I grew up playing "the Whale" as it was affectionately known. Whaling City CC, was always the primary municpal outlet for New Bedford golfers. There are 9 holes that were designed by Ross left, (9 were lost when the Route 140 extension was built back in the 1970's). They City of New Bedford replaced those 9 holes and they are as different as chalk and cheese. I have no idea who built the new holes, they are all brauny, and included three 460 yard par 4's, all of which were shortened (nobody could reach them in two with the persimmon woods and balata's of the day). The first hole is still a 465 yard par 4 which plays downhill for the last half. These holes all have large square greens with a bunker on each side, and are a sad reminder of the abysmally poor architecture of that era. They sure did stretch out the score card yardage though, as the course used to measure 6890, when I left in 1978.
The Ross holes are all a joy to play, they feature greens sited on a natural high point or are the pushup variety. They include various shapes; with several wide but shallow greens fronted by bunkers, and two which are long and narrrow with a double tier. All 4 par 5's and 3 of the par 3's are Ross originals. Two of the par 5's play side by side, and to provide fill for the green sites, ponds were excavated. One has a stream 220 yards from the tee with a 230 yard carry to reach an island. It's at least a 170 yard carry from the first stream to carry a second one, so you must play dangerously close to it to make the carry with your second shot, which will leave a wedge to the green. Laying up to the island will leave at least a 150 yard shot in; just a great par 5 design on what was a flat swampy area. The adjacent par 5 has a pond 250 yards from the tee; we would have to lay up with 3 woods in the days before fairway irrigation was installed to keep from rolling in.
The course was closed for some time to facilitate a toxic cleanup, and was just reopened last summer. One of the major industries in New Bedford used to be the manufactuering of electronic components such as capacitors and transformers, all of which contained massive quantities of PCB's. These Companies used to dump their refuse in an old quarry called Sullivan's Ledge, just on the other side of Hathaway Road from the Golf Course. These leaked onto the golf course through a drainage ditch under Hathaway Road and contaminated all the water bodies on the course. For several years before the cleanup occured the all ponds and swampy areas were fenced off with temporary orange barriers, with signs in both English and Portugese, saying to stay out due to the serious risk to your health and life! We always wondered why the balls we would rake out of the ponds and streams were coated in a rusty sediment!
During the renovation fairway irrigation was installed. I played there last summer and for the first time in my life "the Whale" had wall to wall grass in the fairways. This took out all the fun of playing the course as I remembered it; as the firm and fast conditions we grew up with are now replaced with a verdant green which limited the constant danger of running into the trouble. No need to bump the ball though; we had to play the ball up, year round, in the old days. Although it will never make any top 20 lists for Mass. golf, it's a great muni with a lively bunch of devoted golfers, much like the ones descibed by Rick Reilly in his hilarious book "Missing Links". I must admit I never thought that "the Whale" would ever be mentioned on GCA; it sure does bring back memories!