Crotched Mountain Golf Club

Crotched Mountain rises to 2,066 feet in the Monadnock Region of southern New Hampshire, and the golf club bearing its name sits in the kind of hill-country terrain that makes every club selection a small negotiation with elevation. Francestown itself is one of those quietly beautiful New England towns — white steeples, stone walls, hardwood forests that go incandescent in October — and the course reflects that rugged, unpretentious character rather than manicured resort polish.

With a par of 71, the layout almost certainly rewards accuracy over raw distance, as courses carved through this kind of rolling, forested terrain typically demand placement off the tee and an honest short game more than they reward the bomber. The Monadnock Region has a modest but genuine golf culture, with several well-regarded courses dotting the hills between Keene and Manchester.

Playing here in autumn, when the surrounding hardwoods are at full color and the air carries that particular New Hampshire chill, would be difficult to top as a golf experience regardless of what you shoot.