….the border of New Hampshire, that is! Recently pal Steve and I assayed a short trip to Shelburne, New Hampshire, to play golf at favorite courses along the Maine/NH border. We chose for our home base the White Birches Camping Park in Shelburne, an interesting combination of primitive roads, rustic campsites, a swimming pool and an inflatable bounce house for kids. Our campsite was relatively private, but most of the access roads in the campground (save for those in the full-hookup sites nearest the office) were very narrow and rough, such that I found it a challenge to back the RV into the site.

Once settled, however, we found the park to be satisfactory, including the obviously dated but nonetheless clean and serviceable bath house. We did have a beef, however, with the fact that there was only one bath house in our section of the campground, AND it was closed for a night during our stay, necessitating a quarter-mile hike to the office for bathroom-related issues. We were fortunate to be camping after Labor Day and midweek, such that the park was lightly tenanted; I am certain that, with full occupancy, one would have a long wait for showers in this park. Moreover, you have to pay for hot water at this park, in my mind a petty gouging which should have been covered by the cost of the campsite. For these reasons, although our stay was pleasant enough, I would not return to White Birches.

Fortunately, however, two of the three golf courses we played made up for whatever insufficiencies our lodgings presented. We began our excursion at the magnificent Omni Mount Washington course, which I always find to be remarkably flat and walkable despite its location at the foot of Mount Washington itself. You can see the cog railway snaking its way up the mountain just to the right of the tall foreground tree in the bottom photo below, while the summit is hidden in the clouds:

And, on this course, the Cinderella-castle ramparts of the beautiful Omni hotel are visible at numerous locations around the property.

We try to play one “premium” course on each of our trips, and the Mount Washington Omni more than qualifies, an absolute 4 on our unscientific scale of course ratings. At $169 for eighteen holes walking, it is in one sense no bargain, especially when you consider that there is no discount for eschewing the cart and walking — you pay the same price, riding cart or no. But every aspect of the course is in such superior condition, and the views around the course so spectacular, that one leaves feeling well-served by the money spent, despite the steep price.

The second course we played on this trip was the excellent Bridgton Highlands course in nearby Bridgton, Maine. Not as spectacular as the OMW but completely worthy nonetheless, we enjoyed our round there very much.

Last on our list, in every respect, was the golf course at the Bethel Inn in Bethel, Maine. It had been some years since either of us had played there, but it is hard to overstate the disrepair into which the course has fallen. True, Maine is now (and was at the time of our visit) in an extreme drought, and the fairways at the Bethel Inn course were baked brown. That, in itself, is not in my opinion a reason to disparage a course, as nature is beyond anyone’s control. But there is no excuse for tee boxes which have been shredded to dirt, fairways so alligator-skin checked and dry they look like Mars shots from the Curiosity rover, and greens baked out, neglected and abused. Truly, the course was so disheveled I took no pictures there save for this creatively-carved tree alongside one of the fairways.

It was both disappointing and disheartening to see the state of this once-lovely course, especially considering how beautiful it once was (see my post from May 24, 2020). I can only hope that rain and TLC are both forthcoming for the Bethel Inn golf course; it will be a long time before I spend any more money golfing there.

But, all in all we enjoyed another lovely golf trip, our last of the 2025 season. It is my hope, in early October, to complete the Four Corners of Maine trip with a ride to Madawaska. Please stay tuned!