PHOTOS - Sugarloaf Golf Club - Carrabassett Valley, ME - R.T. Jones, Jr.

[Michael Moore]

The snot-nosed sniper made a recent trip to what is often hailed as the greatest public course in New England, the remote and mysterious Sugarloaf Golf Club, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr.

Is it hard to get to? Yes. Conditions unstable? Yes. Cartball? Yes. Stunningly scenic, ball-losingly difficult, charmingly set, thrilling shot values? Hell, yes. And most of all, unbeknownst to many, yes, this course has a tremendous set of large greens with some of the finest interior contouring I have seen, humps and bumps, runoffs directly into bunkers and well back into the fairway. Simply tremendous.

Things are too apocalyptic rght now for the full Ran-style investigation that this course deserves. Without further ado . . .


3rd hole - 217 yards to this wild green





7th hole - 384 yards - this is the finest green on the course - unbearable movement





9th hole - 417 yards directly up the hill - check the nastiness front right





10th hole - 334 yards - often photographed, rarely birdied, this green is very shallow





The Carrabassett River lends much tranquility to the back nine





11th hole - 216 yards across - 128 feet down - great fun, club selection impossible





12th hole - 542 yards - more enormous contours

[Craig_Rokke]

Michael-
Thanks for sharing some photos of the seldom-discussed
RTJ Jr's work. Looks like it would be a fun course to play. I like the greens, as well. Bunkers, such as the right one on the par 3 and the near one on #10 are certainly prominent and distinctive.

[Dan_Callahan]

Michael,

Have you had a chance to play the new Sunday River course? I've heard it is a scenic as Sugarloaf but not quite as tight/penal. The pictures I've seen look great, but it's hard to get a sense of the overall layout.

[Tim Bert]

This course was the first leg of a New England golf trip I took a few years ago.  We played Sugarloaf, The Balsams Panorama course, Green Mountain National, and the Gleneagles course at the Equinox.

I didn't love the course, but it had some nice scenic holes.  I think my perception was tainted by a terrible start on the first few holes, compounded by losing a pitching wedge on the first hole.

I thought it was a course that was nice to look at, but not a course I'd want to play frequently.  I actually enjoyed playing Green Mountain National more than Sugarloaf.  Both are mountainous courses with a lot of elevation change.  

[Brad Klein]

Sugarloaf - great scenery, and proof that anyone can build good looking downhill holes. The problem is that the last few holes on each nine are unplayable uphill slogs.

Did we mention that from off the fairway, the course is simply unplayable, as there is no clearance for recovery shots? But hey, it looks good from the tees and photographs well and yes, the surrounding scenery is magnificent. Shows you why golf and skiing are hard to make workable at the same facility.

[Steve Curry]

I think those bunkers are ugly.  

Steve

[Tommy_Naccarato]

I'll always get a good chuckle out of what the late Desmond Muirhead used to say about the Jones Boys--all of them....

[Brad Klein]

And you're not going to tell us, Tommy? Blame it on him - you'll just be the messenger.

[Matt_Ward]

I concur with Brad -- talk about a course that provides the "either or" style of golf and you can find it at Sugarloaf.

Frankly, I have played the course 4 times over the last ten years because friends of mine live in the Maine area and each time the course always plays S-L-O-W -- the turf is wet and you get little bounce of the ball.

The holes LOOK grand with the downhill shots but the detailing you would find with a Jim Engh course on similar type of land is lacking.

Sugarloaf gets plenty of mileage because of its isolation. No doubt it's one of the best courses in Maine -- the bar there isn't that high -- but when starts to say it belong at the top of the public listing for all of New England I think there's too much air being put into that balloon.

Frankly, if one were to play the Panorama Course (aptly named I might add) at the Balsams you would see the qualities that any superior course needs to have. Playability is not part of the Sugraloaf agenda and that comes from someone who enjoys a stiff challenge as much as anyone. The Balsams provides the better alternative but it doesn't present the kind of eye-candy photos that Sugarloaf does.

[Michael Moore]

Michael,

Have you had a chance to play the new Sunday River course? I've heard it is a scenic as Sugarloaf but not quite as tight/penal. The pictures I've seen look great, but it's hard to get a sense of the overall layout.

Dan -

Sunday River has been so long in the pipeline and now it is finally here. Anticipation is at fever pitch and expectations are high.

This thread has tempted me to take my "Robert Trent Jones Jr. in the mountains of Maine" ball and go home, but I am sure that my impressions and photos of Sunday River will be worth sharing here.

[Andy Hughes]

Michael, thanks for the pics.  Were the greens hard and quick enough for balls to really run around on them?

And most of all, unbeknownst to many, yes, this course has a tremendous set of large greens with some of the finest interior contouring I have seen, humps and bumps, runoffs directly into bunkers and well back into the fairway. Simply tremendous.

For those panning the course, do you agree with Michael's comments re the greens? I have always wondered if really good greens were almost enough to make any course a good one.  

[Matt_Ward]

Andy:

I start any analysis with two key ingredients ...

Land is 60% of the equation.

Routing is the next big ticket item for me.

Sugarloaf has some neat land but it's been carved out to simply provide for the holes with little espace room for those who don't play the Calvin Peete, Fred Funk style of golf.

The routing is also fair because you get the harsh downhill & uphill variety of holes with little more.

Yes, the greens have their share of solid moments but when I go to dinner I don't worry about the desert if everything else that comes before it is on shaky ground.

[Michael Moore]

Steeply downhill - 1,2,10,11

Steeply uphill - 9,17,18

Relatively flat - 3,7,8,13,14,15

Deliciously sidehill - 4,5,6,12,16