A beautiful three-hundred acre meadow, surrounded in all directions by spectacular mile-high mountains and frame by millions of giant pine trees...that was golf course architect Donald Ross’ extraordinary landscape one hundred years ago when he set out to design the Mount Washington Golf Course.
Ross - understanding the unique and profound setting - deviated from his standard formulas at Mt. Washington. Faced with the potential monotony of almost no elevation changes, he scores of fairway bunkers and, instead of locating them at the edges of fairways, be turned them ninety degrees, placed many of them well within the fairway divides. And he raised most of them three-to-seven feet above fairway height. As spectacular as the general setting of Mt. Washington might be, the golfer who plays this course will most remember the course for these raised fairway bunkers. They are beautiful and they are deadly.
And, recently, architect Brian Silva was called in to lengthen the course while - as the same time - bring the course back to its former grandeur. Silva, as usual, did an extraordinary job of this.
Many of the holes are relatively short, but Ross interspersed his fair share of heroic holes...he is known for this, particularly for heroic and long par three holes. The 14th at Mt. Washington, at 245 from the tips, is such a hole. Downhill and set against the prevailing wind, the hole punishes all shots hit to the right or short of the green. The is a well-travelled bale-out area to the left. But those who bale are then faced with downhill sloping green. Forget pitching it close to the hole. You won’t forget the 14th.
Memorable also is the wonderful 18th, a par four of 434 yards where the approach shot must carry the river to reach the green. What a beauty!
Sadly, Mt. Washington was hit hard this winter and conditions at the course are disappointing. The greens, many of them, have failed to grow in. Putting is an iffy affair. Likewise, fairways and rough areas are sparse and inconsistent. Playing preferred lies is an absolute necessity.
My recommendation to golfers might be to wait until the autumn when the course will have had a change to further recover. It will be worth the wait.