Review: Manchester Country Club (Part 1)

After playing Equinox in October 2020, I very much wanted to return to Manchester, Vermont in the future to play Ekwanok, its more famous and far better cousin, but I didn't see any way to get onto such a private golf course. In 2021, my brothers and I came back to Manchester to play a private country club. Unfortunately, it wasn't Ekwanok we would be playing, but Manchester Country Club, designed in the 1960s by Geoffrey Cornish, a very prolific designer who worked mostly in New England. His most famous design is the now-defunct International, notable for being the longest course in the United States; it measured over 8,000 yards when it opened in the late 50s. That's a lot, even by today's standards.

Manchester CC is not 8,000 yards, though at 6,800 yards from the back tees it isn't a pushover. It's a bit north of town, though still in the same valley as Equinox. That means the views of the surrounding mountains are roughly similar. Combine those mountain views with typical mid-October fall foliage, and we end up at a point where the golf is really not the main attraction. But it's still nice to have a good golf course, so let's find out if Manchester CC has one. 

The first hole is a classic gentle opening par 4. It's 360 yards and the undulating fairway plays gently uphill. It's not a wide hole, but there aren't any hazards in play save for a few trees. You can use driver, but it isn't really necessary, since a solid fairway wood will still leave just a wedge up to the green, which has bunkers left and right and slopes significantly from back to front. 

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is 535 yards, and the hole tumbles down the hill we just climbed on the first, the fairway threading between trees and a single fairway bunker, with O.B. lurking left. The fairway bunker is pretty easily cleared though, especially when the hole plays downwind. The green is quite tough to hit if you're going for it in two, with three bunkers scattered around, but since it's a fairly large green, if you've laid up, the wedge third is pretty simple.

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green.

The third hole is a 370 yard par 4 that plays downhill to an undulating fairway. It's pretty wide, unlike the previous two holes, although there are fairway bunkers on both sides, plus the O.B. left continues on from the previous hole. You can hit a big drive, but you'll be left with a hanging lie; using a fairway wood leaves a longer second but it'll be from a flat lie. The green has three bunkers around it and also has two big tiers. It's a fun green, unless you end up on top when the hole's cut at the bottom. That's less fun.

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole is a long straightaway par 5 that plays to a partially blind fairway. There is a fairway bunker right, but it's pretty easy to clear with a solid drive. The second is complicated by a bunker about 75 yards short of the green that eats into the fairway, so you'd probably want to lay up short of that. The green isn't large and has two bunkers left and one right, so while long hitters can reach the green in two, actually hitting is a tall order.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is a mid length par 4 that doglegs right, then drops down a big hill. If your drive goes too far, you may be blocked out by trees, but you'd have to hit a pretty big drive, so unless you hit it 300 plus, driver should be fine. That will leave a wedge or short iron into the green, which is domed, making it tough to hit. It's also got bunkers left and right, and there's a pond short, which is extremely tough to see if you're playing here for the first time. Not a big fan of blind water hazards, but it's less of an issue if you end up on the right side of the fairway. 

The fifth hole.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is the first par 3 at Manchester, playing 210 yards over a pond to an elevated green. It's also guarded by two bunkers, one right and one behind. It looks like a pretty tough hole, and that's because it is. The green isn't very big, and there really isn't any good place to miss. Obviously, short is the worst, but no matter where you miss, the chip back onto the green will be tough. Par is a good score here.

The sixth hole.

The seventh hole is a short par 4, only 325 yards, though since it plays uphill (parallel to the first) it's not really driveable for most people. A cluster of bunkers about a hundred yards short forces a decision off of the tee: Either you use a long iron to stay short of them or you try to clear them with a driver, fading the ball around trees right. Either way, the second shot will be up the hill to a semiblind green that's wide but shallow and guarded by bunkers on each side. 

The seventh hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is a downhill 200 yard par 3 with quite a dramatic view. If you can keep your head down long enough to focus on the tee shot, it's actually not a particularly difficult hole. The green is decently sized and receptive to longer irons, and while there are three bunkers around the green, recovering from them isn't hugely challenging. That just means you're more free to enjoy the view.

The eighth hole.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is 435 yards from all the way back (it's a much milder 355 yards from the tees most people use), and is squeezed between a hillside left and marsh right. It's not a very wide fairway, and the second shot isn't much easier. The marsh isn't in play, but the green is small, elevated, and protected by two bunkers on the right side. 

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.