Review: Manchester Country Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Manchester Country Club, go here to see the front nine.

Up to this point, Manchester has been quiet and subdued, reminiscent of a Golden Age course. That changes on the back nine. Most of the back is up on a plateau, but to get there, the tenth has to traverse a wide marsh and pond, and it doesn't pull off the transition well. The hole is only 330 yards, so you don't need to use driver, but still, there is precious little room to maneuver on the tee shot. Even ignoring the forced pond carry, there's a smaller pond right of the fairway eating into the landing area and dense forest immediately left, and a large tree covers the section of fairway you'd ideally aim for. If you're fortunate enough to find the sliver of fairway, the second shot is a wedge over a cluster of bunkers to a large, undulating green. 

The tenth hole.

The tenth green.

After a long climb up a hill, the eleventh hole is a fairly long par 4 winding through groups of pine trees. The fairway is quite undulating as it slowly descends, so you may not have a flat stance for the approach. The second is the real challenge here: It's a short or mid iron to a long, narrow green (actually a double green shared with the sixteenth) wedged between a pair of bunkers right and a steep dropoff into a close-cut chipping area left. It's no easy green to putt either.

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh and sixteenth holes share a green.

The twelfth hole is the shortest hole at Manchester, playing just 150 yards. It's a classic short par 3, playing to a small, slightly elevated green guarded by several bunkers all around. There's not much room for error, but since the hole is short, it still plays well.

The twelfth hole.

The thirteenth hole is the longest hole at Manchester, playing 565 yards into and back out of a valley. The fairway looks pretty wide from the tee, but as it bends right, the fairway narrows considerably, squeezed between forest left and a hidden pond right at the bottom of the hill. That pond can catch out long drives, though it is at least partially obscured by trees right of the fairway. A 3 wood up to the edge of the valley may be the best play, followed by a lay up short of a second pond that narrows the fairway about 100 yards from the green. That will leave a fairly long third shot, and the green certainly isn't an inviting target either, but you can't really lay up any closer, since there's about 15 yards to work with in between the pond and the hillside right. Long hitters can go for it in two, but the green is small, tucked behind a bunker, and guarded by forest on two sides. That's not an easy task either. So there's really no good or simple options. Par is something you'll have to work for, which is not something you see very often with par 5s. This may actually be the toughest hole at Manchester.

The thirteenth hole.

The thirteenth green.

When you're building a golf course on terrain that isn't exactly suited for it, you have two options. You can either stick holes in odd, inappropriate places, completely ruining all flow of the routing, or you can do what the fourteenth hole does, and simply move a bunch of earth to make the hole work. Looking at this hole, you can instantly tell that nature did not make this fairway. The left side was lowered and the right was raised (a lot) to provide a fairly flat and quite narrow fairway, with a dramatic dropoff into forest waiting right. A good drive on this 425 yard hole will leave a shortish iron into a undulating green protected by three small bunkers right. It's not a bad hole, it just doesn't really look particularly natural.

The fourteenth hole.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is a long par 4, the longest on the course at 445 yards. The tee shot is pretty straightforward, though there is a cluster of fairway bunkers right if you hit an especially long drive. You will need that solid drive to gain view of the green, which is very blind from the tee. The second shot is steeply downhill to a small green protected by a pair of bunkers short right, a single bunker left, and a steep falloff in front (almost a false front, but not quite). It is quite tricky chipping up to the green if you end up in the fairway just short.

The fifteenth hole.

Approaching the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is a fairly long, slightly uphill par 3 playing to the second half of the double green it shares with the eleventh. Most uphill par 3s don't have a particularly dramatic view, but this is a notable exception, with the big mountain looming in the background. This is actually quite a tough tee shot, there are four bunkers around the green, which is really not that big all things considered. At the very least, the green itself is pretty flat, so the hole isn't quite as difficult as it looks from the tee.

The sixteenth hole.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole wins the award for "most mystifying tree on a golf hole." I get that it's big and old and it would have been a shame to cut it down, but it is so ridiculously in the way. If you hit a fade with your driver, it's not the biggest deal, but if that's something you struggle with, then good luck with the 20 yards of fairway you have to work with between the tree and the forest immediately left of the fairway. The only saving grace is that the seventeenth is a sub-500 yard par 5, so you don't necessarily need driver to get home in two. If you do find yourself in decent position, the second will be a long, slightly uphill shot to a semiblind green protected by five bunkers. I'm not sure it's a good hole, but it's got some charm and quirk to it, and I can appreciate that.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is also memorable, but not in the same way as the previous hole. From high atop the mountain, you hit down into a thin ribbon of fairway doglegging almost 90 degrees between marshland left and a pond right. The hole isn't very long at 410 yards, so thankfully you don't need driver, and I sincerely question anyone who does. You might as well just throw the golf ball into the marsh at that point. Providing you do hit the fairway, the second shot is at least a bit easier. The green is narrow, but it's nestled in a little bowl, so you do have some leeway, and there are no bunkers directly against the green.

The eighteenth hole.

The eighteenth green.

Manchester is really the story of two nines. As I mentioned earlier, the front nine is gentler and flows with the land better. If I hadn't known any better, I would have believed the front was designed by Donald Ross. It's solid in a quiet way; not spectacular, not especially memorable, but it works well. The back nine is more in your face, more modern, by virtue of the fact that it traverses more extreme terrain. Now, that does make for a more memorable experience, but that's not necessarily a good thing, since I think the golf itself is a step down from what the front offers. Also, the tenth and eighteenth are just bad golf holes. I would classify Manchester as a bit better than average, but if you're looking for a round in Manchester, Vermont, and can't get onto Ekwanok, I would prefer Equinox over this, just by virtue of Equinox's occasional madness. The seventeenth and its tree can't compare with the pit hole at Equinox.