By Kim J. Harmon

When people start planning their golf trips, their destination – invariably – is somewhere like Myrtle Beach, south Florida or Lake George.

Now, part of the allure of the golf trip is getting away. But if a trip to The Legends or Tidewater in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, or the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Florida, are just not in the cards then why not look for some hidden golfing gems in Connecticut.

I have two of ‘em right here – Quarry Ridge Golf Course in Portland and the Gilead Highlands course at Blackledge Country Club in Hebron.

Quarry Ridge

The 18 holes at Quarry Ridge are spectacularly set among rolling hills and granite rock outcroppings. Overlooking the Meshomasic State Forest and the Connecticut River, the course was designed by Al Zikorus and Joe Kelley and opened in 1993.

Gilead Highlands, Blackledge

Completed in 2001, Gilead Highlands is Blackledge’s newest 18-hole course. The front nine features relatively flat fairways lined with tall oak trees. Several holes required a carry over natural marsh areas. Abundant elevation changes help make the back nine perhaps the most challenging nine at Blackledge.

See – relatively simple, beautifully maintained and picturesque courses can be found just a short haul from home (about an hour and seven minutes to Blackledge and about 56 minutes to Quarry Ridge from the flagpole.

Neither course is long (5,900 yards from the whites at Quarry Ridge and 5,714 yards from the whites at Gilead Highlands), but while both lack in length they both make up for it with challenging construction that forces you to carefully weigh club selection at almost every spot on the course.

It is target golf at its best.

If you are accurate, you can score. If you aren’t, you can’t.

On the par-4, 343-yard eighth hole at Quarry Ridge, if you can get your drive up the hill about 220 yards, you are left with a short pitch but a short pitch to a very narrow green guarded in front by long bunkers. The par-5, 11th hole, is a short 443 yards but is extremely narrow and any shot into the rough on either side will pose huge problems. The par-4, 293-yard 13th hole is probably the most inviting hole on the course, but pull your tee shot just a wee bit left and it will hit the ground hot, tumbling down the hill and forcing you to come to grips with a bogey – or worse.

On the par-4, 275-yard fourth hole at Gilead Highlands, only a golfer with plays the ball right to left with a decent draw should take out the driver. The hole curls left and down and any drive leaves you hitting an approach from an elevated position. The par-5, 455-yard seventh hole seems short enough to make in two, but that second shot will have to sail over a marsh area about 20 yards in front of the elevated green. The par-5, 464-yard 10th hole is much more open, but if you don’t get to the corner of the dog leg on your second shot you have almost no chance of making par. And the part-5, 454-yard 12th hole is absolutely fiendish as a decent drive has you sitting at the top of a hill, looking at an alleyway between two large bodies of water and a green maybe 230 yards away. Do you go for it or play it safe and drop an 8-iron or wedge down below for a safer, saner third shot?

Quarry Ridge is wonderfully scenic and because of the way it’s constructed around outcroppings of rocks and on elevated ledges, some cart rides from green to tee are long – probably a quarter mile in a couple of instances. Gilead Highlands is equally scenic, but mostly walkable.

And with weekend rates (riding) at $55, that makes either course a bargain.

www.blackledgecc.com

www.quarryridge.com