At The Ledges Golf Club, you’ll find hilly terrain and a course literally carved out of the rock on some fairways. Our architect Brad Booth used the ups and downs of our landscape to great advantage here, setting some greens and tees on elevated spots where you can see sweeping vistas of the picturesque New England countryside for miles around. He also created fast and undulating greens that can demand the best out of your short-game skills.
Our very first hole will give you a good idea of what it’s like to play at The Ledges. This touchy par-4 dogleg left measures 442 yards from the back tees (345 from the front), and it demands total concentration.Hit your downhill tee shot a little left as it will kick right. Watch out for the fairway bunker about 200 yards down the right side. On your approach, you’ll be crossing a small pond, about 100 yards short of the green. Be careful with your club selection to get close to the hole. It’s going to take three shots to get to the green for most high handicappers.
The next toughest hole on the front nine is the 6th. The rolling fairway here gets narrower the closer you get to the green. There’s another deep green here to contend with and three tiers add to the fun. You’ll need careful club selection to get close to the pin.
You’ll find our signature hole at No. 8, a picture postcard par-3 featured in many photographs of The Ledges. Water is always in play here on this hole that measures 220 yards from the back tees and 113 from the front. As you stand on the elevated tee box and look out over the rippling pond and fluttering leaves on the trees, try to gauge which way the wind is blowing before you choose your club and make your shot.
No. 9 is a par-4 dogleg right, measuring 380 yards from the back and 265 from the front, that heads back to the clubhouse.
The 10th is a real challenge on this side as well as being one of the most scenic spots at The Ledges. There’s a well-placed fairway bunker on this hole that makes for a demanding tee shot. Then it’s uphill on your approach to the green. Anything that misses the putting surface can end up in trouble – in the trees or in a bunker.
The 8th is the par-3 that gets the most attention on this course, but the 11th is another picturesque par-3, measuring 210 yards from the back and 132 from the front. A pond on the right protects the left front of the green.
After that, you can relax a bit until you reach the last three holes.No. 16 is a hard dogleg left uphill. You’ll want to aim your tee shot to the right side of the fairway on this par-4 (408 yards from the back and 268 from the front), because everything kicks left.
The 17th is the longest par-4 at The Ledges, measuring 465 yards from the back and 318 from the front. This hole has the best views on the course, including the three bridges to Portsmouth, N.H., and a huge smokestack off in the distance. You’re headed downhill here.
You’ll close out your round on that par-5 that everyone says is the most difficult finisher in New England. First of all, it has monster length: 618 yards from the back tees and 411 from the front. This is a hard dogleg right that has a 200-yard uphill stretch once you make the turn.
On top of that, you start out with a tee shot over water. It’s a 150-yard carry from the mid-length tees over the giant pond that ripples in front of you. From the tips, it’s a 230-yard carry.Then about 170 yards of the green, there’s more water. If you lay up short of this hazard, your third shot will be at least 175 yards to the center of the green, including about 60 yards over water.
Architect Brad Booth used the ups and downs of our landscape to great advantage here, setting some greens and tees on elevated spots where you can see sweeping vistas of the picturesque New England countryside for miles around. He also created fast and undulating greens that can demand the best out of your short-game skills. Browse our 18-hole yardage guide for a peek at how the course plays.
When designing a course, Brad says there are many challenges that he takes into account. First and foremost he starts with the premise that the design of a course is primarily “an art form, unique in that it is performed on a huge canvas of land, shaped to accommodate a game played by people with varying degrees of skill, aptitude and fortitude.”
In all his designs, he seeks to route the golf course with minimal intrusion to the lay of the land, a goal that he certainly met at The Ledges. Brad lovingly placed our course on a unique and beautiful site. He designs golf holes that are aesthetic yet meet the unique demands of golf.