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April 24, 2008
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Get on the green Even for the very best players in the world, the game of golf can be woefully unfair. Played correctly, 18 holes can take four hours, and beginning players probably won’t be playing correctly. But a true golfer will keep at it. Why? Because he remembers that one time on a perfect summer day standing 120 yards away from the green when his swing felt exactly right, and the ball did exactly what it was supposed to, landing feet from the flagstick and making an impossible game feel easy, if only for a moment. Whether you have such a memory or your only golf experience involved a windmill and the words “putt putt,” the blue skies in southern New Hampshire can offer you the perfect opportunity to get out on the green. A game for everybody As course pro, Ryan’s job is to make sure that everybody who shows up for a round of golf at the public course has a good time. He gives hour-long beginner lessons, usually in a four-week series, designed to get players comfortable with the course. He acknowledges that are certain people — mostly men — who aren’t keen to admitting they don’t know the first thing about golf in a group setting. Some request private lessons, and others just head out to the course to try and teach themselves. That usually doesn’t go terribly well, Ryan said. Hit ball toward hole Teeing the ball up gives the player a chance for better contact, with in turn boosts confidence. Ryan recommends playing the first two or three rounds in the manner, but he added that most beginners wean themselves off the tee as their game improves. Visiting a driving range and blasting a bucket of balls out into the yard is a good way to get the extra reps needed to make the ball go where the club tells it to go. Golfer, meet clubs The reason for carrying so many irons, explained Jerry Gutierrez, manager of Fairway Footprints golf shop in Manchester, is to hit accurate shots. The club-face of each iron is angled differently, so that the player doesn’t have to modify a swing all that much to get a different result or distance. High irons like eight or nine pop the ball up to the sky, allowing for a shorter distance but more control. Lower irons like three or four send the ball forward rather than up, adding distance but removing control. Woods, longer, bulkier clubs used primarily for driving off the tee, follow the same numbering scheme. There are one and two irons, but the clubs are avoided even by the pros for their wild control problems. “If you are ever caught in a thunderstorm on a course, take out the one iron and hold it over your head,” said Jean Denoyelle, a Merrimack resident who gets out to play at least once a week. “You do that because not even God can hit a one iron.” Once you’re familiar with the clubs and how to use them — a process that can take time all on its own for the uncoordinated — it is time to get out on the course and have “fun.” This comes with a whole new set of stresses, Ryan said, many of which are related to looking foolish or worrying that bad play is ruining someone else’s game. When a player is playing poorly and taking a long time on a hole, nothing adds to that stress quite like looking back at the tee box and seeing another foursome waiting to play through. For a course director, time is the enemy. Starting at 6 a.m., golfers begin leaving the first tee box every eight minutes or so. On a weekend, that time might stretch to nine or ten minutes between exits at the day’s peak, but in order to keep players happy, there needs to be space between playing groups. The average time for a round of play is somewhere around four to four and a half hours, but all it takes is for one slow group to cause a pileup and wreck the schedule. Ryan’s beginners get some key pointers to make sure their lousy play won’t cause a pileup behind them. Ryan advises newbies to limit themselves to 10 swings from tee to green. That’s not strokes, or times that the ball is hit, but swings. Take a practice swing? Miss the ball? Count it. If you reach 10 without putting the ball on the green, you should pick the ball up and place it on the edge of the green, Ryan said. After four putts, pick the ball up and move on to the next hole. Considering that par on any given hole is usually three to five strokes, a cushion of 14 is reasonable, giving a sense of accomplishment to new players who manage to hole a ball in fewer strokes. More importantly, it keeps them moving. Getting the course to yourself Gutierrez adds that, for those who find a full-sized 18-hole course intimidating, there are plenty of alternatives in the area. There are nine-hole, par-three courses, such as Applewood Golf Links in Windham. Not only are there fewer holes, but each hole is shorter than at a full-size course. Holes that stretch 300 to 400 yards are the standard at a country club. At a par-three like Applewood, there isn’t a hole longer than 180 yards. “Advanced players can still work on their short game, and beginners that can’t hit the ball all that far don’t have to play a 500-yard hole,” Gutierrez said. Success rates vary with a person’s athletic ability and the difficulty of the course they play, but it isn’t unreasonable for a true beginner, playing every week for an entire season, to post a score in the 110-120 range by the time snow falls, Ryan believes. Considering that an 18-hole course calls par 72, that puts the player 40-50 strokes over. Closing the gap from 110 to 72, the number a course challenges a player to hit, is where the fun really begins, Ryan said. “When I am out there, it is me against the golf course. We are all out there trying to conquer the golf course, and to that end, it is a humbling game,” Ryan said. “It is a challenge both to the human mind and to the body to perform with consistency. The game can attack you mentally, but focusing on the game can take you away from whatever else is going on in life. It’s relaxing.” Golf may be