Hanover Country Club on the campus of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, is saturated with New England iconography. Owned and managed by the school, the course is where northeast academia meets quaint small town pathos. The vistas of rolling and well-cropped fairways laid out among a rustic New Hampshire cathedral of tall pines, and the sound of the meandering Connecticut River, would make poets like Robert Frost—who attended the school for two months¬—pause. But don’t let the storybook setting fool you. The course’s challenges—all 6,467 yards of them—are more austere than academic.
Tucked into the Upper Connecticut River Valley, the course is located about two hours north of Boston, 90 minutes south of Burlington, VT and five hours south of Montreal. Steeped in Ivy League history, the course is Dartmouth College’s oldest recreational facility and newspaper accounts admired the course as early as 1899. The college, the smallest of the Ivy League institutions, predates the American Revolution, but despite the course’s historical past, the club is not a museum and local players describe it as a rigorous, challenging Par-70 that has something for everybody.
The course gives players from near and far the opportunity to enjoy a round of golf on the same grounds that a Puritan minister founded the school with the mission of training Native Americans as missionaries in the 18th century. Local golf pros are on hand to teach players of all levels the intricacies of the game and the club hosts several summer tournaments and youth programs.
Thanks to an alumnus, additional land was purchased by the school in the early 1900s, allowing the then 9-hole course to expand around the east side of the Vale of Tempe, now known as “The Gully.” The course grew again in 1922 to 18 holes. Orrin Smith, who worked for course design legends Donald Ross and Willie Park Jr., designed the new layout. The course and the game of golf became so popular that the club was consistently overcrowded, prompting the construction of a new, 9-hole course on the east side of Lyme Road. Those additional holes were designed by Dartmouth alumnus Ralph Barton.
Four of those nine holes are still in use today and are now part of one of the most comprehensive practice areas in the region. The practice area includes a driving range, a short game practice area with greens and bunkers, and a wedge green that is as long as a football field. The area is open to students, range pass holders, and club members.
With only minor modifications made to the original 18 holes over a 70-year period, it became evident in the 1990s that a significant renovation was needed to adapt the course for the “modern” game. In 1995, things started to change, and for the better. Thanks to the goodwill of another alum, Robert Keller, class of 1935, the course was modernized. That year, Keller donated a computerized irrigation system, but his generosity didn’t stop there. In 2000, he donated a significant monetary gift and a major facelift of the course commenced. Ron Prichard, a golf architect known for his restoration of Donald Ross courses, spearheaded the renovations, installing four new holes and new tees and greens. The result? The course now plays longer, safer and better, but still maintains its century-old bucolic charm.
For a better look at playing the course we start on the second hole where those who favor the right side of the fairway are rewarded. This 418-yard Par-4 has an elevated green that is slightly tiered and slopes back-to-front. Go too long or left and you’re in trouble.
At 307 yards, the 3rd hole is short on length for a Par-4, but what it lacks in yardage is made up for in nuance. Watch out for the large swale that dominates the middle of the green, to say nothing of the large false front.
No. 8 plays right into the “grip it and rip it,” player’s wheelhouse. You can play the hole as either a Par-4 or a Par-5. Either way, the fairway is the widest on the course. Strong angles to the green are plentiful and beware of the pond about 80 yards from the green.
The much ballyhooed Par-4 13th is loaded with challenge. From the tee box, beware of a hazard hugging the right side of the fairway. To the left, a large hill looms. Typically, that knoll does not produce friendly bounces. Favor the right side of the green, as a tree towers over a yawning maw of bunkers to the left. Hit the tree and you’re next shot will most likely be from the sand. It should come as no surprise that the local experts advise golfers to favor the right side of the green, which has a spine that runs diagonally.
No. 15 is a long Par-5. You’ll need a solid second shot to clear a right fairway bunker. You should be happy if you two-putt this long and narrow green.
The Par-4 16th is a 412-yard dogleg left. Think accuracy before distance on this hole, as being on the fairway far outweighs yardage from the green. In fact, many big hitters have hit through the fairway. Hug the right-half of the fairway and you’ll have a decent sightline to the green, which, while sizable, is on top of a precarious hillock.
For most, the final hole, a Par-5 that stretches about 471 yards from the back tees, is easily reachable in three. It is key, however, to refrain from trying to hook it around the bend as the pillars of pine are more than happy to swallow up overly aggressive shots.
Hanover Country Club includes a fully-stocked pro shop, which is open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Equipment is available for purchase by several leading golf manufactures, including Ping, Cobra, Titleist, Callaway and TaylorMade. Depending on time of day and season, rates range from $20 to $65. For more information, visit dartmouth.edu/~hccweb/