
Whip Poor Will Course
Whip Poor Will Golf Course

About this course
Whip Poor Will Golf Course sits in Hudson, New Hampshire, a town in the southern part of the state near the Massachusetts border. Designed by Manuel Francis, the course occupies rolling New England terrain characteristic of the region's wooded, glacially-shaped landscape. The routing works through natural elevation changes and incorporates the native hardwood and pine forests that define much of southern New Hampshire's golf settings. The course serves the Merrimack Valley area and provides a local option for golfers in the greater Nashua region. Francis, who designed several courses in New England during the mid-to-late twentieth century, typically worked with existing topography rather than extensive earthmoving, and Whip Poor Will reflects this approach with holes that follow the land's natural contours. The layout includes a mix of open and tree-lined holes, with fairways that demand accuracy off the tee given the wooded borders. As a daily-fee facility, Whip Poor Will functions as a community course for the Hudson area, offering accessible golf in a region where public options serve a broad range of players. The course maintains the straightforward character common to many New England municipal and semi-private layouts from its era, where playability and maintenance within budget constraints shape the golfing experience. The property's name references the whip-poor-will, a nocturnal bird native to eastern North American forests, connecting the course to its wooded New Hampshire setting.
Quick facts
- Location
- Hudson, NH, USA
- Access
- Public
- Year built
- 1959
- Holes
- 9
- Designer
- Manuel Francis
- Par
- 36
- Length
- 3,015 yards
- Difficulty
- 34/122
- Course Vaults score
- 6.4
Getting there
The journey to Whip Poor Will Golf Course begins at Boston's Logan International Airport (BOS), roughly an hour's drive north into the wooded borderlands of southern New Hampshire. The route follows I-93 as it climbs away from the city's sprawl, eventually peeling west onto quieter state highways that thread through Hudson's semi-rural landscape of stone walls and second-growth forest. The final approach trades suburban thoroughfares for country roads, where the course reveals itself as a peaceful retreat tucked into the rolling terrain just shy of the Massachusetts line - a discreet escape that feels worlds removed from the urban pulse you left behind.

FAQ
Common questions about Whip Poor Will
Ratings, design, and course details pulled from Course Vaults.
Whip Poor Will has a Course Vaults score of 6.4 out of 10 based on 10 logged golfers.
Whip Poor Will was designed by Manuel Francis.
Yes. Whip Poor Will is listed as welcoming public or guest play on Course Vaults.
Par at Whip Poor Will is 36.
Whip Poor Will plays 3,015 yards from the back tees on Course Vaults.
The slope rating at Whip Poor Will is 122.



