My skier friends tell me that, among the 28 major ski areas in the state of Vermont, Jay Peak is near the top for quality and challenge. It is also near the top of the state geographically, just a few miles from the Canadian border and about an hour from Montreal. The degree of difficulty on the Jay Peak Golf Course mirrors the challenge of the nearby slopes. I played the course last week for the second time in six years. And even though I moved up one tee box this time around, the distance I have lost over the last half-decade made a few of the forced carries impossible to fly.
Stupid male ego kept me from moving up to the ladies’ tee, and I found myself yearning for a set of “senior tees.” It was about the only shortcoming at Jay Peak, although some might quibble that club officials have taken full advantage of the uptick in golf's popularity by raising green fees from the $60 I paid six years ago to $120 today. The Halloween decorations that festoon the tee boxes are worth the uptick in price. Despite not finishing a few holes – a couple of lost balls in the junk were two too many on a couple of holes -- I still enjoyed the round because the course is post-card picturesque, and the trees at elevation were just starting to show their fall colors. I always enjoy it when my non-golfing wife rides with me, but she did not enjoy my cries of frustration during the round. We did enjoy a post-round craft beer and a plate of nachos with a local gentleman who played with us. He had moved to the area from Boston last year. He is a longtime skier but a relatively new golfer who said he had found "forever" place five minutes from Jay Peak.
The Graham Cooke design, circa 2007, takes full advantage of the hovering mountains and a sloping terrain. Instead of trying to impress you with more words about the layout, I will let the photos I took do the explaining. I intend this to be the first of many pictorial reviews of courses I have played over the last two decades. Enjoy. [For more information and a nice flyover of each hole at Jay Peak, click here.]