the only form of relaxation out there that makes adults break metal clubs in half out of frustration. Once hooked and welcomed into the bizarre fraternity of golf, however, you’ll find a group of unique athletes who enjoy spending a morning on a scenic walk through the region’s most immaculately landscaped and well- tended parks. They just like to keep score along the way. Home sweet course There are still private courses in southern New Hampshire that require membership, but the majority of the region’s courses recognize that the everygolfer, the one who gets into the sport via the Wii or by watching Tiger Woods on TV, has changed the face of the sport. Selecting a course you’re comfortable playing is important, as nothing can ruin golfer’s day more than getting mixed in with the wrong crowd. Find the right crowd, however, and the game’s little idiosyncrasies, fun stuff like watching the ball take a right turn in the air and fly into a pond, become fun. Private parties Private golf courses can offer the highest-quality golf experiences for those lucky enough to secure a membership. Everyone else, however, is stuck on the other side of the fence. The highly exclusive Concord Country Club has capped its membership and even closed its waiting list for the past two years, meaning the only way to play the course is to get friendly with a member or attend a charity golf tournament, like the one being planned by Concord Hospital for Aug. 4. Manchester Country Club is consistently rated one of the top courses not only in New Hampshire but in all of New England, said Ed Travelyn, chair of the club’s membership committee. The course has pedigree, as it was designed by famed course architect Donald Ross and has been played by legends such as Jack Nicklaus. “We are very proud of that heritage and feel that our course resonates with history,” Travelyn said. Aside from the higher quality of the course itself (more money and fewer people playing make a course easier to maintain), mermbership includes a variety of resort-like amenities, such as pool or spa service. Some clubs, including Manchester, offer a “social membership,” which allows for a few plays on the course and dining at the club restaurant. While the club has historically been tough to get into, a reshuffling of memberships and a new membership status for seniors have opened up more memberships at Manchester. With its businessperson-heavy clientele, the club is a destination for closing a deal. Travelyn declined to say how much annual membership fees were, but agreed that the cost was in the thousands. “We aren’t talking in the hundred thousands or anything, though. Just to be clear,” Travelyn said. Semi-public or public courses “Stonebridge, now there’s a tough course,” said avid golfer Jean Denoyelle. “Always well laid out, well managed. Lots of obstacles to deal with.” The Goffstown course got high marks on its challenge level from a number of golfers interviewed. “Stonebridge is a good course for the value,” said Shane Glennon, a golfer who plays everything from private courses to nine-hole public courses. Lochmere, home of the 2008 New Hampshire Amateur Tournament, is in Tilton, and is worth the trip, Denoyelle said. Canterbury Woods in Canterbury, The Overlook in Hollis, and the Amherst Country Club all received high marks. The Derryfield Country Club, meanwhile, is not only public but the only municipally owned course in the region. A trip out to a full service 18-hole course plus cart will likely run $50 to $60 per player, depending on the time of the week and the overall length of the course. These are often the busiest courses in the summer, and those extra pairs of eyes can be intimidating for beginners. Ryan’s advice for players who feel the pressure of a crowd on the first set of tees? Skip ’em. “Pick up your ball and just walk about 150 yards down the hole, drop, and play from there,” he said. “If you are a beginner, the point is to get out and have a good time.” The nine-hole course “The reason people like to play at Intervale is that it’s really just a VFW with a golf course attached,” said Mike Thibeault, course pro at the Intervale County Club, located off Front Street in Manchester. The nine-hole course offers a friendly, relaxed atmosphere, he said, with lots of events for members and non-members alike off the course itself. The course isn’t without its challenges. Regular golfer Shane Glennon said that he enjoys the casual atmosphere the nine-hole course offers, and while he appreciates an immaculate course, he questions the value of a private membership in a state with a short playing season. “For me, to pay x amount of dollars for what amounts to maybe three months of quality golf just doesn’t make all that much sense to me,” Glennon said. “I like what a place like this has to offer, and I come here when I want just to play.” The relaxed atmosphere is also what attracted Intervale member Dave Kelliher to the course. “It’s not snooty here,” Kelliher said. “It’s a nice social course where people can go out and have a good time. Good people, and it’s a good challenge.” Short courses are popular destinations for beginners and seniors. The par-three-only short course at Applewood in Windham came strongly recommended by Gutierrez. Buckmeadow, a nine-hole offering in Amherst, has a large number of senior clientele, said owner Jake Young. “Younger folks might think the course is too small for them, but they’ll come out and see there’s a bit of challenge here,” Young said. “We’ve got players in their 80s shooting in the 80s.” One piece of advice when looking at a course is to consider the course rating. The higher the rating, the more challenging the course. Most courses have multiple ratings, one for each set of tees the player can choose to begin from. Game for a cause Somewhere between a league membership and the occasional play lies the charity golf tournament. Part golf, part fundraiser and part social event, charity tournaments offer both the promise of serious golf and the opportunity to