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3.3
3 Reviews (3)
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2
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1 Stars
0
Conditions
2.7
Value
3.7
Layout
3.3
Friendliness
4.0
Pace
4.0
Amenities
3.0
66.7%
Recommend this course
2 out of 3 reviews
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About

Holes 18
Type Public
Par 71
Length 6128 yards
Slope 107
Rating 68.0

Course Details

Year Built 1895
Golf Season Open: 4/01 Closed: 11/01
Architect Willie Norton (1895) Arthur Fenn (1898) Ralph Barton (1928)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No
Walking Allowed Yes
Dress code No tank tops.

Food & Beverage

Food & Beverage

Reviews

3.3
3 Reviews (3)
Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 313
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Top 25 Contributor
Connecticut Advisor
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Walked

Near the Presidential Range

Although Waumbek Golf Club impresses with its fine layout, the course also boasts dramatic vistas to the spectacular Presidential and Cherry-Dartmouth Ranges not far in the distance. I enjoyed my round on a pleasant summer day, having fun trying to outmaneuver these clever holes devised in stages by three ‘turn of the 20th century’ or Golden Age architects: Willy Norton, a Scotsman, and the American designers Arthur Fenn and Ralph Barton. Barton was the last of the three to put his imprint upon this course--as the club’s website details, along with its fascinating history. The excellent New Hampshire-born designer was also instrumental to some degree in the creation of a few C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor masterpieces.

This scenic course begins on a high tee with a breathtaking view of Mount Martha (Cherry Mountain, elevation 3,557). Mount Washington, nearly twice Martha’s height, is visible from the second hole and the clubhouse’s front deck. Winding its way past maples, white and black birches, spruces and pines, the layout supplies excellent ground movement for golf. It rises or falls--or both--on every hole. It’s routing moves around unpredictably (follow the signage closely) as the architects apparently designed each hole around the best available green site. The course features excellent variety, small greens, wide fairways that allow for strategic play, and an openness favored by Scottish designers, whereby the trees are never overwhelming. The latter quality also lends most of the holes excellent views to the enormous mountains behind them.

Par-4’s:
Part of Waumbek’s strength comes from three par-4’s, all measuring about 400 yards. Two, a grueling uphill tester with OOB left and its green perched upon a plateau, requires a sound drive and well-judged approach. The uphill sixth threatens even more in the hilly driving zone, while the twelfth is equally stout tee-to-green, where the tee shot is faded around some trees for an ideal line of attack on the second shot. The approach is well played, I found, by running the ball onto the surface. The hole culminates at a larger, pitched green, so tilted that three-putting may be the rule.

The shorter four-pars generally require finesse, especially with a wedge or short iron, rather than pure power. No less than eight of these holes, ranging from 300-350, appear on the card, and they vary in intensity from the drivable, downhill, picturesque 13th to the ornery 16th (the one hole on the course I disliked, primarily for its awkwardly strange landing area). But fifteen is a great short hole, especially for its plateau green, which is nonetheless shallow and small. Any miss leftward will require a strong recovery up to the putting surface.

Critics may find Waumbek’s short par-4’s outdated, but I would disagree with them: their small, sometimes radically sloped surfaces make every approach a bit dicey, and gauging exactly how far to hit, whether uphill or downhill, will test you. The fourth, for example, has a diminutive punchbowl green set by the road, so missing the approach by much will likely be damaging. These are sound drive-and-pitch holes.

Par-5’s:
3, 11 and 17 are well-designed, and only the last of these three, playing uphill, is unreachable for all but bombers. The third, a classic, runs downhill from a high tee to that falls gradually in tiers, with woods guarding the fairway on the left. It can be played as a two-shotter without great risk, as long as your miss is to the right.

Par-3’s
Of the four, only one is short, but it’s a corker: the 120-yard 14th, flanked tightly by large-ish bunkers and elevated above grade. Unsurprisingly, the small green demands a precise tee shot. I also like the back-to-back 200-yarders before the turn, made challenging again by seemingly undersized greens to be hit from long range. Then there is the stringent closer, possibly the course’s best hole, a 220-yard brute travelling straight uphill to a green defended by the tall, steep knoll upon which it sits. I hit a 3-wood that landed just before the surface and bounded 40 feet past the pin, leaving an intimidating downhiller.

Course Conditioning;
The one fly in the ointment today, conditioning did not match this layout’s quality. The central problem was the fairways: some were good, yet most had light patchy areas with some bare spots. The roughs were also inconsistent; they weren’t helped by grass clippings left behind in too many places. Greens were better, though running at below-average speed and a bit wobbly on some short putts. Fringes and greeside grass could be patchy. All in all, the course was playable but disappointing in this regard.

Some conclusions:
Waumbek is a good value choice despite conditioning shortcomings. Some golfers won’t agree, and I get it. For me, though, playing these eighteen delivers a solid experience, a point that supersedes the matter of weak or middling fairways. Waumbek’s mountain vistas are unbeatable and the friendliness of the Course Managers, Maryann and Joe, is outstanding--easily the best I’ve experienced this year.

Conditions Fair
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Disappointed

Waumbek is a short course with very small greens and stunning mountain views. The course conditions left a lot to be desired. Very shaggy beat up tee boxes, bunkers that need attention, and fairways that seem more like first cut rough. This course really needs some TLC. This was our third time playing it in a 8 year span and the course seems to be going downhill.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Difficulty Fairly Easy
Played On
Reviews 59
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
New Hampshire Advisor
Top 1000 Contributor
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Interesting challenge...

Course is interesting. Plays quite a bit shorter than it's stated yardage. Small, challenging greens that roll reasonably well, though a bit bumpy in places. Nothing stands out as great, but the variety of holes keeps your interest throughout the round, which is nice. Well worth a try.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Fairly Easy
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