course to championship quality. The project should be finished next July. The current costs are $9 for students and $18 for the general public.

I was skeptical of the course before I even teed off. The 'clubhouse' appeared to be a converted cottage with an addition on the right hand side. This addition contains Colonel Bogey's, the restaurant of the club. My partner and I felt the name to be very offensive towards Colonels. In the clubhouse there was the pro-shop, which also acted as the starter's desk.

Four out of nine of the holes on the course were par threes; one of which was less than 100 yards. The club seemed to be a little tight on space during the renovation. We managed to cut in front of a foursome on the first tee. One golfer in the group was wearing jeans—not a good sign.

Hanover is far hillier than Woodstock. Some shots are completely blind because of the steep slopes. I misjudged the distance of the tee shot on one hole and almost hit the group in front of us. Most of the greens fall off quite sharply on one side, creating a deep ditch for errant shots to plunge. I wondered which architect had cleverly repeated this same characteristic over and over again. Not seeing a name on the scorecard, however, I assumed that it was no one I would have recognized.

The nine-hole course was quite short. The normal yardage, 5876 yards, of the 18 hole course is shorter than Woodstock's yardage. Most of the par threes could be hit with no more than a nine iron. One par three's tee markers were placed in the middle of what used to be a fairway.

The opening hole at Hanover is a fairly lengthy par four that plays 430 from the tips. The approach shot is blind and uphill. The green slopes left to right quite steeply, so a well placed shot is a must. The ninth hole (the real 18th) sets up with a nice tee shot from the blue tees over a canyon and onto a fairway situated slightly above the tee box. It is a 478 yard par five. It's fairway is very uneven, and if a golfer does not keep the ball down the right side of the fairway he could actually be punished with a side hill lie. There was one very nice par three that plays 190 from the tips and plays downhill. It is important to compensate for this slope as my playing partner overshot the green by quite a bit.

The fairways were in slightly better shape than Woodstock's. The rough and greens, however, were just as bad if not worse. I had one putt that had to travel over what seemed to be a tire track.

Something that struck me as odd was the police presence on the course. One police truck was just hanging out in the middle of the course the entire time we played. Then I noticed a police cruiser driving towards the truck. They didn't seem to be doing anything. I figured this was the preferred spot for the Hanover police to nap on the job. Don't try anything illegal at the Hanover Country Club.

Between the two courses I would recommend Hanover. It is cheaper and much closer. Until the condition of area courses improves, I might as well play a course within walking distance.

Local Golfing: It's All Rough

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