network for business purposes. Like anything in golf, charitable tournaments range from the small and casual to larger, more expensive, celebrity-attended social events where the golf is almost an afterthought to making the scene. One of the largest charity events in the region every year is the Bank of America Kristen’s Gift Golf Tournament, held annually at the Manchester Country Club. Last year’s tourney raised $80,000 for the Kristen’s Gift fund, which aids pediatric oncology research at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Last year’s event was attended by Former Red Sox star Rico Petrocelli and New Hampshire native and San Antonio Spur Matt Bonner. At the outside of the tournament, there’s a host of other events going on, including a banquet, hole-in-one contests and even the occasional speaker aiming to drum up additional donations. This year, event organizers are hoping to raise $100,000 during the tourney, said Toby Trudel, spokesman for the CHaD community relations department. There are several reasons why a major tournament event is successful, said Trudel. In the case of the Kristen’s Gift event, being able to hold the tourney on a course that few get to play on a regular basis is a major draw. “I know that there’s a group here that is excited to play that course,” he said. In its 17th year, the Home, Health and Hospice Tournament at the private Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua has become a social event all its own for its community as well. Former Boston Bruin Rick Middleton has been the master of ceremonies for the event for a number of years, and the idea of getting outside during the week in the name of a good cause is always worthwhile. It can be lucrative for the players as well. “I understand that a lot of business gets done out there on the golf course during the event,” said Kristi Durette, organizer for Home, Health and Hospice Care. “But more, I think people are yearning to be outside and Sky Meadow is just a beautiful venue for the event.” Here are a few of the big events of tournament season: Golf gear For a golfer ready to take the plunge and submit to a lifetime of joyous misery, these bundles are the right place to start, said Jerry Gutierrez, owner and manager of Fairway Footprints, a Manchester golf shop. From that point forward, equipment can be improved and customized, from bag to balls to shoes to key chains, and all of a sudden magnetized, chakra-cleansing wrist bracelets start seeming like a good idea. Gutierrez helped to identify the best value in improving one’s golf game. • Start with the putter: The “flat stick” is the first place to drop money when it is time to break away from a starter set, Gutierrez said, though many golfers go with the splashier purchase of a new driver and hope for eye-popping pyrotechnics off the tee. Good drivers have value, he believes, but not as much as a putter customized to your needs. “You’ll use a driver six times, maybe eight times while on the course. A putter, though, you’ll probably use a minimum of 40 times, and that’s if you’re lucky.” Stand-alone putters can cost less than $10 new, but high-end putters that look like the front part of the USS Enterprise can set a golfer back as much as $300, with the space-age shape designed to pull the club’s center of gravity away from the striking face. The more balanced the club, the larger the sweet spot on its face. Other things to look at on a putter include hosel (pronounced ‘hozzle’), which is the area that connects the club to the shaft, and the face itself, which can include ridges designed to give a player more control when striking the ball. “There are tons of variations with putters. It’s all about what you’re comfortable with,” Gutierrez said. • Irons: Irons are best bought in sets of eight and usually begin with a three or four iron and drop into pitching wedges. Beginning golfers want to look for “oversized cavity back” irons, which are weighted differently and are more forgiving of mis-hit balls. Smaller “blade face” irons send the ball on a lower, more accurate trajectory, but are harder to hit well, unless the player is experienced enough to enjoy the benefits (say, if the player has graduated to trying to hit the ball exactly 140 yards as opposed to ‘over there’). Brand-name irons like Ping can cost $400 to $1,000 but lesser names like AMF and Powerbelt offer good value at lower prices. “I wouldn’t fill my bag with them, but they aren’t trying to compete with the top brands and they have good value,” Gutierrez said. • The green club: Hybrid clubs, which merge the control of an iron with the distance of a fairway wood, are hot and are the best choice for a veteran golfer looking to make a single purchase for an immediate impact. Smaller and easier to hit than a fairway wood, hybrids have changed the way irons are sold; as so many people replace a three-iron in their bag with a hybrid, many iron sets now start at the four. “There’s a reason these clubs have gotten so popular, and it’s because they really do help out one’s game,” he said. Prices start at $30 and go up dramatically. • Don’t be afraid to get cheap: You can always get spare clubs at a yard sale or bargain store. Used individual clubs can be found for as little as $5 apiece, and a whole set can be purchased for $50 to $100. The bare minimum needed to be successful includes a putter, a good range of irons, and a fairway wood or hybrid club, Gutierrez said. But before piecing together a set, it’s worth noting that most courses will rent clubs out to players looking to give the sport a try, and driving ranges have clubs you can use for free.
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The must-plays • Toughest starting hole: Hole One, Intervale Country Club • Scariest hole: Hole Six, Derryfield • Most scenic hole: Hole Three, Windham • Toughest green: Hole 14, Candia Woods • Most challenging hole: Hole 13, Lochmere Where to play 18-hole courses Private courses Tourney? .
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