Passaconaway Country Club

Passaconaway Country Club is definitely much more than a passable golfing venue because, as I’ve found from having played it several times before, it provides a fine and interesting layout. Surprisingly, though, as I drove in today on Midway Road, little about the course immediately jumped out beyond its pleasing conditions and lush looks (very green for the late summer). Not having played here for over twenty years, what still stuck in my memory was the sheer quality of its golf: playable, rigorous, and varied; and a carefully designed layout which succeeds admirably despite the lack of big elevation changes–as the course is rather flat. On playing it again today, it struck me again that what lies under the hood is what makes this a great golf course, a course far more subtle than flashy.

Aside from standard qualities like varied hole layouts, a natural-looking landscape, and strategic green contours, Passaconaway features many other design aspects that go well beyond the monotonous or the predictable. Here are several of them:

ONE: Strategic challenges: Holes like the par-5 14th have a stream to cross, in this case on the second shot. But should you choose just to cross the hazard, or to get a bit more “greedy,” (?) –as the hole is just open enough to bite off more of the apple. The approach shot at the third requires attention paid to the best angle into the green or to shot shape, depending on which side of the fairway you land on. Or at 18, do you (as a longer hitter) play short of the bunkers or take them on (?)--when that means trying to land your drive in the fairway’s narrow neck alongside them.

TWO: Shot values: Cornish and Silva almost invariably follow a harder shot on any given hole with an easier one, or vice-versa. This is the case on the fairly difficult drive (with bunkers left) at the second, followed by a simpler and short approach into the green.

THREE: Par-3 variety: Not only are the lengths of these holes varied, but also is the position of their bunkers–or, in the case of hole four, the lack thereof–around each green. The latter is frequently overlooked by architects.

FOUR: De-emphasis on water hazards: Stylish in the 80s, water hazards were often overdone. While this layout does have a few prominent water hazards, on three of the holes it also adds, for variation, multiple bunkers—often in clusters or lengthy shapes. This is a nice alternative to water, and usually speeds up play.

FIVE: Driving Accuracy: Some courses greatly overdo the holes with simplistic driving zones. Here, at the 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 18th, as examples, you’ll need to hit accurate and, ideally, well-positioned drives.

SIX: Driving Length: The driver is mandatory on the long par-4s here, all of them on the back nine. By long, I mean 453, 453, and 469 from the blues, and not all that much less from the whites.

SEVEN: A Balanced Challenge: Despite these difficult tests, the course is not insanely tough. The scratch versus par rating from the deep tees is a healthy 72.1 versus 72.0.

Best Hole:

Fourteen, a classic par-5, long is enough to be a three-shotter for almost all golfers. Not only is it one of the most beautiful holes, but also one of the most challenging (index #2).

Most Interesting Holes:

–The fifth, another great par-5, starts with a tight drive to an offset, narrow fairway and water on the right, trees left. On the second, the task is to hit the uphill fairway or possibly go for the green in two.

–Eight exemplifies some of the best short holes here.The drive must fly a stream to a serpentine fairway, followed by the approach: a pair of bunkers will catch the marginal shot that comes up well short of the green.

–The opener is another excellent hole—especially for a challenging opening drive that may seem unnerving, with the road left, bunkers right.

Is This a Links Course?

I think it makes sense to call this a links-like course (but not a true links) if mainly for its flatness. Some of the mounding, too, around the fairways is a feature of a real links, though the roughs are covered wholly in grass, not gorse or heather. Still, this layout is more unlike a links primarily because there are far too many trees–and really this itself is a characteristic of links-like courses, but not links. Beyond that, a links plays not only on sandy, seaside soil; it also plays fast, firm, and wide open–all unlike Passaconaway. So this is fundamentally a parkland course with some links tendencies.

Today’s Experience:

Unfortunately, slow play marred the day to a certain extent: the round dragged on for five hours. At least a ranger appeared on the back nine, trying, anyway, to do his job. On the plus side, I was part of an excellent foursome, meeting three interesting players (who all happened to be good golfers) and thoroughly enjoyed the company. At check-in, service was very friendly. The parking lot today was jam-packed and the course teemed with golfers.

Conditions: Good Overall

The course has been in excellent shape every time I had played it in the past, but this is late summer and today many of the fairways were aerated. Another, lesser disappointment were the greenside and fairway roughs, (which were too long and dense) with the latter making it tough to find balls even when you knew where they should be. Greens were good but suffered a bit from heavy play; fringes, tees, and fairways ranged from very good to excellent.

Some Conclusions:

Today the general playing experience fell below excellent, but the layout, with many more mature trees now and some 200 yards shorter than it was originally, still played pretty much as well as always, other than the reversal of order on the nines. At 6,615 yards from the blues, it also plays long and tough. The fact that the course is on the flat side, by the way, is no sin: consider that St. Andrews, Harbour Town, Kiawah Island, and Royal St. George’s Golf Club–among many others–are incredible golf layouts. Period, end stop.

Passaconaway will stay high on my list when considering the best places to play in New Hampshire.

Awesome!! Course was in great shape..the only drawback..which wasn't their fault!! Leaves..lost two balls because of leaves..cost me two strokes..but that my friends.. is the Hazzard of golf in the fall!! Can't wait to go back again!!..oh..the greens... Excellent!!!..;just a beautiful place to play..very affordable!!.

Please note: the greens have been aerated (large hole), top dressed and not cut. I would not play on these for 10 days. after 9/11, I was not told the other day, paid full price and received no value. Usually the greens are great, but I guess they do what they have to.

Great course- former turf farm and a links style course with no ocean in sight! Long but flat and very walkable- if the wind blows this course has teeth. The back 9 has a serious set of holes that will keep your driver in hand. I've played this course from both blues and whites and if you're a not a single digit cap stay on the whites. The course can also be set up very difficult with pin positions in tough to get to spots due to the wavy link style greens. Score on the front but save your best drives for the back!

Yes it is flat but play it from the back tees and you will find that there are a lot of decisions to make on laying up or going for it with all the carry areas on many holes that are not necessarily near the Greens. Several bunkers will give you trouble on slightly elevated Greens depending on pin placement. Overall, we like this course because even when you hit a wayward shot you can scramble to save Par.

There are not many public courses built on flat farmland that can grow up to be fun, challenging tracks. Passaconaway has done all of that with plenty of yardage from the back two sets of tees. It is always in excellent condition due to a hard working crew and plenty of water for the sprinklers from the adjacent Merrimack River. The 3rd hole is a great par 4 that requires a precise, long drive to avoid the marsh straight ahead and on the right and the overhanging trees on the left. The second shot is to a raised green where errant shots to the right will kick into the marsh. The 3 parallel par 4's on the back, numbers 12, 15 and 16 are all well over 400 yards and demand 2 perfect shots to hit repelling greens. There are very few mature trees on this layout, which makes it tough on a hot summer day when shade is your friend, but it is a great course for the late fall because there are virtually no leaves to disrupt play! There are only 1 or 2 holes where you may want to hit less than driver off the tee. Passaconaway lets you swing for the fences with confidence. There were only 2 greens that I saw that still had remnants of winter damage on them. This course will never disappoint you in the conditioning department. Now it is a bit out of the way for most people, but with GPS it is easy to find from anywhere, just minutes from both Manchester and Nashua. I hope you enjoy playing Passaconaway as much as I have for the past 20 some years.