When summer gives way to crisp autumn mornings a golfer’s thoughts turn to, well, golf, naturally.

For those of us who can’t enough of the game, autumn is perhaps the best season of the year. The crowds and six-hour rounds of summer are history. The courses are usually in superb shape as the temperatures moderate and nights become cool, ideal weather for growing and maintaining turf grass. Yet it’s still warm enough to play with a perhaps only a wind jacket or light sweater. Let’s not forget about “shoulder season,” when courses drop their prices, usually in mid to late October.

We can find stunning natural beauty on a golf course at this time of the year, when the maples and oaks turn brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow and the hills are afire with nature’s annual light show. New England affords some of the best venues for autumn golf to be found anywhere in the country.
Here’s a selection of New England golf courses where foliage mixes with the ongoing quest for birdies.

The Berkshires of western Massachusetts draw visitors each year to gaze in wonder at colorful hills. The golfers among them stay and play or stop in for a round at the Cranwell Resort and Spa in Lennox.

Cranwell’s golf course, a classic design by Jon Van Kleek and Wayne Styles, was built in the 1920’s and is a wonderfully eclectic track. Several of the tee boxes offer vistas of the surrounding countryside with the best views coming on the seventh green and eighth tee box, both of which are near the hotel’s main building and elevated from the rest of the property.

The hand of legendary golf course designer Donald Ross is all over wonderful Tekoa Country Club, located at the foothills of the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts.

Ross designed an original nine holes in 1923 and five of these remain intact, the second, third, fourth, 14th and 15th. Geoffrey Cornish, one of the most prolific of all New England architects, redesigned the course in 1961 and added 13 gems of his own to today’s present routing.

Recent work has added about 400 yards of length to the layout, refreshed the course’s classic bunkering system, and enhanced several greens.

While not overly long at 6,215 yards from the tips Tekoa’s smallish, undulating greens are difficult to find and a good short game is essential to score well here. All four of the par-fives are under or around 500 yards in length and reachable in two for big hitters, further adding to the pleasure and challenge of a round here.

A short drive east from Cranwell in Southwick, Mass. is the Ranch Golf Club, one of the finest daily fee layouts in New England. The course was built on former farmland and offers a pleasing variety of holes, from links style to those that pass through mature stands of pines, maples and oaks.

The first several holes are flat in character and open, with their manicured fairways framed by tall fescue grasses that change color in the autumn. One of the best woodland holes is number four, appropriately named “Deer Run,” a 441-yard par-four that winds its way uphill amid tall pines that imbue the hole with a sense of solitude usually found only at northern New England courses.

The views from the ninth and 16th holes, both par-fives that start from dramatically elevated tee boxes and tumble down to the valley below, are simply awesome when the trees blaze with color.

The Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston, Mass. was carved out of the forest close to the Vermont line and the surrounding woodlands come ablaze with color in the fall. Many of the holes here are tree-lined with ample bunking and enough water to create a few jangled nerves as the round proceeds. Some of the greens are elevated, further complicating proper club selection, especially when the breeze kicks up.

 The 550-yard, par-five eighth is one of the more celebrated holes in New England. A lake runs along the entire left side of the fairway towards the putting surface, necessitating an eventual approach shot over water to an undulating green.

There is no shortage of great holes at “Crump,” designed by noted golf course architect Roger Rulewich. The 18th is a classic. The drive needs to stay clear of trees left and right to set up a daunting mid-iron across a pond to a snake-like green that can be almost impossible to find depending upon pin placement.
Vermont offers leaf peepers with golf clubs in their hands perhaps the best place for doing their thing during early to mid autumn.

Killington Resort Golf Course is mountainside golf at its best.
Measuring just 6,168 but carrying a slope of 129 from the back markers, Killington is a true test of proper club selection, careful course management and execution, both of the tee and to the greens.

Killington was designed by the famous New England golf course architect Geoffrey Cornish and is considered to be one his best works. Cornish skillfully routed the track through mature woodlands and up and down the mountainside.

Recent renovations have enhanced the pleasure of playing this magnificent northern New England layout.

Located close to Killington Resort Golf Course is one of the Green Mountain State’s newest and most acclaimed tracks, Green Mountain National Golf Club.

The course was carved out of the mountains and features gently sloping fairways, changes in elevation and undulating greens. Rock formations line many of the holes and combine with the changes in elevation to create memorable views.

Green Mountain, which is always in superb condition, has some water and trees framing most of the holes. There are several doglegs that make the course play longer than its 6,589 yards from the tips.

You can check out the views of the mountainous countryside and lush woodlands from a number of the tee boxes at Green Mountain National.

Blackstone National Golf Club in Sutton, Mass. and nearby Blissful Meadows Golf Club in Uxbridge in southeastern Massachusetts are two superb tracts routed through woodlands and offer the golfer peace, quite and plenty of color from late September through October.

Rees Jones created a layout at Blackstone that flows easily over the natural terrain framed by old stonewalls and small streams. Number 18, a 485-yard par-five, is a visually nice hole.
Blissful Meadows has several great par-threes that call for a shots over “waste” areas that come alive with color in the fall, like numbers 13 and 15.

