The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel and Golf Course

The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel and Golf Course is located high in New Hampshire's White Mountains and deep in the Great North Woods. It is located not that far from the Canadian Border. This is a Donald Ross design dating back to 1912 to 1915. Although golf has been played there since 1897.

"First in the Nation
In 1952, New Hampshire first provided its residents with the opportunity to vote in Presidential primaries. In these early elections, many small towns around the state competed to get their votes in first. But ever since Dixville Notch was granted the privilege of being a voting community in 1960, it has continuously maintained the honor of being “First in the Nation” to report its results of the Presidential election.

In order to maintain this honorary status, every single registered voter in Dixville Notch must turn out and vote. Just before midnight the day before the election, these voters come to The BALSAMS and take a headcount to ensure everyone is present. When the polls officially open at the strike of midnight, each voter heads to a booth in the Ballot Room and casts his or her vote. The entire process takes about a minute."

The above taken from the Balsams website.

The course has majestic views and it is usually in great condition. I have played the course a handful of times and one thing you must learn is when putting you must know how the ball rolls on the green as it will roll towards the mountains. The course has generous sized fairways and small greens. Sand Bunkers are strategically placed so to challenge the average golfer.

The most interesting thing about playing this course is you just never know what the weather will do. I played here in 1989 around the end of September. It was a crisp fall day with the temps hovering about 50 degrees. We started off in sweaters and windbreakers and when walking to the third tee it started to rain with a spattering of sleet as the wind started to gust the temperature started to plummet and the snow started to fall as we were walking down the fourth fairway. Our umbrellas turning inside out as the wind picked up.

Within a few minutes the gray sky above opened up and the sun came out and we found ourselves pealing off our rain gear and heading to the fifth tee box. This weather fiasco rotated from sunny to windy, rainy, sleeting and snow all around the course. I have never experienced such a phenomenon while golfing. We got tired putting clothes on and taking it off. It was pretty funny.

The nice part about playing here is the views are breathtaking and when you hear people say they are in God's country they truly mean it.

It's a short course by most standards playing at 6097 yards but don't let the yardage fool you. This course is rolling through the foothills and can play havoc when the weather turns ugly. A few of the par three's are all uphill so you better take an extra club.

You can hit your driver a lot as the fairways are forgiving but watch out for some blind shots as the sloping hills will trick you and you'll find your ball nestled up against a tree after it rolled down a sideways slope from right to left. There is actually a periscope on one of the tee boxes so you can see the group in front of you clear the way.

For the long hitters there are a couple of par 4 holes that can be reachable from the tee with a nice drive by hitting it right on the screws.

The hole on the right is the 11th and you can see you drive from out of a chute and this is one of the holes that is reachable from the tee box. This past September our state REALTOR convention was here and we played in a scramble tournament and I was about 10 yards short of the green. So it is reachable.

When playing in a scramble here make sure you have a women playing in your group that can hit her drives a long way as the forward tees are a big advantage.

The time before this past year when we were here for another convention our female golfer Bonnie Guevin drove the par 4 10th green and we sank the putt for an eagle. That was a fun hole.

This resort is a must for all visitors to the Great North Woods of New Hampshire. You won't be disappointed playing golf here either.

Enjoy......

Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

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