With all the time spent in the mountains over the past few decades, it’s only natural that one goal is to play all of the mountain courses in New England.

This week another was crossed off the list and another paid a second visit. With all those beds around our ski resorts, golf is a logical way to fill them in summer and expand the year-round aspects of the business. This is why we’re seeing some of the best new layouts by top designers in the mountains.

This latest trip was to Killington, which turns out to be a pretty good spot to choose as headquarters for a Vermont golf trip. With accommodations for more than 15,000, there are enough lodging and dining options to meet most budgets and appetites. The central Vermont location allows golfers or skiers to travel short distances to reach other mountain resorts.

Our focus was on the immediate golf opportunities. We started with the closest. The Killington club house is a short distance from the Snowshed Lodge (the main base area for skiers) and right next to the new Grand Hotel.

Noted designer Geoffery Cornish laid out this challenging track in 1983 and the hazards and elevation changes make up for any lack of distance. At 6,168 yards from the back tees, it still carries a course and slope rating of 70.6/126. Club selection and placement is the key to scoring well here and having a local along would be a big help.

The score card shows the layout of each hole with the 150 yard marker identified with a red line and a black dot for the ideal drive location. Paying close attention to these and the hints at the bottom such as, “Lay up well short of the creek on 2nd shot” will help avoid a lot of trouble. Eleven holes have water, although some is easily avoided. There are dramatic elevation changes, but the skillful work of Cornish has produced a minimum of uphill climbs. Some holes have sharp drops, but in wet weather they didn’t help us much.

The next day we awoke to a downpour and wondered about our 12:30 tee time. Fortunately, the sun broke through late in the morning and the weather forecasters promise of heavy rain proved wrong at least in our piece of the mountains. We teed off at Green Mountain National at the exact appointed time and soon learned why this layout has received such great reviews. Built in 1996 from a routing plan by Steve Durkee, who also designed nearby Okemo, the final design was by a local Gene Bates.

In 1997 it was ranked No. 5 in a Golf Digest list of Best New Upscale Public Courses in North America. The New England Journal of Golf rated it No. 22 in the Top 100 You Can Play in New England and a number of other publications gives it high marks.

A very complete yardage book was a big help in charting our way around the course and we found the starter’s advice critically important. He advised us to ride out and take a look on No. 2, which features a totally blind tee shot and a right-angle dogleg. From the back tees this one could be tough indeed. There is a full club drop and the second shot is all carry over a pond. It plays 412 and 387 from the back but only 310 from the yellow tees. A 7-iron drive and an 8-iron second reached the green. Maybe I should have been playing the whites, but this was good for the ego.

The yardages are blue 6,589, white 6,164, yellow 5,440 and red 4,740. I played from the whites. The starter told us only zero-to-10 handicappers should play from the back and 10-18 from the whites. Being on the margin I chose the yellows but soon realized I had the distance to play from the whites. This is one problem with that system. Many of us carry high handicaps for reasons other then length. It’s up to every golfer to understand this and select the right tees for his game.

We found this to be a challenging, but fair layout, where taking what the course gives will allow golfers to play to their handicaps. The undulating greens call for some study, but the wet conditions helped as we could go right at many of the cups. No two holes are alike and the use of the elevation changes made them very interesting.

The course is in fine shape for one so young. Green Mountain National is definitely deserving of its high rankings and a return opportunity will be greeted positively. Our golf visit to a place we have visited often in winter has reinforced our feeling that the mountains are a great place to play golf.

Closer to home, we have a call out for lefties. Thursday, Aug. 7th, Spring Meadows will host a state-level championship for “Lefties Only.” This is open to all lefties, Maine golfers or visitors. Men, women, seniors, and juniors can compete for gross and net prizes. Make your own foursomes or get paired up. The $65 fee includes practice balls, green fee, shared cart, cookout and prizes. Southpaws should call Head Professional Nick Glicos for details at 657-2586 or check www.springmeadowgolf.com.

Dave Irons is a free-lance writer who lives in Westbrook.

Copy the Story Link