Located in a scenic, quiet area near Bellingham and Franklin, Mass., west of Boston, New England Country Club has been wowing visitors since it opened. Hale Irwin, the three-time U.S. Open champ was the mastermind behind the design, one of the best-conditioned and most interesting courses in the greater Boston area. The layout has played host to a number of prominent tournaments, including the New England Public Links and NCAA Division II regionals.

New England CC has the look and feel of a private club, with Irwin placing his routing smoothly over rolling hills and through mature woods. He also designed multiple tee boxes to allow all players the opportunity to enjoy the track.

Glen Ellen Country Club in Millis, Mass. is another track that dances with color during autumn.
The layout, which can be stretched to 6,634 yards and plays to a par of 72, has two par-threes--numbers two and eight--that play over water. The second hole can stretch to 218 yards from the back tees, while the eighth hole is a full carry over liquid to a large green.

Number 17 is a classic, difficult 411-yard dogleg left par four. The hole demands a hefty and accurate tee shot to avoid water left and right followed by a well struck mid- or long-iron to the green.

Glen Ellen also features two reachable par fives and two par-threes, including the second hole, measuring over 200 yards.

Fox Hopyard Golf Club in East Haddam, Ct. is a classic woodland course that is a true joy to play in the fall. There are a few open holes on the layout, but most of the track rambles up and down the hilly woodlands of the Connecticut River Valley area. Two of the best are the 202-yard par-three fourth hole that begins from an elevated tee that offers stunning views of the countryside, and the next, a 505-yard par-five, that also starts from a hill and flows down a tree-lined fairway and across a stream.

In central Connecticut, Gillette Ridge Golf Club and Wintonbury Hills Golf Course, both of which are located in Bloomfield, give the golfer great views during the fall. One of the best holes for foliage at Gillette Ridge is the 431-yard par-four third that bends downhill to the left and demands an approach to a green bordered by woods to the right and a pond to the left and rear.

Wintonbury Hills is mostly open, but rises to a hill that affords a wraparound view of the colorful hills in the distance. Number 14, a 455-yard par-four, makes the senses jump in the autumn, with a pond running along the right side of the fairway and a green surrounded by tall trees. Wildlife can be seen in the wetlands and pond to the right with waterfowl gliding in during warm fall afternoons.

Blue Fox Run Golf Course in Avon, Ct. has several holes along the scenic Farmington River and features a friendly atmosphere that caters to parents and women, a superb practice facility and 18 holes of top shelf golf with nine more holes under construction.

Autumn is a great time to play Blue Fox Run as nearby fields turn orange with ripe pumpkins and local farms are bursting at the seams with apples and other fruit of the harvest
The front nine here is wide open and never takes driver out of the equation, a nice bonus in these days of target golf. The first half of the back nine is much the same. But the layout tightens down the stretch, pushing the visitor to play well to finish of a round in high style.

The course recently underwent extensive bunker work that has given the holes much more definition and bite.

Quarry Ridge Golf Club in Portland, located on the slopes of the Connecticut River valley, offers some of the best vistas in Connecticut. This is a true shot-maker’s delight, with dramatic elevation changes, an interesting mix of long and short holes and tricky greens. The course is regularly listed among the best in Connecticut and conditions are always top-notch.

Great River Golf Club in Milford, one of the top daily fee tracts in southern New England, draws visitors from miles around for its challenge and beauty. Perhaps no time of the year is more splendid at “The River” than autumn, when the trees along the Housatonic River turn various shades of color. Perhaps the prettiest hole on the course at this time of the year is the 163-yard par-three sixth, a super short hole that plays downhill to a green surrounded by woods and the Housatonic rolling by to the left.

Up in Maine, near Old Orchard Beach and the city of Portland and only an hour’s drive north from Boston is one of Maine’s best golf courses, Dunegrass Golf Club.

North Carolina-based architect Dan Maples brought a Carolina feel to Maine when he designed Dunegrass, a 6,684-yard, par-71 course that features sandy waste areas and pine needled rough. The course, which opened for play in 1998 and remains in pristine condition, sprawls over 300 acres.

While the tract is not long it does require a thoughtful approach on every shot. Proper club selection is a must as is the ability to chip and putt around and on the undulating greens. There are plenty of bunkers in the fairways and around the greens to further complicate matters.

The Links at Outlook, only a short drive from Dunegrass, is mostly open to the elements, with each hole posing its own set of problems, whether they be fairway bunkers, sloping greens, or deep rough off the fairways.

Brian Silva lent his expertise to the design of The Links at Outlook, a prime example of an “American links” routing. In a nod to the legendary Scottish courses Silva incorporated what he calls random bunkering into his design to make the player think out each shot.

While not overly long--only 6,423 from the back tees--The Links at Outlook can play difficult in windy conditions. None of the par-fours on the back side measure over 388 yards. But Silva placed a premium on accuracy off the tee and proper club selection on approach shots in order to stay out of trouble.

A tip on the Vermont and Maine courses: better get your golf in during the first three or four weeks of autumn, as winter comes early in northern New England and some of the clubs will close up shop in late October, unlike those in southern New England.
So take your sticks and head out to enjoy the most colorful and perhaps best time of the year to golf in New England