ENFIELD, NEW HAMPSHIRE | The paved road steadily ascends one-and-a-half miles uphill through autumn-tinged woods to Montcalm Golf Club. At the top sits a rustic clubhouse and a practice range with panoramic views toward Whaleback Mountain directly across Interstate 89 and Killington, Vermont, in the distance.
Snow flurries while you’re warming up on the practice tee and waiting out a frost delay in mid-October are the least surprising thing about Montcalm. But it is a welcoming feature that not a single structure (other than a gazebo near the first green) is visible from any of the 18 holes. These are the kinds of things one might expect from a golfing retreat tucked between New Hampshire’s White Mountain and Vermont’s Green Mountain national forests.
What might surprise those lucky enough to be on hand at men’s and women’s league nights, once-a-month “Nine, dine and wine” events or occasional farm-to-table dinners is that a club without a dining room boasts a Johnson & Wales schooled chef capable of wowing the most discerning foodies with gourmet meals out of a kitchen more suitable for delivering sandwiches and snacks at the turn.
The adopted home of Dartmouth College’s Big Green golf teams is evolving into a special club in the Upper Valley.
How Dartmouth came to Montcalm is another story.
In June 2020 as the world was gradually coming out of COVID 19 shutdowns, Dartmouth College’s administration abruptly announced the immediate termination of five sports programs – men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s lightweight rowing – as well as the closure of the school-owned Hanover Country Club golf course that dated back to 1899.
The decision “blindsided” the athletes and swiftly mobilized the deep-pocketed Dartmouth alumni base. They saw right through the insincere cost-cutting claims considering the golf programs, in particular, were fully endowed. A prominent Title IX lawyer pressured the Ivy League school’s administration, making it clear that the program cuts pushed the school further away from compliance regarding federally mandated equal treatment for male and female athletes.
Six months later – a day after Global Golf Post published its story about the Dartmouth affair – the college’s president sent a letter to “Friends of Dartmouth Golf, Rowing and Swimming & Diving” announcing that it had reversed its decision and would reinstate all five sports programs.
Montcalm’s tranquility and welcoming vibe has helped swell the membership ranks. While the golf is the main draw, the membership drive has accelerated thanks to the presence of executive chef David Barrette, who is a rare locally raised asset.
The golf course, however, remained closed – a not-so-subtle clue to what the school really coveted: the 120 acres of land directly adjacent to the north side of Dartmouth’s 269-acre main campus. The course’s two parcels were bisected by a ravine along the Connecticut River. The hilly land that included the clubhouse and first five holes have been converted into a park extending into a community trail network through the conservation land along the river. The parcel along Lyme Road that housed the last 12 holes remains undeveloped six years later but is part of a long-range plan to expand Dartmouth’s graduate housing and research facilities.
As the Friends of Dartmouth Golf fought to keep the men’s and women’s programs alive, among its promises was to provide “a fully funded alternative to Hanover Country Club for playing and practice.”
That new home course is nestled in the mountains 20 minutes away called Montcalm.
No. 5 (left) and the scenic Montcalm range
Montcalm Golf Club became the official home of Dartmouth golf in 2021. Ironically, it exists because of another shutdown at Hanover Country Club back in 2000, when the college hired an architect to restore and rebuild the course. Dartmouth alum Andrew Sigler, a retired CEO of Champion International who held memberships at Augusta National and Cypress Point, got into a dispute with the school and decided to take his wealth and build his own private course.
Sigler hired Phil Wogan and George Sargent to build a course on 350 acres of mountainside covered in trees and rock ledges. Without moving much land, it took nearly four years to build on the testing terrain, officially opening in 2004. The course even includes a relative homage to Augusta’s famous par-3 12th at the short fifth. The new course drew quick acclaim, with Golf Digest naming it one of the top 10 best new private courses in the country in 2005.
While the builders employed classic design features of architects like Donald Ross from tee to green, that doesn’t carry over from green to tee. Walking the 6,829-yard Montcalm is not for the faint of heart or health, as the length and elevation changes present a demanding challenge between holes. Dartmouth’s golf teams don’t get the option, but taking a cart is the smartest choice for anyone not prepared to tackle it.
In its early existence, Sigler – who died in 2021 – wasn’t adept at building a sustainable membership roster. Members who made suggestions for improvements were as likely to find a reimbursement check and their membership rescinded than seeing changes implemented. He operated the club at a deficit for 14 years.
Sigler sold the club to a retired couple from Connecticut in 2018, but the demands of running it proved too much and it was quickly sold again to Chuck and Kristen Currier, who upgraded facilities and built it up as a semi-private club.
Montcalm’s tranquility and welcoming vibe has helped swell the membership ranks. While the golf is the main draw, the membership drive has accelerated thanks to the presence of executive chef David Barrette, who is a rare locally raised asset.
A graduate of Johnson & Wales University with a degree in culinary arts, Barrette worked under James Beard Award–winning chef Michael Schlow and James Beard Finalist Champe Speidel, shaping his commitment to precision, seasonality and locally sourced cuisine. He served as a sous chef at Disney’s high-end resorts in Orlando, Florida, before becoming executive chef at the exclusive Golden Oak Club.
A New Hampshire native, Barrette returned home to the Upper Valley to raise his family and has carved out a niche and name for himself at Montcalm. His infectious enthusiasm for showcasing locally sourced fare showed through as he presented a special menu featuring Maine bluefin tuna crudo or beef tartare, butternut squash soup with maple-lacquered bacon, seared U8 sea scallops or filet mignon with local Robie Farm sausage and Valrhona chocolate pot de crème tart. All of it perfectly paired with regional wines Barrette selected as a Certified Level II Sommelier.
From snow flurries to golf to a gourmet meal, Montcalm delivers in many unexpected ways.