By Dave Allen
Birch Hill Country Club is nestled between the scenic Ossipee Mountain range and Lake Winnipesaukee in Moultonborough, New Hampshire. Formerly known as Ridgewood Country Club, Birch Hill was bought in February 2024 by a young professional tax attorney who had been a member for the past 15 years.
Shortly after closing, the husband, father and new golf course and restaurant owner immediately “flipped the place upside down,” completely tearing apart and rebuilding the club’s pro shop and Overlook Tavern.
For 45 consecutive days, Ed played the part of carpenter, electrician, plumber and tile guy, doing the brunt of the work himself—along with his wife, who designed everything. Ed knew the facelift wouldn’t be complete until he did something about the club’s near-deserted aqua range, the only one in the state of New Hampshire. The range had just one 30 x 30-foot irregular-shaped floating green, and it had been largely ignored since it was first installed almost 15 years ago. The green was missing several pieces of skirting, and the surface had been completely worn down by years of bad weather and activity.
The other big issue was that it sat too far from the tee line, making it virtually impossible to hit for even the most skilled golfers. Fortunately for Ed, the range’s original developer, Aqua Greens, happened to reside in New Hampshire as well, and they were able to quickly strike a deal to not only restore the existing island green, but bring in three new target greens as well.
“I never got a lot of value out of the range before because there really was nothing to aim for,” says the new owner, who joined the former Ridgewood Country Club in 2009, shortly after moving to the area on the northern side of Lake Winnipesaukee. “It just felt like you were hitting balls into the water.”
Just days prior to the big Fourth of July holiday, Aqua Greens added three refurbished target greens—a 9’ x 12’ kidney, 10’ circle, and 10’ x 15’ oval—to the range, approximately 65, 140 and 165 yards, respectively, from the hitting bays, and cleaned up the main green, spot repairing and painting the skirting and power brooming and conditioning the turf. They also infilled and top-dressed the turf with new green sand, making it extremely playable for those golfers who want to see their good shots rewarded.
“The thing looks mint,” says Aqua Greens owner Matt Gault, who was in charge of the original install more than a dozen years ago. “It looks absolutely awesome. There’s still some frame damage we need to repair but we got it looking good for this year.”
The new aqua range was such a hit over the holiday weekend that come the following Monday, Birch Hill had to place an order with Gault for 250 dozen more floater balls.
“There were people literally waiting for the bays [14 total] out there,” Ed says. “I literally have never seen that before. It was that busy. Granted, it was the perfect storm being that we were in the heart of a big vacation week, but in due course we’re going to make that more of a vibe.”
Birch Hill hopes to add one or two more target greens in the not-too-distant future, and is also considering putting an outdoor bar on the range, which is conveniently located at the turn between the front and back nine of the 18-hole course. This would take some of the burden off the tavern, thereby increasing the pace of play, and would also attract more non-member, paying customers from the Lakes Region.
“People like the concept of Topgolf,” Ed says. “I’m not saying that’s what we’re trying to replicate here, but we’re trying to push the range as a hangout spot where young people go to hit balls and socialize. So many people just want to go to the range and have fun, and what’s better than hitting into a pond with multiple targets.”
Birch Hill Country Club is not unlike a lot of golf clubs with a retention pond, but lacking enough land to build or expand a driving range. What differentiates Birch Hill is that they were able to capitalize on their water and monetize it by offering an aqua range, Gault says.
“Trying to run an aqua range with one green compared to multiple greens is like night and day,” Gault says. “Now people are showing up just to hit balls, and they’re able to charge for buckets of balls. They’re going to make money with that range, whereas they weren’t before.”
Birch Hill’s range is one of only two aqua ranges in the Northeastern United States built and installed by Aqua Greens, joining Paradise Family Golf in neighboring Massachusetts. Being the only aqua range in his home state of New Hampshire has added significance for Gault.
“It was an incomplete project that finally got the attention it deserves,” Gault says.
