Black Hall

“Black Hall” may not evoke exactly the experience a fortunate golfer will have at the Black Hall Golf Club, as the halls will indeed be much greener. That said, the name does describe the Pine Valley-esque aura that this golf club aims to create, making almost every hole a standalone challenge, unbothered by views of players on other holes.

Granted, even if all the trees that isolated each of these Robert Trent Jones holes were gone, the limited membership at this Old Lyme establishment ensures that few other golfers will be present during a given round (no tee times are permitted or required at Black Hall).

These halls of course emphasize accuracy as the key challenge at the course, but the distance is checked accordingly. Playing from the tips, Black Hall only stretches to 6,650 yards, so you may want to leave the driver in the bag more often than not. Still, Jones tempts with accessible par fives. No. 14 is a very reachable dogleg left, but will require a daring cut of the dogleg off the tee, and an even more daring approach into a green surrounded on all sides by bunkers. Longer irons and fewer woods may be the best strategy at Black Hall.