A thing happened along the path of this tour down memory lane; it turned into a golf tour. The plan was to visit places I had known decades ago, but the golf kept springing up, calling out gently. Names like Ryder Book, Blush Hill, Ralph Myhre winked from the road side as we swept past. No clubs in the car, Skechers on my feet for walking and comfort … or so I thought. From home base in Waterbury, Vermont, the intent was to return to the 1980s, and stop off at a few craft breweries and restaurants along the way. Those later things happened, but the unexpected part of the golf was a bonus. No shots were struck, no putts were holed, no flagsticks were pulled. Sometimes it’s better that way. The lens offers appreciation of the architecture, the landscape, the setting, in a manner that the playing does not.

If ever you find yourself in the northeast kingdom that is upper Vermont, Waterbury is an excellent hub. Not far from Burlington, Stowe, Montpelier and other places of note, it is home to Ben and Jerry’s (the ice cream) and Green Mountain (the coffee). It has an Amtrak station that doubles as the Welcome Center for that coffee place. It has crunchy Vermont-ness, adjacent to tranquility and color, and pedestrians and cyclists who don’t bother to look, because they know that you will stop for them.

Vermont golf is vertical golf at its most exemplary. Much like a car that needs solid breaks to negotiate the Green Mountains, a sense of how down and up impact one’s game is a requirement. It’s an aerial game that differs from the carry-the-water/carry-the-sand found on ill-conceived, flatland courses that stray from a links model. In the hills, shots fall woefully short, or soar hopelessly long, of targets, when distances are miscalculated. In the end, it’s fun, but it can be frustrating for us flatlanders, until we master its nuances.

Each of these four golf courses offers something different. Ryder Brook and Blush Hill are homespun layouts, bereft of pretense and pomp, places where friends and strangers can gather as friends, chase the white ball, and enjoy each other’s company. The Ralph Myhre course, owned and operated by Middlebury College (where I spent 6 summers, back in the 1980s) is a gallop around the hills of a prototypical New England college town. And as for the CCVT? I’m not saying it’s impossible to get on, but if you have a letter from your pro, you might have a shot. From what I saw, it’s a tremendous, Graham Cooke course. I’d tee it up there in a hearbeat. nearly-no matter the cost.

Have a look at a little bit of its golf.

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Ryder Brook Golf Course, Morrisville

 

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Country Club of Vermont, Waterbury Center

 

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Blush Hill Country Club, Waterbury

 

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Ralph Myhre Golf Course, Middlebury