Carter Country Club

Like many good New Hampshire courses, Carter Country Club offers a fairly secluded feel as well as beautiful panoramas, most notably from the upper level of this multi-tiered, hilly golf course. Right from the first green, the long-stretching vistas may quickly distract you from your work of actually playing the game, a game not made simple or easy by its Hall of Fame architect, the great Donald Ross (sometimes I feel that he should be referred to as “The Donald Ross,” just as some college football fans say “The Ohio State University”--such is his stature in golf course architecture).

LAYOUT SUMMARY:
As with almost all Ross courses, this is a complex layout. Three par-4s in the 300 yard range do, in fact, play short: five, seven, and eight, so players will need to take advantage of scoring opportunities here. But the par-5s are no bargain, and one of the two par-3s, the second, is daunting. The first and fourth, as well, will test your game fully. In general, Carter isn’t an arduous test of driving, except for the tee shot on the par-5 third. Instead, Ross placed a premium on the approach shots, especially at holes one, four, five, and six. And most of the greens are small. To really grasp what makes the design effective, though, take a closer look at the following:

HAZARDS & DEFENSES:
This parkland course is open but also woodsy on its perimeter. Most of the holes have one or two greenside bunkers, although the ninth green is surrounded (nearly) by five. Yet what may be the biggest challenge at Carter are the huge hills and slopes.

A brief bit of explanation about the course topography should clarify why this is so. Essentially, the layout has three levels: on the lowest is only the ninth hole; on the middle are parts of the first, third and seventh, as well are the entire eighth; on the uppermost level are the third’s driving area along with the second, fifth and sixth holes. Thus, only three holes travel tee-to-green, entirely, on one of these levels; six of the holes move up and down, and always dramatically. One and four have their greens perched on the edge of the second level, four (five?) stories up from the fairway, making it much more difficult to hold them on the approaches. At the sixth, the approach will often be blind to a green set below the fairway on what may be considered a fourth level, though it’s small. So judging distances on much of this track becomes essential course knowledge, and a rangefinder won’t tell you all you need to know. Leave it to Donald Ross to have exploited the terrain so well and so cleverly.

CONDITIONS:
Good on the greens, bunkers, and fringe areas, which ran smoothly and true, though they were tricky to read. The roughs and tees were average overall, and the fairways average. Overall, about typical of what you’ll find at a public course, but certainly playable.

HOLES OF INTEREST:

The par-3s: Second Hole (180) and Nine (110)

Two is a toughie, moving decidedly uphill from the tee and ending on a harshly canted green that is tough simply to two-putt. Nine isn’t all that hard until you miss the green, where five deep bunkers await, so more than one wedge shot is often played here, on what also happens to be a classic-looking golf hole.

Two Par-4s: First Hole (360) and Fourth (360)

On the card short holes, these two play almost exactly like 400-yarders. I used–no joke–three extra clubs to reach the first green, though my approach ended up a couple of yards beyond it. Truth be told, though, I had driven the ball weakly (partly from the wind’s opposing force) and this approach would seem easier here when hitting what would be typical for me: a short iron.

The Par-5s: Third Hole (500) and Sixth (460)

They may not play long, but each can be deadly, or may at least damage your scorecard if not played with some care. The third’s driving zone tightens quickly and is penal on the right side (woods) and on the left, whose steep slope descends to “level two,” a.k.a. “the wrong fairway.” The second and third shots are far more routine at the third. On the other hand, the driving area is mostly straightforward at six, but after a well-placed smash off the tee, you may have a decent opportunity to make this hole a two-shotter. But are you good at blind shots? All in all, six is clearly one of more outside-the-box holes I’ve encountered on a Ross-designed track.

BOTTOM LINE:
Overall, this 1923 work is a challenging Donald Ross layout. The course was in decent shape; pace was on the slow side. But it was no surprise that I enjoyed my first round at Carter Country Club. Everyone who’s serious about golf or wants something beyond the expected should at least give this course a whirl.

This layout is naturally beautiful, you can tell that the course was built on the natural terrain. There is a variety of interesting holes with some dramatic elevation changes as well. The greens roll very nicely and the course is in average condition.