Review: Hooper Golf Course

We're stepping up the pace of these reviews so I can get through all the courses my brothers and I played on our Boston trip in 2020. Be prepared for lots of golf.

My brothers and I took a backroads and slightly annoying route to Boston so we could stop by Hooper Golf Course, a little 9 hole course just over the border with Vermont. It dates back to the 1920s, built by Wayne Stiles and John Van Kleek, who also designed Brigantine down in New Jersey. I'd never heard of the place before I read Tom Doak's Confidential Guide on the golf courses of the northern U.S. and Canada, in which he stated that Hooper is the second best 9 hole course in the United States. It isn't just him, Golf Digest has it on their list of the 25 best 9 hole courses in the country as well. So I decided we should make the detour to play the course. Was it worth the extra hour of driving? Let's see.

The first hole is a very short par 5, playing just 456 yards. That's old golf courses for you. This is Hooper's calling card, Tom Doak singled it out as one of the best opening holes in both the United States and Canada. The hole drops down from a high tee to a rolling fairway that slopes down dramatically on the left side off into trees and bushes. Ideally, you want your drive to finish in the high spot on the right side of the fairway, providing you with a mid iron and a decent view into the green, which is guarded by a tree and two bunkers left, as well as a bunker right. The green itself is severely tilted from back to front. To their credit, the green speeds at Hooper aren't super fast, so putts from above the hole are merely very difficult, not terrifyingly impossible. It's an excellent opening hole, but one of the best in the country? I find that difficult to believe. I'm not even sure it's the best opener I've played; the first hole at Keney Park is at least as good as this one. Same sort of rolling terrain where finding a level stance is almost impossible, but there's no risk of losing a golf ball at Keney Park. The view from the tee is better here, I'll admit. 

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is a fairly long par 4 at 430 yards. It's a fairly narrow hole, playing through dense trees left and a line of less dense trees right. The terrain is as rolling as the first hole; it's going to be difficult to find a level lie unless you can hit your drive on top of one of the multiple small hills in the fairway. The green is protected by bunkers left and right, and there's a big knob on the left edge of the green that certainly influences putts on that side.

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green.

The third hole is a very short par 4, though it is mostly blind and up the hill. It's only 285 yards, but there's a bunker in front of the green and the tee shot needs to be threaded through a narrow chute of trees. A driver could work, but you'd have to be precise. If you've laid up, the second shot is a pitch or full wedge over the bunker to a shallow target. The green is divided into left and right sections, with a ridge running right through the middle. Putting from the wrong side of the ridge is tough, and a two putt is no guarantee.

The third hole.

Approaching the third green. That is actually a single bunker in front of the green.

The third green. Some weird guy is standing on the ridge that divides the green in two.

The fourth hole is the shortest hole at Hooper; at 155 yards it's just a wedge or short iron. There are two bunkers left and one right, but the hole's primary defense is its green. It's not big, and it's divided into two sections by a massive tier running through the middle. To cap it off, the front section of the green is also severely sloped. How tough is this green? My brother hit his tee shot onto the back half of the green and had to putt down the tier. That putt ran past the hole and off of the green. He then proceeded to throw his chip up onto the tier, and the three of us watched as it came back down, tracking toward the hole. We all knew when the ball was about 10 feet from the hole that it was going in. I'm sure it's possible to make a par in more spectacular fashion, but you're going to struggle to convince me that the green in regulation, putting off the green, and chipping in using the same slope that just ruined your putt isn't the best par I've ever seen.

The fourth hole.

The very severe fourth green. You can see my brother's ball just at the top of the hill.

The fifth hole is the longest hole at Hooper, but that's not saying much. The course is just over 3,000 yards, and this hole is only 475 yards, making it easily reachable for many golfers. The fairway slopes from right to left and also goes up and over a ridge. You can hit up to the top of the ridge, or you can go over it, extending your drive but meaning you'll have a downhill stance for the second shot back up the hill. The green is open in the front, allowing run-up shots, though there are quite a few bunkers on either side of the green. The green itself is more subdued than some of the others, meaning this is a good opportunity for a birdie or an eagle, perhaps even more so than the first hole.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is a mid-length par 3, just under 200 yards. This is an interesting hole, with the many bunkers and severely sloped green grabbing your attention right away. In cases when the hole is on the right side, as it was when we played it, a gentle fade aimed will take the slope down toward the hole. Just be careful not to end up above the hole, because it'll be a very fast putt. Those bunkers aren't exactly ideal places to be either. It's very easy to make a big number on this hole, I can attest to that personally.

The sixth hole. The back edge is several feet higher than the front.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a short par 4 that's 25 yards longer than the third hole, but it's much more driveable than that one. That's because this is the flattest hole on the course, and the green is open in front, so a driver can be run up onto the green. Plus the hole is a lot more open in general, with a lot fewer trees. The fairway is pinched about 75-100 yards from the green, right where you'd want to lay up, so if you're not going for it, you'll either be left with a longer shot than you want, or an awkward half-wedge. Compared with the last green, this green is pretty flat, but it's also the most heavily bunkered green at Hooper. If you are going for the green, or trying to get as close as possible, I'd recommend missing left instead of right. It's very tough getting a pitch past those two right-side bunkers.

The seventh hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is 380 yards, playing mostly straight with a narrow gravel road and stone wall left. It's not O.B. to go over that road, which is good, but I still wouldn't recommend going over there. That big tree in the picture, about 75 yards from the green, will stymie any drive hit on the left side of the fairway. The slope of the hill will kick shots that way as well, so you're better off staying right off of the tee. From there, the second shot is a wedge or short iron to a pretty big green with bunkers left and right. Avoid having to deal with the tree, and this is a pretty easy hole.

The eighth hole.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is on the other side of the gravel road that you play alongside on the last hole. The hole is 350 yards, but it's uphill, so it doesn't play that much shorter than the eighth. There's a million miles to the right, but going right both lengthens the hole and means you'll have a blind second shot over a pair of bunkers. It's best to approach the hole from the left side. That leaves you with a fairly easy pitch up to the green.

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

I'm not going to argue with the point that Hooper is a good golf course. It probably deserves to be in the top 25 of all nine hole courses in the country, but all the same, I couldn't help but feel a bit let down. To me, Hooper felt like a miniature version of the many old Golden Age courses that I've played over the years. It felt like Galen Hall, Shennecossett, Berkleigh, Mark Twain, and especially Brigantine. Perhaps that last one isn't surprising. That's not a bad thing, I mean, I like those courses, and I liked this one. But I also didn't feel anything special about this one. The first hole here is good, but most of those old courses have a couple of really good hole that stand out above the rest. Like I said, I'm not even sure it's the best first hole I've played, and my golf course experience is far less than Tom Doak's. The value isn't bad either, $23 to play 9 holes on a weekend isn't bad. So all in all, I don't feel bad about going out of my way to play here, but I wouldn't say it's anything too incredibly special. Next week though, we'll see something that is a bit special.